214 N0TK8 OX CALIl'OKNIA ANIMALS. 



elsewhere. It was lirst seeu at Red Hlnlf March lii, in coiupaiiy with 

 Brewer's Blackbird. 



Agelaius guberuator (Wagl.)- IlUohnd Jiluckbird. 



This form may have been amoii;^- the Hocks of tlie preceding;- species 

 that were observed in various places, but J did not recogtiize it as sncli. 

 Dr. Newbecry found it common in the Sacramento Valley and Mr. 

 Henshaw records its presence on the eastern slope of tlie Sierras, 



Agelaius tricolor (Nutt.)- Trimlored Jihtilhiiil. 



As this is a spe(;ies not distinjiuishable on si<4ht from the two pre- 

 ceding- species when iiocking with them, and as none were collected, I 

 cannot aflirm that it is a bird of the re.^ion under dis(;ussion. It is ad- 

 mitted on the strenjijth of the records of Drs. Newberry and Ileermann ; 

 according" to the former, common in the Klamath basin, and tlie latter, 

 breeding- in great numbers in the vicinity of the town of Shasta. 



Sturnella magna neglecta Ami. H'cstrrn Meadow Lark. 



The remarks on the distribution of the precedin<^ species of the 

 family Icteridai are largely applicable to this one, which is very nu- 

 merous wherever there are meadows of any considerable extent. It is 

 exceedingly abundant throughout the up])er end of the Sacramento 

 Valley, especially when the larks of the higli mountain meadows also 

 gather there to pass the winter. I found one individual frozen in the 

 snow of Shasta in August, more than 1,000 feet above the timber-line. 



Ictertis bullocki (Swains.). Jit(Uoch\i Oriole. 



Bullock's Oriole was ftrst collected at the United States fishery on Apiil 

 25. A pair nested in a " live oak " overhaaging the river quite near the 

 fishery, and I was entertained by the hostile bearing of the male toward 

 iiitru(l<Ms. One day a stray Icterus hulloeJci came along and essayed to 

 usurp tin; place of the rightful owner of the nest, which brought an 

 immediate conflict. The two males struggled and tore each others hair, 

 so to speak, until both fell into the water beneath, where of course they 

 separated. Before their plumage was dry they met at the nest over- 

 Iiead and engaged in combat again, and with the same result. Seven 

 or eight times in succession did I see their angry struggles interrupted 

 by repeated tumbles into the icy McCloud. 



These Orioles were first seen at Red Bluff Ai)ril 5, where they nested 

 regularly in the cottonwoous and locusts about the ranch buildings. In 

 a clump of half a dozen trees at one place I counted more than twenty 

 deserted nests, some of which were occupied by crimson-fronted house 

 finches. The nnnd)er of old nests about this house would seem to indi- 

 cate that they were not ()ccu[)ied a second time by the orioles. One of 

 these nests was composed almost entirely of various kinds of strings 

 and coarse twine, interwoven throughout with horse hair, which last ap- 

 l)eared to enter largely into the c()m[>osition of all the nests. It was cer- 



