62 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



313. Molothrus ater (Bodd.) Gray. B 400. c 211. R 258. 



Cowbird. 



314. Molothrus ater obscurus (Gm.) Coues. B . c 2iia. R 258a. 



Dwarf Cow-bird. 



315. Molothrus seneus Cab. B . c . R 259. 



Bronzed Cowbird. 



316. Agelaeus phceniceus (L.) V. B 401. c 212. R 261. 



Bed-winged Marsh Blackbird. 



317. Agelaeus phoeniceus gubernator (Wagl.) Coues. B402. C2i2a. R2Gia. 



Bed-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. 



318. Agelseus tricolor Nutt. B 403. c 2126. R 262. 



Bed-and-white-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. 



313. MS-lS'-thriis a'-tgr. Unde derivaturl The orthography and etymology of molothrus are 



alike in dispute. Swainson himself says, " fjio\oOpos, qui non vocatus alienas aedes intrat ; " 

 that is, an uninvited guest. There being no such Greek word as yuoAofyos, but there being 

 a good Greek word /xoAo/>o's, meaning one who roams in quest of food, a vagabond, a 

 beggar, a parasite, a " tramp" (as we should say now), and therefore exactly answering 

 to Swainson's explanation of his molothrus, it has been supposed by Cabanis that Swain- 

 son meant to say molobrus, and the word has consequently been changed. Though this 

 is very true, it is also to be observed that Swainson wrote molothrus more than once, 

 showing it not to be a misprint or other mistake, and that, further, it is quite possible to 

 construct the word molothrus from fiu\os and 0pc6<r/fo> (0opetV, 66pw, 6va>], and answer all 

 the conditions of Swainson's definition ; molothrus being, in this case, a bird which takes 

 uninvited possession of other birds' nests, and there leaves an alien egg in mockery of 

 the rightful owners. We therefore see no necessity to replace molothrus by molobrus. The 

 first o is marked long as being Gr. ta, the second as lengthened by position. 

 This stands in the orig. ed. as M. pecoris, corrected in a footnote. 



314. M. a. ob-scu'-rus. Lat. obscurus, obscure, dark; obscuro, I darken; Gr. triad, shadow, 



shade. 



This stands as M. pecoris var. obscurus in the orig. ed. 



315. M. a. ae'-nS-us. Lat. ceneus, of brass, brassy, brazen, bronzed; from ces, genitive cms, brass. 



Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered by J. C. Merrill, in Texas. 



316. A-ggl-ae'-us pboe-m'-c6-tis. Gr. &ye\aios, pertaining to flocks and herds, from ftyeAi?, a 



flock : this from ayetpca, I assemble, from &ya>, I lead ; in allusion to the gregariousness 

 of these Blackbirds. Gr. Qoiviiceos, or Lat. phoeniceus, deep red ; " a color first intro- 

 duced into Greece by the Phoenicians." The fabulous bird Phoenix, and the name of 

 Phoenician, and the word for flame-color, are all the same, (polvij;. This itself is a radi- 

 cal word, but related through (froivos, <f>6vos, with fyeva), <f>aa, I kill, slay, as if the idea of 

 the whole set of words were that of murder, from its traditional color of blood. The 

 obvious application is to the scarlet on the wings. 



317. A. p. gub-er-na'-t5r. Lat. gubernator, Gr. Kv&epvfiTys (cybernetes), a pilot, helmsman; 



gubernum or gubernaculum, a rudder, tiller ; guberno, Gr. /cuj8epi/oo> or Kvficpv>, I steer a ship ; 

 hence, to direct or govern in general. Govern, governor, are directly from guberno, and 

 the actual Latin lingers in gubernatorial. The implication is the red shoulder-knots or 

 epaulettes of the bird, as if signs of rank or command. 



318. A. trl'-c61-8r. Lat. tricolor, three-colored; tres, three, becoming in composition tri-. 



This stands as A. phoeniceus var. tricolor in the first ed., but proves to be sufficiently 

 distinct. 



