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GENUS AGELAIUS— SWAINSON. 



MARSH BLACKBIRD. 



[Bill shorter than the head, robust, conical, straight — ridge of the bill flattened 

 toward the base ; tip of upper mandible depressed ; head ovate, of moderate 

 size ; neck short ; body rather full ; wings of moderate length ; tail rather long, 

 rounded ; tarsi longer than the middle toes ; claws long, slender, arched — hind 

 toe and claw strongest.] 



AGELAIUS PHCENICEUS— LINN. 



RED-WINGED STARLING, OR MARSH BLACKBIRD. 



Red-winged Starling, Sturmus proedatiorius, Wils. Amer. Orn. 

 Icterus phoeniceus, Bonap. Syn. 



Agelaius phoeniceus, Red-winged Maize Bird, Sw. & Rich. 

 Red-winged Black Bird, Icterus phoeniceus, Nutt. Man. 

 Red-winged Starling, or Marsh Blackbird, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Adult male with the plumage glossy-black, 

 excepting the smaller wing coverts, the first row of which are cream 

 color — the rest scarlet. The female is nearly two inches less ; the 

 upper parts black, the feathers margined with pale brown ; lower 

 parts streaked with black and dull white ; a band of pale brown 

 over the eye, and some of the smaller wing coverts slightly tinged 

 with red. Length of male nine inches, wing four and three quar- 

 ters. 



" The Red-winged Blackbird is said to inhabit during the sum- 

 mer months the whole of North America, from Nova Scotia to 

 Mexico, and is found in the interior from the 53d degree across the 

 whole continent, to the shores of the Pacific, and along the coast as 

 far as California." — Nut-all. 



It arrives on Long Island about the first of April ; generally 

 preferring low situations, it is found in all our swamps and mead- 



