474 LAND BIRDS 



Breeding Range: Southeastern portion of State along Lower Colorado 



River. 

 Breeding Season : April to June. 

 Nest: Usually built in reeds or bushes, near the ground, and sometimes 



in a clump of grass ; made of rushes or sedges ; lined with finer grass. 

 Eggs: 3 to 5 ; light blue, marbled, blotched, and clouded with light and 



dark purple and black. Size 1.00 X 0.75. 



499. BICOLORED BLACKBIRD. — Agelaius gubernator 

 californicus. 



Family : The Blackbirds^ Orioles, etc. 



Length: Male 7.80-8.60 ; female 6.90-7.50. 



Adult Male: Plumage black, red shoulder patch; middle wing-coverts 



buffy or brownish at the base, but concealed by black tips. 

 Adult Female: Nearly uniform dusky and streaked ; chin and throat 



pale buffy or pinkish, the latter marked with triangular spots of 



dusky. 

 Geographical Distribution : Valleys of California and "Western Oregon, 



south into Mexico. 

 California Breeding Range : Locally in the interior valleys west of the 



Sierra Nevada. 

 Breeding Season : April to July. 

 Nest : Placed on tufts of mai'sh grass or weeds, from 1 te 3 feet above 



the water ; made of grasses and strips of bark ; lined with grass and 



sometimes horsehair. 

 Eggs: 2 to 4 ; light bluish green, generally marbled, spotted and streakctl 



with brown, black, and purple. Size 1.00 X 0.68. 



The Bicolored Blackbird is similar in all his habits 

 to the red-winged. His nest differs only in the bark 

 and horsehair used in construction, and the shallower 

 cup. Like all blackbirds, he loves w^et meadows and 

 marshes near open water, and during the breeding sea- 

 son is found in these localities. For the rest of the year 

 he roves in company w^ith the Brewer blackbirds over 

 the valleys of the interior west of the Sierra Nevada 



