BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



500. Agelaius tricolor (And.}. TBICOLOBED BLACKBIBD. 



Adult male. Glossy blue black, plumage with silky luster ; epaulettes 

 dark red, bordered with white, more or less tinged with buff ; in winter, 

 plumage softer, more glossy, and white on epaulettes more or less tinged 

 with buff. Adult female : texture of plumage like that of male ; upper 

 parts dusky with greenish or bronzy luster ; crown narrowly streaked ; 

 scapulars and interscapulars with grayish edgings ; wings with grayish and 

 whitish bands ; head with superciliary and malar streaks ; throat and chest 

 streaked ; rest of under parts dusky, with paler edgings to feathers. Im- 

 mature female, first utinter : like adult female, but browner. Young : like 

 female, but browner, and under parts narrowly streaked ; wings with two 

 bands. Male : length (skins) 8.00-9.05, wing 4.63-4.87, tail 3.32-3.75, bill 

 .S7-.95. Female: length (skins) 7.10-7.85, wing 4.11-4.32, tail 2.92-3.16, 

 bill .7S-.S3. 



Distribution. Valleys of Oregon, California, and Lower California, 

 west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada. 



Nest and eggs similar to those of phoeniceus. Eggs : 1 to 4. 



Food. Young fed entirely on grasshoppers. ^ 



GENUS STURNELIiA. 



General Characters. Bill about as long as head, narrowly wedge- 

 shaped, acute and depressed at tip ; tail less than two thirds as long as 

 wing, the feathers sharp-pointed ; wing short, tertials lengthened reach- 



Fig. 361. 



ing almost to tips of primaries feathers of top of head with stiffened 

 glossy shafts ; outstretched feet reaching beyond tip of tail. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Yellow of throat encroaching on malar region . 

 1'. Yellow of throat not encroaching on malar region 



neglecta, p. 293. 

 hoopesi, p. 292. 



50 la. Sturnella magna hoopesi Stone. TEXAS MEADOWLABK. 



Adult male. Similar to S. m. neglecta, but yellow of throat restricted, not 

 encroaching on cheeks, and yellow somewhat deeper and more intense than 

 in neglecta. Adult female : similar, but yellow more orange. Young : 

 colors much duller and markings less distinct ; black mark on chest only 



