BLACK OR IRIDESCENT BLACK 415 
beach, so it seems to be a mere matter of caprice whether 
they go to the mountains or the seashore for the hot 
weather. Later they congregate for the winter in the 
interior valleys near the farms and stockyards, where 
they pick up food like so many sparrows. In the spring 
they forage at the heels of the ploughman or among the 
herds. 
Throughout the summer, fall, and winter their call- 
note has been a typical Blackbird “ tchaak,” uttered with 
a flirt of the tail plainly showing displeasure. But when 
the rains cease and spring calls them to woo and win 
their mates, their little black throats ruffle with song. 
More energetic than musical, it may be; but heard as a 
chorus it is so full of enthusiasm as to make one forget 
its lack of harmony. The epithet of ‘ wheelbarrow 
chorus,” applied by Mr. Burroughs to the song of its 
Eastern kin, is just as appropriate west of the Rockies 
and fits the case exactly. 
6lla. WESTERN MARTIN. — Progne subis hesperia. 
Famity : The Swallows. 
Length : 7.25-8.50. 
Adult Male: Entire plumage uniform glossy blue-black ; wings and tail 
black ; tail decidedly forked. 
Adult Female: Upper parts duller and color less continuous ; forehead 
and crown light gray ; feathers of back and rump conspicuously edged 
with grayish or pale brown; bend of wing and under coverts mottled 
profusely with whitish ; anterior under parts and nuchal collar gray- 
ish white; belly and under tail-coverts white. 
Young: Similar to adult female. 
Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast region, from Oregon south 
through California and Arizona to Lower California. 
