Perching Birds Marked With Yellow or Orange. 



497. Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus 

 xanthocephalus). L. 10. Ad. rj 1 . Black; head and 

 breast orange yellow; outer wing-coverts white, 

 black tipped. Ad. 9. Brownish, line over eye, throat 

 and breast dull yellow, lower breast streaked with 

 white; ear-coverts rusty. Notes. Call, a hoarse chuck; 

 song, a variety of hoarse grunting, guttural whistles; 

 usually uttered with apparent great effort and bodily 

 contortion. The young utter a rolling, whistling call. 



Range.— Western North America, east to Kansas, northern Illinois, 

 and northwestern Indiana; west to the Pacific coast ranges; breeds 

 locally from Texas (?) , New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern Californ- 

 ia north to the Hudson Bay region, and southern British Columbia; 

 winters from southwestern Louisiana, and California southward. 



y 501. Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) . L. 10.7; W. 

 y\ 4.8. Ads. Above black varied with chestnut and buff; 

 \ below yellow, a black breast-crescent; bars on middle 

 tail-feathers fused along shaft, yellow of throat not 

 spreading on to its sides. Notes. Calls, a nasal note 

 and a rolling twitter; song, a high fife like whistle of 

 rarely more than eight or ten notes; without gurgles or 

 grace notes. 



Range.— Eastern North America west to about Long. ioo° , north to 

 New Brunswick and Minnesota; winters from Massachusetts and Illinois 

 southward. 



501a. Texas Meadowlark (5. m. hoopesi). Similar 

 to No. 501b, but yellow not spreading on to sides of 

 the throat. Notes. Resemble in character those of 

 No. 501. 



Range.— Not well determined; known from Corpus Christi, Texas, 

 west along Mexican boundary to southern Arizona and northern Son- 

 ora, Mexico. 



501b. Western Meadowlark (S. m. neglecta). Sim- 

 ilar to No. 501, but bars on middle tail-feathers usually 

 distinct, not confluent along shaft; yellow of throat 

 spreading on to its sides; general color paler. Notes. 

 Calls, a liquid chuck and a wooden, rolling b-r-r-r-r-r-r-r; 

 song, rich, musical, flute-like with intricate gurgles 

 and grace notes; wholly unlike that of No. 501. 



501c. Florida Meadowlark (5. m. argutula). Sim- 

 ilar to No. 591, but smaller and darker; W. 4.4. 



Range. — Florida and Gulf coast to Louisiana. 



5 14. Evening Grosbeak {Hesperiphona vespertina) . 

 L. 8. Ad. rj\ Brownish yellow; wings, tail, and 

 crown black; exposed part of tertials white. Ad. 9« 

 Dingy brownish gray, more or less tinged with yel- 

 lowish; throat and belly whitish; tail-coverts and tail- 

 feathers, on inner web, tipped with white. Notes. 

 Call, loud; song, short, but melodious, resembling that 

 of Robin or Black-headed Grosbeak. (Cooper.) 



Range.— Rocky Mountain region of British America, south, in win- 

 ter, to the upper Mississippi Valley, rarely to Ohio and casually 

 through New York to New England. 



5 I 4a. Western Evening Grosbeak (H. v. montana). 

 c? not distinguishable from tf of No. 514; 9 more buffy, 

 especially below. 



Range. — Mountains of western United States from New Mexico 

 north to British Columbia. 



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