BULLETIN 



OF THE 



NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Vol. II. OCTOBER, 1877. No. 4. 



NOTES ON MOLOTHRUS ^NEUS, Wagl. 



BY J. C. MERRILL, ASSISTANT SURGEON, U. S. A. 



The occurrence of this species north of Mexico was noted in the 

 Bulletin of November, I87fi (Vol. I, p. 88). It is now more than 

 a year since it was first observed, and during that time I have had 

 ample opportunity to study its habits, a short account of which 

 may be of interest. This Cowbird is found in Mexico, Guatemala, 

 and Veragua, as well as in Southern Texas ; how far it penetrates 

 into the latter State I am unable to say. My first specimens were 

 taken at Hidalgo, on the Rio Grande, seventy miles northwest of 

 Fort Brown, where, however, they are not so abundant as lower 

 down the river. Here they are common throughout the year, a 

 small proportion going south in winter. Those that remain gather 

 in large flocks with the Long-tailed Grackles, common Cowbirds, and 

 Brewer's, Red-winged, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds ; they become 

 very tame, and the abundance of food about the picket-lines attracts 

 them for miles around. 3f. ceneus is readily distinguishable in 

 these mixed gatherings from the other species by its blood-red iris 

 and its peculiar top-heavy appearance, caused by its habit of puffing 

 out the feathers of the head and neck. This habit is most marked 

 during the breeding-season and in the male, but is seen throughout 

 the year. 



About the middle of April the common Cowbird, Brewer's, and 

 Yellow-headed Blackbirds leave for the North ; the Long-tailed 

 Grackles have formed their colonies in favorite clumps of mesquite 

 trees ; the Redwings that remain to breed have selected sites for 

 their nests ; the dwarf Cowbirds [Molothrtis pecoris var. obscurus) 



