Obdeb PASSEBES. 37 



Genus CYANOCEPHALUS Bonaparte. 



B. 431. R. 285. C. 345. G. 144. U. 492. 



188. Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus (Wied.). Piilon Jay. k rare visitant. 

 Three specimens taken October 23d, 1875, near Lawrence, and reported by 

 Prof. F. H. Snow in his catalogue of the birds of Kansas. 



Family ICTERIDJE. Blackbirds, Orioles, etc. 

 Genus DOLICHONYX Swainson. 



B. 399. R. 257. C. 312. G. 129. U. 494. 



189. Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Linn.). Bobolink. Summer resident; very rare; 

 during migration quite common. Arrive the first of May. Begin laying the 

 last of May; nest in a depression on the ground, in the grass on the low bot- 

 tom lands, composed of slender, wire-like stems of grasses. Eggs, four or 

 five; .85x.63; ashy-white, evenly specked with light drab to grayish and reddish 

 brown, and pale surface markings in the shell; in form oval. 



Genus MOLOTHRUS Swainson. 



B. 400. R. 258. C. 313. G. 130. U. 495. 



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

 early in March to first of April. Begin laying about the last of May. Never 

 build a nest, but drop their eggs into the nests of smaller birds; do not try to 

 take possession by force, but by stealth, during the absence of the owners, and 

 as the birds are polygamous, exhibit no conjugal affections, or love for their 

 offspring. Average dimensions of their eggs, which vary greatly in size, .85x 

 .65; bluish white, thickly spotted and specked with ashy to reddish brown, and 

 occasionally splashes of purple; in form elliptical. 



Genus XANTHOCEPHALUS Bonapakte. 



B. 404. R. 260. C. 319. G. 131. U. 497. 



191. Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus ( Bonap.). Yellow-headed Blackbird. 

 Summer resident; not uncommon; in migration, common. Arrive the last of 

 April to first of May. Begin laying the last of May. Nest in reeds and rushes, 



> composed of flexible leaves of flags and grasses, lined with a finer material of 

 the same, and attached to and woven in and around the standing, growing 

 stalks. On the first of June I found quite a colony, building in the giant 

 rushes, of the genus Juncus, growing in ponds along Crooked creek, in Meade 

 county; and I have on several occasions found them breeding in small flocks, 

 in different parts of the State. Eggs, three to six; .95x.74; greenish white, 

 profusely covered with spots and blotches of drab and purplish brown; in 

 form oval. 



Genus AGtELAIUS Vieillot. 



B. 401. R. 261. C. 316. G. 132. U. 498. 



192. Agelaius phoeniceus (Linn.). Red-winged Blackbird. Summer resident; 

 abundant. Arrive in March, a few remaining into and occasionally through 



