238 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



496. Red-eyed Cowbird. Callothrus robustus. 



Range. Mexico; north in summer to the Lower Rio Grande in Texas. 



This parasite is larger than the Cowbird, being 9 inches 

 long, and is glossy black with brassy reflections on the 

 upper and under parts. They are abundant in southern 

 Texas where they deposit their eggs in the nests of other 

 birds, apparently preferring those of Orioles ; their eggs 

 are pale bluish green, unmarked; size .90 x .70. 



[Light blue-green.] 



497. Yellow-headed Blackbird. Xanthocephalusxanthocephalus. 



Range. North America west of the Mississippi to eastern California, breeding 

 from the southern parts of the United States north to British Columbia and 

 Hudson Bay and wintering from southern United States downward. 



This large handsome Blackbird with bright yellow head 

 and breast is very abundant in some parts of the west, where 

 they nest in large colonies in sloughs and marshes, being 

 especially abundant in the Dakotas and Manitoba. The 

 nests are made of strips of rushes, skillfully woven together 

 and attached to upright cane near the surface of the water. 

 They lay from four to six eggs having a grayish white 

 ground color, finely specked and spotted with shades of [Grayish white ] 

 brown and gray; size 1.00 x .70. Data. Harrison, S. D., 

 June 21, 1891. 4 eggs in a nest made of grasses, placed in rushes over the water. 

 Collector, W. C. Colt. 



498. Red-winged Blackbird. Agelaius phceniceus. 



Range. North America east of the Rockies and from the southern British 

 Provinces southward to the Gulf; winter in southern United States. 



These birds are familiar to every frequenter of the country, 

 in their range; too familiar to many, for the enormous flocks 

 do considerable damage to grain fields in the fall. They also 

 do a great amount of good at other seasons in the des- 

 truction of injurious insects and weed seed. They breed 

 from April in the southern parts of their range to May and 

 June in the northern, making their nests of grasses, woven 

 and twisted together and placing them in bushes in swamps 



or over water, and sometimes on the ground in clumps of grass. Their eggs are 

 from three to five in number, bluish white boldly spotted, clouded or lined with 

 blackish brown and purplish. Size 1.00 x .70. The nests and eggs of the num- 

 erous subspecies are all precisely the same as those of this bird, so we will but 

 enumerate the varieties and their ranges. To identify these varieties other than 

 by their ranges will require micrometer calipers and the services of the men who 

 separated them. 



498a. Sonoran Red-wing. A. p. sonoriensls. 

 Range. A slightly larger variety found in southwestern United States. 



498b. Bahaman Red-Wing. A.p.bryanti. 

 Range. Bahamas and southern Florida. 

 This species has a slightly longer bill. 



498c. Florida Red-wing. A. p. floridanus. 

 Range. Florida and Gulf coast. 

 A smaller species with a longer bill. 



