122 



NollTlI AMEiaCAN IJIRDS. 



26138 (^ 



13600 jf' 



Mi 



as descrilxjcl ; tlie back darker, tlie rump and axillars more pliiiiibeous, the 

 sides iiiorci bluish. There is little doubt that the exaininati()n of series I'roui 

 the States alnn^' tiie Mississippi will show a still eloser reseuil»lance to typi- 

 cal C Imluvuimmn, and tliat the ^^radation between the two extremes will be 

 found to be c(»ntinuous and uni)roken. It tiieretbre seems reasonable to con- 

 sider them all as one species, varvin<^ with lonnitude and region according 

 to the usual law, — the more western the lighter, with longer tail. The only 

 alternative is to suppose that two species, originally distinct, have hybridized 

 along the line of junction of their resi)ective provinces, as is certainly some- 

 times the case. The ap]»roximation in many respects of coloration of the 

 Shrikes of the Pacific coast to those of the South Atlantic States is not with- 

 out its importance in the discussion of the subject. However it may be, it 



is necessary to retain the name of tvf «- 



* 



hitoroidoi, as representing, whether iis 

 species or variety, a peculiar regional 

 form, which must be kept distinctly in 

 mind. The comparatively greater size 

 of the bill in the Caju' St. Lucas speci- 

 mens is seen in other species from this 

 locality (Xo. 26,4I^>8 of adjacent figure). 

 The intensity of the black front in 

 this species varies considerably, being 

 sometimes xery distinct, and again entirely wanting. This may ])robably 

 be a character of the breedimx-season, the dulness of black anterior to the eve 

 and the lighter c«)lor of the bill having a close relationship here, as in other 

 species, to maturity, sex, and season. 



Habits. This variety was first described from specimens obtained in the 

 territory of the Hudson's Bay Co. Iiichardson states that it was not found 

 farther north than the fifty-fourth degree, and there oidy in the warm antl 

 sandy plain of the Saskatchewan. Its manners, he says, are precisely similar 

 to those of the hoirxf/is, feeding chiefly on the grasshoppers, which were very 

 numerous on the plains. Mr. iJrummond found its nest in the beginning of 

 dune, in a bush of willows, it was ; \..!i of the twigs of the Artemisia and 

 dry grass, and lined with feathers The eggs were six in nu1id)er, of a 

 l)ale yell(jwish-gray color, with many irregular and confluent si)ots of oil- 

 iireen, mixed with a few of smoke-iirav. 



]\lr. Ikidgway met with it, in his Western explorations, in all localities, but 

 most frequently among the Artemisia and in the meadow-tracts of the river 

 valleys. It is also seen on all i>arts of the mountains, among the cedar 

 groves, localities in which the huhviciaims is said never to be found. 



Dr. Cooper describes this bird as abundant in all the ])lains-region of Cali- 

 fornia, but not as far as the Columbia Iliver. South of latitude o'S>^, they reside 

 all the year. They were abundant about Fort Mohave all winter, and nested 

 as early as the lOth of March in a thorn-bush. They had young early in 



