THE BIRD BOOK 



498. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. Agelaius 

 phceniceus phceniceus. 



jtiiuish white 



Red-winged Blackbird 



-**|>*^^^"\ / Range. North America east of the Rockies 



* . ' i. an( j from the southern British Provinces south- 



ward 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 destruction 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 some- 

 times on the ground in clumps of grass. Their 

 eggs are from three to five in number, bluish 

 white boldy spotted, clouded or lined with blackish brown and purplish. Size 

 1.00 x .70. The nests and eggs of the numerous sub-species are all precisely the 

 same as those of this bird, so we will but enumerate the varieties and their 

 range. To identify these varieties other than by their ranges will require 

 micrometer calipers and the services of the men who separated them. 



498a. SONORA RED-WING. Agelaius phceniceus sonoriensis. 

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



498b. BAHAMA RED-WING. Agelaius phceniceus bryanti. 



Range.-- Bahamas and southern Florida. 

 This species has a slightly longer bill. 



498c. FLORIDA RED-WING. Agelaius phceniceus floridanus. 



Range. Florida and Gulf coast. 

 A smaller species with a longer bill. 



498d. THICK-BILLED RED-WING. Agelaius phceniceus fortis. 



Range. Breeds in the interior of British America; in winter south through 

 the Plains to southwestern United States. 



498e. SAN DIEGO RED-WING. Agelaius Phceniceus neutralis. 



Range. Great Basin between the Rockies and Sierra Nevadas, from British 

 Columbia to Mexico, wintering in the southern parts of its range. 



498f. NORTHWESTERN RED-WING. Agelaius phceniceus caurinus. 

 Range. Pacific coast from California to British Columbia. 



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