470 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSEBES — OSCINES. 



bill at base 0.40-0.42; 9: length 6.50-7.00; wing 3.65; tail 2.80; culnieu 0.80. Bahamas 

 and southern Flurida to Louisiana, S. to Yucatan and Nicaragua. Ridgw. Man. 1887, p. 370 ; 

 COUES, Key, 4th ed. 1890, p. 901 ; A. 0. U. List, 2d ed. 1895, No. 498 b. 



Obs. a. }). floridanus Mayn. Birds E. N. Am. pt. xl, 1896. p. 689, is another form, ac- 

 cepted by the A. 0. U. in Eighth Suppl. Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 121, No. 498 c; but I find there 

 is nothing in it. 



A. guberna'tor califor'nicns. (Lat. guhernator, a governor, alluding to the red epaulettes, 

 as if a sign of rank or conmiaud.) Red -shouldered Marsh Blackbird. Bicolor 

 Blackbird. $: Lesser wing-coverts scarlet, as before, narrowly or not at all bordered with 

 buff, the next row having black tips for all or most of their exposed portion, so that the brown- 

 ish-yellow of their bases does not show much, if any. 9 indistiuguishable from 9 phceniceus. 

 Coast region of central and northern California ; western Oregon ; N. to Cape Disappointment, 

 Wasliington. Nest and eggs indistinguishable from those of phoeniceus., and general habits 

 identical. (Given as a subspecies of pliceniceus in all former eds. of the Key. The further 

 separation of our bird from typical Mexican guhernator is made by Nelson, Auk, Jan. 1897, 

 p. 59, on ground of rather smaller size, slenderer bill, and more streaking of upper parts of 

 the 9 . A. 0. U. List, Eighth Suppl. Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 128, No. 499.) 

 A. tri'color. (Lat. tricolor, three-colored; red, white, and black.) Red-and-white- 

 SHOULDERED Marsh Blackbird. TRICOLOR BLACKBIRD. $: Lesser wiug-coverts dark- 

 red (like venous blood), bordered with pure white. Besides this obvious distinction from 

 2}hoeniceus, bill is usually slenderer and tail less rounded ; gloss of plumage bluish, not greenish 

 (appreciably so in 9 as well as in ^ ?). 9 ^^'ith median wiug-coverts white-edged. California 

 and Oregon, especially coastwise, or at any rate W. of the Sierras Nevadas ; northern L. Cala. ; 

 scarcely migratory. General habits like those of phoeniceits ; nest and eggs indistinguish- 

 able ; average size of eggs a trifle less, and sets of 3 eggs the rule ; first sets are found late 

 in April and early in May, and there is usually a second brood. The congregations of this 

 Blackbird in some favorite breeding-places are enormous, and vast flocks may be seen at other 

 times. 



XANTHOCE'PHALUS. (Gr. ^av06s, xanthos, yellow; KtcpaX^, kej^hale, head. ) Yellow- 

 HEADED Blackbirds. Prairie Blackbirds. General characters of Agelceus; claws more 

 developed, lateral reaching much beyond base of middle ; feet relatively longer. Tail more 

 nearly even, with narrower feathers. Wings long and pointed ; tip formed by outer 3 quills. 

 Colors black, white, and yellow. Eggs spotted, not scrawled. 



X. xanthoce'phalus. (Fig. 317.) Yellow-headed Blackbird. ^•. Black, including 

 lores and small space around eye and bill ; whole head otherwise, neck, and breast, rich yellow, 

 orange in high feather, the color extending interruptedly to or toward belly ; some feathers 

 around vent, and the tibias, usually yellow also. A large white patch on wing, formed by ]iri- 

 mary and many greater secondary coverts, interrupted by black of bastard quills. Bill and feet 

 black. Length 10.00-11.00; extent 16.50-17.50; wing about 5.50 ; tail 4.50 ; bill 0.75-1.00; 

 tarsus 1.25. In less perfect dress, the yellow overcast with dusky. Adult 9= Dark brown, 

 including back of head and neck ; line over eye, throat, and breast, dull yellow, with dusky 

 maxillary streaks ; usually whitish feathers in the yellow, and sometimes the same iu black of 

 breast. No white wing-patch. Bill dark brownish horn-color; feet blackish. Much smaller: 

 Length 8.00-9.50; extent scarcely 14.00; wing under 5.00; tail under 4.00. Nestlings are 

 sniiff'y-brown; sprouting wing-feathers black, already showing white; feet flesh-color. It is 

 useless to pursue the endless color variations ; the species is unmistakable. Western U. S. and 

 British Provinces, N. to lat. 58®; E. regularly to Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc., casually to 

 Ontario, Quebec, Pennsylvania, New York, New England, District of Columbia, S. Carolina, 

 and Florida, accidentally to Cuba and Greenland ; S. into Mexico ; migratory, very abundant. 

 Its distribution is general on the prairies, but irregular; it flocks about ranches and settlements, 



