ICTERIC^ — THE AMERICAN ORIOLES.' 315 



mounts guard upon some prominent perch near by, and cheers them 

 with his song. This song, while in a measure harsh, has yet a 

 pecuhar metaUic resonance which renders it not unpleasant ; and 

 when the songs of many individuals are blended the resulting chonis 

 is decidedly musical. The normal, or usual, song soimds hke con'- 

 cur-ee', but there are many variations from this modulation. When 

 singing, the male bends forward his body, swells his plumage, and 

 by some pecuhar adjustment of the wings brings his scarlet epaulettes 

 into striking prominence ; and when he sallies from his perch to 

 make the regular round of inspection over his harem these splendid 

 decorations flash forth with rich brilliancy, no doubt to the admira- 

 tion of the faithful creatures for whom the display is intended. 



The nest of the Eed-winged Blackbird is very variously situated, 

 but it is always in or in very close proximity to a swamp or marsh. 

 It is placed either among rank grasses or sedges, rushes, or other 

 marsh plants, or in bushes growing in the water; and on one oc- 

 casion the writer found a colony which had built their nests in "sage 

 bushes" {Artemisia tridentata) growng in and about a shallow alka- 

 line pond, on Antelope Island, in the Great Salt Lake. The most 

 noteworthy departure from the usual situation, however, known to 

 the author, was that of a nest built in a small elm tree standing in 

 the middle of a moderately dry meadow, and placed at a height of 

 about fifteen feet from the ground. 



Genus STURNELLA Vieillot. 



StunieUa ViErLLOT. Analyse, 1816, 34. Type. Alauda magna Linn. 



"Gen. Chab. Body thick, stout : legs large, toes reaching beyond the tail. Tailshort, 

 even, with narrow acuminate feathers. Bill slender, elongated; length about three 

 times the height; commissure straight from the basal angle, Culmen flattened basally, 

 extending backwards and parting the frontal feathers ; longer than the head, but shorter 

 than tarsus. Nostrils linear, covered by an incumbent membranous scale. Inner lateral 

 toe longer than the outer, but not reaching to basal joint of middle, which is equal to 

 the tarsus. Hind claw nearly twice as long as the middle. Feathers of head stiflened 

 and bristly; the shafts of those above extended into a black seta, Tertials nearly equal 

 to the primaries. Feathers above all transversely banded. Beneath yellow, withablaok 

 pectoral crescent." {Hist. jV. Am. B.) 



Two quite distinct though very similar species of Sturnella are 

 found in Illinois, one of them belonging exclusively to the eastern 

 and the other to the western portions of the United States, but 

 occurring together in the prairie chstricts of the Mississippi Valley, 

 especially west of the Mississippi Eiver. 



