166 Mearns on Birds at Fort Klamath. 



No. 26, $ ad., 1876 ; No. 62, 9 ad., May 27, 1878 ; No. G3, ^ ad., May 

 27, 1878. Nos. 62 and 63 are the parents, procured with a set of four 

 fresh eggs, three of which measure, respectively, .86 X 1.06, .85 X 1.04, 

 .87 X 1.05 ; giving an average of .86 X 1.05. Lieutenant Wittich ob- 

 serves : " In dissecting the female, to observe the condition of the ovary, 

 I noticed quite a large and unusual bulk in the after part of the body. 

 Opening it carefully, I took out an egg, full-size, and nearly ready to be 

 expelled. There was also one about half-size in the ovary, and others 

 smaller ( Wittich). Mrs. Wittich speaks of its song as remarkably fine, 

 and generally uttered while it is perched upon some tall pole on the 

 prairie. She mentions seeing a Meadow-Lark on November 12, 1878. 



37. Scolecophagus cyanocephalus {Wagler). Bluk-headed 

 Grackle; Bhkwkh's Blackbird. — No. 27, ^ ad., 1876. A permanent 

 resident. Very numerous ( Wittich). 



Alluding to the immense numbers of these birds in autumn, Mrs. Wit- 

 tich's observations are as follows: '^ September 26, 1878. The Blackbirds 

 (Brewer's) are here in such numbers that one shot brought down twenty- 

 eight and another thirty-six birds. They have been present in great num- 

 bers about six weeks, and every year they come in clouds about this time, 

 though the species is resident. In early May, 1878, we spent a day in the 

 Klamath Marsh. We saw numbers of both the Red-winged and Brewer's 

 Blackbirds, but they were far less numerous than is now the case about the 

 post. They settle in the grass, and, if disturbed, fly up in clouds ; and as 

 one set of them flies off, another body rises from the same spot, and 

 another, and another, till one can hardly credit one's own eyesight. Then, 

 when you reach the spot, the grass is still found to be swarming with 

 them. They stay about the stables, or where the teamsters have camped, 

 or at any place where they can find seeds. They cover our chicken-yard, 

 and keep the trees in its vicinity black with their numbers. Some flocks 

 are so shiny black that they look fairly blue in the sunlight, when upon 

 the wing ; others are rather rusty-looking." 



38. Corvus corax, Zm»!e. Raven. — Res\dimt (He nshaic). 



39. Corvus americanus (Audubon). Common Chow. — No. 28, 

 ad., 1875 ; No. 83, ^ ad.. May 5, 1878. The above specimens differ con- 

 siderably from Eastern specimens of the Crow. Rarely seen in this region 

 ( Wittich). 



Dr. J. S. Newberry remarks : " In the Klamath Basin we did not see 

 it, but it appeared again with the oaks on the Des Chutes River." * Lieu- 

 tenant Wittich characterizes it as excessively shy. 



^* Papific Railroad Report, Vol. VI, Pt. IV, !>. 82, 1857. 

 (To he concluded.) 



