316 Birds of Colorado 



Description. — Male in sunamer — Black with slight, bluish metallic gloss; 

 vmder tail-coverts edged with whitish ; iris pale yellow ; bill and legs 

 black. Length 8-75 ; wing 4-5 ; tail 3-50 ; culmen -75 ; tarsus 1-20. 



In winter the feathers of the head and upper-back are tipped with 

 dark rusty-brown, those of the sides of the head, throat and breast w4th 

 buffy-brown, whence the vemacidar name. The female in summer 

 is uniform dull slate, darkest and slightly glossed on the back ; it is 

 also smaller (wing 4.25) ; iris pale yellow. In winter the head and 

 upper-back are overlaid with rusty-brown and the lower surface, 

 including the superciliary stripe, with pale buffy-brown. 



Distribution. — Breeding from northern New England and Michigan 

 northwards to Labrador and Alaska, wintering in the middle and Gulf 

 states westwards to the great plains. 



The Rusty Blackbird is a rare winter visitor to Colorado, and has 

 been met with only on three occasions, so far as I am aware. Anthony 

 (Smith, 86) shot two near Denver on 17th of December, 1883, Professor 

 Osburn, one near Loveland in November, 1889, and recently Aikeii 

 obtained two from a small flock wintering in the Fountain Valley, 

 six miles south of Colorado Springs, January 15th, 1908. The Thome 

 record seems to be a somewhat doubtful one. 



Brewer's Blackbird. Ewphagus cyanocephalus . 



A.O.U. Checklist no 510 — Colorado Records — Allen 72, pp. 150, 157, 

 163 ; Aiken 72, p. 203 ; Trippe 74, p. 202 ; Henshaw 75, p. 321 ; Scott 

 79, p. 94 ; Drew 81, p. 139 ; Tresz 81, p. 95 ; Allen & Brewster 83, 

 p. 193 ; Drew 85, p. 16 ; Beckham 85, p. 142 ; 87, p. 124 ; Morrison 

 88, p. 75 ; 89, p. 148 ; Kellogg 90, p. 88 ; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 95, 211 ; 

 Keyser 02, pp. 98, 140, 230 ; Dille 03, p. 74 ; Henderson 03, p. 236 ; 

 09, p. 235 ; Warren 06, p. 22 ; 08, p. 23 ; 09, p. 16 ; Oilman 07, p. 156 ; 

 Markman 07, p. 157 ; Rockwell 08, p. 170. 



Description.- — Male — Black throughout, the head and neck strongly 

 glossed with violet, the rest of the plumage less strongly with greenish ; 

 iris pale yellow, bill and legs black ; bill much stouter at the base than 

 that oi E. carolinua. Length 9-25; wing 5-1; tail 4-0 ; culmen -85 ; 

 tarsus 1-25. 



A winter bird from New Mexico has the feathers of the head and back 

 obscurely tipped with dark brown, and traces of greyish-buff tipping 

 on the breast. A female is pale earthy -brown above and below, becom- 

 ing more dusky towards the tail, which, with the upper tail-coverts, is 

 glossed with greenish ; it is smaller, wing 4-5. The young bird is very 

 much like the female. 



Distribution. — Western North America, breeding from British 

 Columbia and Manitoba south to Lower California, Texas and northern 

 Mexico ; in winter over the whole of Mexico to northern Guatemala, 

 as well as in many places throughout the breeding range. 



