200 S. CYANOCEPHALUS, BLUE-HEADED GRACKLE. 



Tbe liahitut of this species is observed to overlap that of the preced- 

 ing", along the line through Eastern Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota, as 

 well as in the country immediately along the Red Kiver. Prof. Snow 

 states that it is "quite common even in Eastern Kansas;^' and at Pem- 

 bina, on the Red River, I found it breeding abundantly. Further south, 

 in Dakota, I have not observed it east of Fort Randall, where it is 

 common ; and beyond this, in the Missouri region, it almost replaces 

 the eastern species, which, however, reaches, in Dakota, during the fall 

 migration, to about 103° west longitude at least. 



1 took a single male bird at Fort Randall, in November, after all the 

 migrants had passed southward; but its occurrence was due, I ascer- 

 tained, to an injury of one wing, which kept it from flying off with the 

 rest; and I am satisfied that none winter so far north as this, though, 

 on the Pacific coast, according to Dr. Cooper, the species is residerit as 

 far north as the Columbia. In Arizona, at various seasons, and late in 

 the fall in Southern California, I found the birds in great abundance, 

 and enjoyed excellent opportunities of studying their habits. 



This species appears to leave both latitudinal extremes of its range 

 periodically, and probaRly all the individuals change their abode twice 

 a year; yet the oscillation of the whole body is insufficient to remove 

 them entirely from most localities, the birds being simply more or less 

 abundant according to season. Thus casual observation in Arizona 

 would lead to the belief that the species was there a winter visitant 

 only, while I am satisfied that they reside in the Territory. In Sei)tem- 

 ber and October their ranks are recruited by constant arrivals from the 

 north, and they are very abundant until the iollowing May. Then the 

 flocks break up ; the incomplete migration ensues, and the remainder 

 scatter about to breed. Unlike some Blackbirds, the Scolecophagi do 

 not breed in extensive communities, nor do they necessarily resort to 

 swampy localities. Several pairs, however, are olten attracted to the 

 same spot, and more than one nest may be found on the same tree or 

 high bush. The nest is placed in a crotch several feet from the ground; 

 it is a bulky structure, like a miniature Crow's nest, but deeper and 

 more compact. The basement and outer wall is an interlacement of 

 short, crooked twigs, inatted with a variety of softer materials, and may 

 rarely be plastered with mud. This substance, however, is not used 

 in great quantity, often apparently no more than what sticks to the 

 weeds and roots. The nest is finished inside with a quantity of hair, 

 rootlets, &c. The eggs difier entirely from those of the Agclcvi, being- 

 speckled, not streaked, like those of the Xauthocephalus. They are 

 hardly distinguishable from those of the Rusty Grackle. They vary in 

 number from four to six, measuring an inch or more by a little over 

 three fourths of an inch (a selected specimen was 1.05 by 0.78). They 

 are a dull, olivaceous-gray, sometimes a clearer pale-bluish or greenish- 

 gray, thickly scattered all over with various shades of brown, from quite 

 blackish or dark chocolate to light umber. None of the spots are large ; 

 they are very irregular in outline, occasionally quite linear; they vary 

 in number, sometimes being numerous enough to hide the ground-color. 

 A nest of Brewer's Blackbird before me, taken by Mr. Allen, June 24, 

 1873, on Heart River, Dakota, was placed only a few inches from the 

 ground. It is large and bulky, with many projections of the small 

 sticks which form the exterior, and are mixed with grasses and weed- 

 stalks throughout the nest. The lining is distinct, of fine, tortuous 

 rootlets, very neatly disposed in a circular manner. It contained five 

 eggs, v.ith large embryos. The ground is grayivsh, but it is everywhere 

 so thickly mottled, or rather clouded, with dull chocohite-brown as to 



