THE COWBIRDS. 



591 



Cow Blackbird, Shinyeye, Blackbird, Lazy Bird, Clodhopper, aud in 

 former years on the plains as Buft'alo Bird, extends from our southern 

 States, excepting Florida, southern and western Texas, north into the 

 southern parts of the Dominion of Canada, as already indicated. West- 

 ward its breeding range extends to eastern British Columbia, eastern 

 Washington, eastern Oregon, Nevada, and probably southeastern Cah- 

 fornia, where Dr. A. K. Fisher shot an adult male at Furnace Creek, in 

 Death Valley, June 20, 1891. East of the Rocky Mountains the Cow- 

 bird is pretty generally distributed over the greater part of its range, 

 excepting the extensive forest regions and some of the more southern 

 States, where it appears to occur only sparingly. Its center of abund- 

 ance is found in the States bordering the Upper Mississippi Siver 

 and its numerous tributaries. West of the one hundred and thirteenth 

 meridian (Greenwich), in the United States at least, it must be con- 

 sidered as a rare summer visitor, and as far as 1 have been able to 

 ascertain it has not yet been found anywhere on the Pacihc Coast, west 

 of the Cascade aud the Sierra Nevada mountains, except as a straggler. 

 In the southern portions of the provinces of Alberta and Assmiboia, 

 Dominion of Canada, as far west as Calgary, 1 found this species 

 remarkablv abundant in the latter part of May, 1894, along the line of 

 the Canadian PaciHc Railway, small parties from to 12 being almost 

 constantly in sight, evidently on their way to their breeding grounds. 

 The most northern point where its eggs have been taken appears to 

 be in the vicinity of Little Slave Lake, in southern Athabasca, in latitude 

 550 30' north. Mr. S. Jones, of the Hudson Bay Company, forwarded 

 specimens from.there to the Smithsonian Institution in 1868, but it is 

 quite probable that this species ranges farther north. 



Although I have traveled extensively over our westernmost States 

 and Territories I noticed the Cowbird on but very few occasions, aud 

 only found its eggs there twice ; once on June 21, 1871, near Fort Lapwai, 

 Idaho, in the nest of the Long-tailed Chat, Icteria vire7is longicmida, 

 and again near Palouse Falls, in southeastern Washington, on June 18, 

 1878, in a nest of the Slate-colored Sparrow, Passerella iliaca scMstacea, 

 aud which I believe is the most western breeding record known. 



Both of these specimens are now in the United States National 

 Museum collection. 



The most southern breeding records I have knowledge of, are from 

 Wayne andMcIntosh counties, Ga., Petite Anse Island, Louisiana, and 

 Harris County, Tex. It does not appear to breed anywhere in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of the gulf coast in Texas, where it is replaced by its smaller 

 relative, the Dwarf Cowbird. While the majority of these birds pass 

 beyond our borders in the late fall and winter, mainly to southern Mex- 

 ico, still a good many remain in our Southern States, and a few even 

 winter occasionally as far north as New England, .Alichigan, etc. 



Dr. G. Brown Goode tells me that while on the German Lloyd steamer 



