PASSERES— ICTBRIDAE— SCOLECOPHAGUS OYANOCEPHALUS. 821 



as nests presumably of this species were found, but no birds seen after this 

 time. 



The males made their appearance about the 10th, and the females a 

 few days later. Very common, usually keeping in the tops of the tallest 

 trees. Among the first arrivals were several males, which, in point of per- 

 fection of plumage, are equaled by none in the large collection of this 

 species in the Smithsonian collection, and may be taken as probably 

 indicating the highest stage of coloration. The black above is intense and 

 quite lustrous, while the orange of the under parts is very deep, being 

 especially intense on the breast; the yellow on the hind neck encroaches on 

 the black tips so as to make an almost continuous collar. In Eastern and 

 Southeastern Arizona, the species appears to be rare in summer. 



SCOLECOPHAGUS OYANOCEPHALUS (Wagl.). 

 Brewer's Blackbird. 



Psarocolius cyanocephalus, Wagl., Isis, 1829, 758. 



Scolecophagns cyanocephalus, Bd., Birds N. A., 1858, 552. — Xantus, Proc. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci. Phila., 1859, 192 (Fort Tejou, Cal.).— Bd., U. S. & Mex. Bound. Siirv., 

 ii, pt. ii, 1859, Birds, 20.— Heerm., P. K. R. Rep., x, pt. ii, 1859, 53.— Henry, 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sui. Phila., 1859, 107 (New Mexico). — Goop. «& Suckl., P. 

 R. R. Rep., xii, pt. ii, 18G0, 209.— Hayd., Trans. Am. PbiL Soc, xii, 18G2, 

 170.— CouES, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1866, 90 (Fort Whipple, Ariz.).- 

 Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1870, 465.— Allen, Bull. Mus. Coinp. Zodl., 

 1872,178 (Colorado; Utah).— CouES, Key N. A. Birds, 1872, IGO.— Snow, 

 21 z 



