136 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



[B , R , C , U 474 b.\ 



Otocoris alpestris praticola Hensh. Prairie Horned Lark. Resi- 

 dent; common. Breeds in the open fields and prairies. The eggs are 

 laid late in March, even before the snow has melted. Two broods are 

 usually raised in a season. 



Family CORVID^E. Crows, Jays, Magpies, Etc. 



Subfamily GARRULIN.E. Magpies and Jays. 



Genus CYANOCITTA Strickland. 



[B 434, R 289, C 349, U 477-] 

 Cyanocitta cristata (Linn.). Blue Jay. Resident; abundant. No- 

 torious for its thievish propensities. The writer has seen the larger 

 part of a bushel of hazel nuts disappear from a shed-roof in a very 

 short time — all carried away by the jays. During the spring and fall 

 large flocks of these birds — often three or four hundred in number — 

 have been observed flying northward and southward, with every indica- 

 tion that they were migrating. In nest-building, this species has been 

 observed to procure materials by breaking off with its beak the dead 

 twigs of a tree in the proximity of the one in which the half-completed 

 nest was situated. 



Subfamily CORVINE. Crows. 



Genus CORVUS Linnaeus. 



[B 426, R 282, C 340, U 488.] 



Corvus americanus And. American Crow. Resident; abundant. 



The eggs are laid about the first of April. The young taken from the 



nest form very interesting pets. 



Family ICTERID.dE. Blackbirds, Orioles, Etc 



Genus DOLICHONYX Swaxnson. 



. [B399, R 257, C312, U494.] 



Dolichotiyx oryzivorus (Linn.). Bobolink. Summer resident; 



common throughout central and northern Iowa. Arrives about the 



first of May. 



Genus MOLOTHRUS Swainson. 



[B 400, R 258, C 313, U 495.] 



Molothrus ater (Bodd.). Cowbird. Summer resident ; abundant. 

 Arrives from the middle of March to April, and remains until October. 

 "Gregarious, polygamous, parasitic." [Cones.) Before the smaller 

 species of birds have commenced to build their nests, many of the fe- 

 males of M. ater are compelled to deposit their eggs in the nests of 



