HOST RELATIONS OF PARASITIC COWBIRDS 185 



victim and T.a. milleri of the parasite. J. T. Wright saw one of these 

 tanagers feeding and attending a fledgling of the cowbu'd at Saric, 

 Sonora, August 28, 1929 (Friedmann, 1933, p. 190). Amadon (1940, 

 p. 257) reported a parasitized set of eggs which came from Lomita 

 Ranch, near Tucson, Arizona, and is now in the collection of the 

 American Museum of Natural History. Apart from these records, it 

 should be mentioned that A. R. Phillips wrote me that this tanager 

 seemed to be a fairly regular victim in northern Sonora. 



Red-headed Tanager 



Piranga erythrocephala (Swainson) 



The one record I pubhshed in 1938 (p. 50) is still the only one I 

 have found of the red-headed tanager as a host of the bronzed cow- 

 bird: at Rosario, Sinaloa, J. T. Wright found a nest of this bird 

 (subspecies P.e. Candida) containing a nestling cowbird (T.a.milleri) 

 as its sole occupant. 



Cardinal 



Richmondena cardinalis (Linnaeus) 



The cardinal has been found to serve as a host for the bronzed cow- 

 bird in eastern and southeastern Texas. Merrill and Camp (Fried- 

 mann, 1929, p. 333) each noted instances at Brownsville many years 

 apart; Merritt (1940, pp. 141-142) recorded another case, in Nueces 

 County; Webster (1958, p. 427) reported one at Rockport Cottages in 

 eastern Texas; Dr. T. C. Meitzen (in litt.) found a parasitized nest at 

 Refugio, Texas; and F. F. Nye, Jr., took a similar set near Pharr, 

 Texas. The parasite in all these cases is the nominate race T.a. 

 aeneus; the cardinal in eastern Texas is R.c. magnirostris ; in south- 

 eastern Texas, R.c. canicauda. 



Black -headed Grosbeak 



Pheucticus melanocephalus (Swainson) 



This bird may be added to the known hosts of the bronzed cowbird 

 on the basis of a statement by Brandt (1951, p. 695), who found a 

 cowbird's egg (subspecies milleri) in a nest of this grosbeak (nominate 

 race) in Arizona. Unfortunately, no further details were given. 



Blue Grosbeak 



Guiraca caerulea (Linnaeus) 



The blue grosbeak was first recorded by Sennett (1879, p. 396) as 

 a host of the bronzed cowbird in the lower Rio Grande Valley. As 

 far as I have been able to learn, no one else has added any further 

 observations until recently, when I was informed by Mr. R. Kreuger 

 (in litt.) of a set of eggs in his collection in Helsinki, Finland, contain- 

 ing 1 egg of the parasite as well as 4 of the host. This set was col- 



