""^iSfw'"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 571 



The Bobolink (Dolichonijx oryzivorus) is of course common. I saw birds in both 

 the black and buff plumage together at Carberry on August 150. (Christy.) 



Towards tbe end of July, after breeding, these birds collect into large flocks, and 

 the old males change their plumage. They then leave the prairie and attack the 

 oat fields, doing, with the assistance of the Grackles and Redwing Blackbirds, an 

 immense amount of mischief. After the oats are cut they resort to the marshes, 

 feeding on wild rice, etc., until the cool nights inform them it ia time to leave. 

 (iNash, InMSS.) 



364. Molothrus ater. Cowbird. 



Abundant summer resident tbrougliout the prairie reji^ions. Abun- 

 dant at Pembina and westward along the boundary to the mountains 

 (Coues). Red River Settlement on 28th April (Blakiston). Winnipeg: 

 Summer resident; abundant (Hiue). Oak Point : 1880, arrived April 

 14; 1885, first seen, one, on April 15; is common, and breeds here 

 (Small). Ossowa: Breeding (Wagner). Portage la Prairie : Common 

 summer resident; altogether too abundant; with the same parasitical 

 habits in nesting as elsewhere; arrives about May 25; departs in the 

 early part of October (Nash). Carberry: Abundant summer resident 

 on the prairies ; Souris River, May (Thompson). Common everywhere 

 on the prairies (Macouu). Shell River: 1885, first seen, five, on May 

 14; afterwards seen every day all summer; is common; lays eggs in 

 the nests of the Song Sparrow and Yellow Bird (Calcutt). Qu' Appelle: 

 Common summer resident; breeds; arrives April 20 (Guernsey). 



I noticed that on the Big Plain the cowbirds disappear for a time, 

 apparently joining the rusty grackles and other species among the 

 swamps and wet lands until after the attainment of the fall plumage, 

 when for a time they again became conspicuous, and continue about 

 the pastures until October. 



165. Xanthocephalufs xanthocephalus. Yellow-headed Blackbird. 



Common summer resident of the deeper sloughs of the prairie regions. 

 At Pembina, breeding abundantly ; Turtle Mountain and Mouse River 

 at the boundary (Coues). Dufferiu: Arrived between April 25 and 30 

 (Dawson). Winnipeg: Summer resident; abundant (Hine). Shoal 

 Lake: May 15, 1887, very abundant (Christy). North to fifty-eighth 

 parallel, but not to eastward of Lake Winnipeg (Richardson). Ossowa: 

 Breeding (Wagner). Oak Point: 1884, arrived May 5 (Small). Port- 

 age la Prairie : Common summer resident; arrives about May 1, departs 

 early in October; in 1884, main body arrived May G; some few came 

 before this (Nash). Prairie Portage (Hind). Carberry: Rare summer 

 resident; Brandon (Thompson). Two Rivers: 1885, first seen, two, 

 on May 1 ; fairly rare (Criddle). Dalton : 1889, first seen, two, on May 

 4; next seen on May 10, when it became common ; breeds here (You- 

 mans). Abundant around pools and marshes from Pembina to Winni- 

 peg, in sedgy ponds, west to Moose Mountain ; not noted in Winne- 

 pegosis region (Macouu). Shell River : 1885, first seen, one male, on May 



