130 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Many pairs were seen May 1(5 and June 2 and 16, 1877, though no nests 

 were found.— (i7. cormtta, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 48G.—E. al2)esiris cliry- 

 solcema, Sennett, B. Kio Grande, 9.) 



84. Molothrus ater, (Bodd.) 



Very common during winter, arriving early in September and leaving 

 in April. The males frequent the stables and picket-lines in large flocks, 

 with three or four other species of Blackbirds: the females are much 

 less common. — (ili. 2>ecoris, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 492.) 



85. * Molothrus ater rar. obscurus, (Gni«l.) 



Common during summer, replacing var.r)ecoris when it leaves. I have 

 found the eggs or young in nests of Pyrocephahis var. mexicaiuis, Vireo 

 novehoracensis, Icteria vircns, Ampliuxiiza hilineata, Embernagra rnfivir- 

 gata, Icterus cucullatus, I. var. affinis, and Agelcens lilioeniceus.* Fifteen 

 eggs now before me average .78 by .61, which is considerably larger than 

 the measurements given by Dr. Brewer.t — [M. ater obsciirus, Sennett, 

 B. Kio Grande, 22.) 



86. * Molothrus aeneus, (Wagl.) — The Red-eyed Cowbird. 



Psarocolius wneus, Wagl., Isis, 1829, 758.— Bonap., Consp. I, 1850, 426. 



Molothrus (vneKS, Caban., Mus. Heiu. I, 1851, 192.— Scl., P. Z. S. 1856, 300; 

 1859, 365 (Jalapa), 381 (Oaxaca) ; Catal. 1861, 135, No. 819 (Jalapa;.— 

 Sol. & Sai.v., Ibis, 1860, 34; Nom. Neotr. 1873, 37.— Owkn, Ibis, 1661, 

 61 (Guatemala; descr. eggs).- Cass., Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 1866, 18 

 (Mazatlan, Manzanillo, and Jalapa, Mexico; Yucatan; Nicaragua; 

 Costa Rica ; Panama). — Sumichr., Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 1869, 552 (Vera 

 Cruz; hot and temperate regions. Vulg. : " Tongonito" ; "^Enmante- 

 cado"). — Salvin, P. Z. S. 1870, 191 (Cbitra and Calobre, Veragua). — 

 Lawr., Ann. Lye. N. Y. IX, 1868,104 (Costa Rica); Mem. Bost. Soc. 

 II, 1874, 281 (Mazatlan, Manzanillo Bay, and Mts. of Colima, W. 

 Mexico. Habits) ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 4, 1876, 24 (Tapana, Isth. 

 Tehuantepec; April. — "Iris red"). — Merrill, Bull. Nutt. Oru.Club, 

 I, Nov. 1876,88 (Ft. Brown, Texas; very abundant); ib. II, Oct. 1877, 

 85 (habits ; descr. of eggs and young. — " Iris blood-red " in adult ; 

 brown in young). — CouES & Sennett, Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. 

 Surv. Terr. Feb. 1878, 23 (Fort Brown, Tex. — Syu, diag., remarks). 



Molothrus robustus, Caban., Mus. Hein. I, 1851, 193 ; J. f. O. 1861, 81. 



/3. armenti. 



Molothrus armenti, Caban., Mus. Hein. I, 1851, 192; J. f. O. 1861, 82. — Cass., 

 P. A. N. S. March, 1866, 18 (Damarara ; Savanilla, New Granada). 



* On June 13, 1877, I found an egg of this variety in a nest of Amphispiza bilineata 

 that contained three young and two addled eggs. The Cowbird's egg was cracked 

 almost entirely across the middle, and in it was one of the addled Sparrow's eggs. This 

 must have been done by some idle Mexicaii. 



t Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, North American Birds, ii, 157. 



