BIRDS OF KANSAS. 409 



as seven have been taken), l.OOx.73; vary in ground color from 

 a grayish to a light bluish green, spotted with various shades of 

 brown, usually thickest around the larger end, but sometimes 

 clouding the entire surface, so as to nearly conceal the ground 

 color, over which are occasionally small, wavy lines of very 

 dark brown; in form, oval to ovate. 



Scolecophagus cyanocephalus (Wagl.). 



BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. 

 PLATE XXVI. 



An occasional resident in the western part of the State; dur- 

 ing the fall and winter months quite common, visiting now and 

 then the eastern portion. Begin laying the middle to last of May. 



B. 418. K. 274. C. 332. G. 189, 199. U. 510. 



Habitat. Western North America; north to the Saskatche- 

 wan region; east to western Minnesota and Texas (occasionally 

 to Illinois), etc. ; south into Mexico. 



Sp. Char. "Bill stout, quiscaline, the commissure scarcely sinuated; shorter 

 than the head and hind toe; the height nearly half length of culmen. Wing 

 nearly an inch longer than the tail; the second quill longest; the first about 

 equal to the third. Tail rounded and moderately graduated; the lateral feathers 

 about .35 of an inch shorter. General color of male black, with lustrous green 

 reflections everywhere except on the head and neck, which are glossed with pur- 

 plish violet. Female: Mitch duller, of a light brownish anteriorly; a very faint 

 superciliary stripe." 



Iris of males light or creamy yellow, of females brown; bill, 

 legs, feet and claws black. 



This is one of the most abundant species in the West. Social, 

 gregarious birds, breeding in small colonies, and foraging to- 

 gether over the cultivated fields, pastures and plains; indiscrim- 

 inate eaters of insect life, seeds, etc., and are regular visitants 

 of the slaughter houses, where, in company with the Ravens and 

 Magpies, they fatten upon the offal. 



They are graceful walkers and swift runners, and when 

 startled rise with one accord, circle in a compact body and 

 alight upon one of the nearest trees, or perching place, dropping 



