254 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Molothrus pecoris, Swain son. 



cow BLACKBIRD ; COWBIRD. 



Fringilla pecoris, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 910 (female). — Lath. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 

 443. — Light. Verzeich. 1823, Nos. 230, 231. Emberiza pecoris, Wils. Am. Orn. II, 

 1810, 145, pi. xviii, f. 1, 2, 3. Icterus pecoris, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1824, No. 88. — 

 AuD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 493 ; V, 1839, 233, 490, pis. xcix and ccccxxiv. Icterus 

 {Emberizoides) jjccoris, Bon. Syn. 1828, 53. — Ib. Speccliio comp. No. 41. — Nutt. 

 Man. I, 183a, 178, (2d ed.,) 190. Passerina pecoris, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XXV, 1819, 

 22. Psarocolius jKcoris, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 20. Molothrus pecoris. Swain- 

 son, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 277. — Rich. List, 1837. — Bon. List, 1838. —Ib. Consp. 

 1850, 436. —AuD. Syn. 1839, 139. — Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 16, pi. ccxii. — Cabanis, 

 Mils. Hein. 1851, 193. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 524. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 

 257. — Samuels, 339. — Allen, B. Fla. 284. ? Oriolus fuscus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 

 I, 1788, 393. ? Sturnus obscurus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 804 (evidently a Molo- 

 thrus, and probably, but not certainly, the present species). Molothrus obscurus. Gas- 

 sin, Pr. Ph. Ac. 1866, 18 (Mira Flores, L. Cal.). —Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 260. 

 ^^ Icterus emberizoides, Daudin." ? Sturnus junceti. Lath. Ind. 1, 1790, 326 (same as 

 Sturnus obscurus, Gm.). ? Fringilla ambigua, Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 484 (young). 

 Sturnus nove-hispanice, Briss. II, 448. 



Sp. Char. Second quill longest; first scarcely shorter. Tail nearly even, or very 

 slightly rounded. Male with the head, neck, and anterior half of the breast light 

 chocolate-brown, rather lighter above ; rest of body lustrous black, with a violet-purple 

 gloss next to the brown, of steel blue on the back, and of green elsewhere. Female light 

 olivaceous-brown all over, lighter on the head and beneath. Bill and feet black. Length, 

 8 inches ; wing, 4.42 ; tail, 3.40. 



Hab. United States from the Atlantic to California : not found immediately on the 

 coast of the Pacific ? Orizaba (Scl. 1857, 213) ; Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 492) ; Fort 

 Whipple, Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S, 1866, 90) ; Nevada and Utah (Ridgvvay) ; Mazatlan, 

 Tehuantepec, Cape St. Lucas. 



The young bird of the year is brown above, brownish-white beneath ; the 

 throat immaculate. A maxillary stripe and obscure streaks thickly crowded 

 across the whole breast and sides. There is a' faint indication of a paler 

 superciliary stripe. The feathers of the upper parts are all margined with 

 paler. There are also indications of light bands on the wings. These mark- 

 ings are all obscure, but perfectly appreciable, and their existence in adult 

 birds of any species may be considered as embryonic, and showing an 

 inferiority in degree to the species with the under parts perfectly plain. 



Specimens from the west appear to have a rather longer and narrower bill 

 than those from the east. Summer birds of Cape St. Lucas and the Eio 

 Grande are considerably smaller (var. obscurus, Cassin). Length about 6.50 ; 

 wing, 4.00 ; tail, 3.00. Some winter skins from the same region are equal 

 in size to the average. 



Birds of this species breeding south of the Rio Grande, as well as those 

 from Cape St. Lucas, Mazatlan, etc., are very much smaller than those nest- 

 ing within the United States ; but the transition between the extremes 

 of size is so gradual that it is almost impossible to strike an average 



