RED CONSPICUOUS IN PLUMAGE 473 
There is a spirit of reckless daring inherent in every 
young blackbird, and the Red-wings are no exception. 
One of these bald-headed babies balancing himself gin- 
gerly on the edge of the swaying nest is a comical sight 
on acalm day, but funnier still when the wind blows. 
How tightly his tiny claws grasp the stout rushes, as he 
bobs this way and that in a desperate struggle to keep 
right side up! How curiously those in the nest watch 
his gyrations! Occasionally a second and a third will 
climb out beside him, and that means that something 
is sure to happen. Too often it is a tumble for all three 
back into the nest, or a less lucky tip out into the rushes. 
As soon as their wings are strong enough for short 
flights, the wise parents coax them back to the safer 
feeding ground of the orchard or farm, where day after 
day they pick up bugs, and night after night roost side 
by side with hundreds of other Red-wings in the shelter 
of the trees. 
498 a. SONORAN RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 
Agelaius pheeniceus sonoriensis. 
Famity : The Blackbirds, Orioles, ete. 
Length: Male 8.15-9.35 ; female 6.80-7.86. 
Adult Male: Uniform black, except for red and buffy or whitish shoulder 
patches. 
Adult Female: Plumage not so glossy as the male’s ; upper parts more 
or less streaked with dusky ; top of head and fore part of back dark 
brown, with buffy median crown stripe and superciliary ; shoulders 
faintly tinged with red; under parts broadly streaked with dusky 
and whitish; chin and throat more or less tinged with buffy or 
pinkish. 
Geographical Distribution: From the Lower Colorado valley in Southern 
California and Arizona south to Mexico, 
