292 



BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



500. Agelaius tricolor (Aud.). Tkicolored Blackbird. 



Adult male. — Glossy blue black, plumage with silky luster ; epaulettes 

 dark red, bordered with white, more or less ting-ed with buff ; in winter, 

 plumage softer, more glossy, and white on epaulettes more or less tinged 

 with buff. Adult female : texture of plumage like that of male ; upper 

 parts dusky with greenish or bronzy luster ; crown narrowly streaked ; 

 scapulars and interscapulars with grayish edgings ; wings with grayish and 

 Avhitish bands ; head with superciliary and malar streaks ; throat and chest 

 streaked ; rest of under parts dusky, with paler edgings to feathers. Im- 

 mature female, first winter : like adult female, but browner. Young: like 

 female, but browner, and under parts narrowly streaked ; wings with two 

 bands. Male : length (skins) 8.0U-9.05, wing 4.6:}-4.87, tail 3.32-3.75, bill 

 .87-.95. Female: length (skins) 7.10-7.85, wing 4.11-4.32, tail 2.92-3.16, 

 bill .78-.83. 



Distribution. — Valleys of Oregon, California, and Lower California, 

 west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada. 



Nest and eggs similar to those of phceniceus. Eggs : 1 to 4. 



Food. — Young fed entirely on grasshoppers. 



GENUS STURNELLA. 



General Characters. — Bill about as long as head, narrowly wedge- 

 shaped, acute and depressed at tip ; tail less than two thirds as long as 

 wing, the feathers sharp-pointed ; wing short, tertials lengthened — reaeh- 



'.J% 



Fig. 361. 



ing almost to tips of primaries — feathers of top of head with stiffened 

 glossy shafts ; outstretched feet reaching beyond tip of tail. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Yellow of throat enoroaching on malar region . 

 1'. Yellow of throat not encroaching on malar region 



neglecta, p. 293. 

 hoopesi, p. 292. 



501a. Sturnella magna hoopesi Stone. Texas Meadowlark. 



Adult male. — Similar to S. m. neglecta, hut yellow of throat restricted, not 

 encroaching on cheeks, and yellow somewhat deeper and more intense than 

 in neglecta. Adult female : similar, but yellow more orange. Young : 

 colors much duller and markings less distinct ; black mark on chest only 



