IGO NORTH AMEPtlCAX BIRDS.. 



yellowish ; beneath white, streaked with brown. F«jrepart of throat, supereiiiary. and 

 median stripe strongly tinged with browni^h-yellow. Length of male, 9..")0; wing, 5.00; 

 tail, 4.15. 



IIab. United States from Atlantic to Pacifie; north to Great Slav*' Lake, Fort Resolu- 

 tion, Fort Simpson, Fort Rae. ete. ; Guatemala (Sclateij, Ibis I, 10; breeding) ; Costa Rica 

 (Lawkknck, America, X. Y. Lye. IX, 104); Bahamas (Bryant, B. P. VII, 18."i(>); 

 Texas (DijESSKR, Ibis, do, 402) ; Arizona (Coues, P. A. X. S. 180(5, 00; Fort Whij^ple) ; 

 Yucatan. 



There is some variation in tlie shatle of red on tlie slionlders, wliicli is 

 sometimes of tlie color of arterial bhjod or bright crimson. It never, how- 

 ever, has the hiematitic tint of the red in A. tricolor. The middle coverts 

 are usually uniform brownish-yellow to the very tips ; sometimes some of 

 these middle coverts are tipped at the end with black, but these black tips 

 are usually of slight extent, and indicate immaturity, or else a transition of 

 hyl>ridisni or race to A. f/i'bcrnator. 



There is also some variation in the size and proportions of the bill. The 

 most strikin*' is in a series of three from the Ked Biver Settlement, decidedlv 

 larger than more southern ones (wings, 5.15 ; tail, 4.40). The bill is about 

 as long as that of Pennsylvania specimens, but much stouter, the thickness 

 at the base beint' considerablv more than half the len^tli of the cidmeu. 

 One specimen from San Elizario, Texas, has the bill of much the same size 

 and proportions. 



The male of A. </.<?.«??' //< /'/s- of Cuba cannot be distinguished from small- 

 sized males of pJi'inmns from the L^nited States, the females, however, as in 

 neiirlv all West Indian Idrrula', are uniform though rather dull black. This 

 we consider as simph a local variation of melanism, not indicating a specific 

 difference. A young male is similar, but with the lesser coverts red, tip})ed 

 with black. On the other extreme, streaked female and voung birds from 

 Lower California, Arizona, and Western Mexico are much lighter than in 

 eastern l)irds, the chin, throat, jugidum, and su])erciliary stripe tinged with 

 a peculiar peach-blossom pink ; not buff, sometimes tinged with orange. 



Habits. The much abrsed and persecuted IJedwinged Blackbird is found 

 throughout Xortli America as far north as the 5 Tth parallel, from the Atlan- 

 tic to the Pacific ; and it breeds more or less abundantlv wherever found, 

 from Florida and Texas to the plains of the Saskatchewan. According to 

 the observations of ]Mr. Salvin, it is resident all the vear in Guatemala. It 

 breeds amonu; the reeds at the lake of Duefias, deferring its incubation until 

 the month of June. The females congregate in large flocks near the lake, 

 feeding about the swampy grass on the edge of the water, the males keeping 

 separate. At Orizaba, Mexico, Sumichrast regarded this species as only a 

 bird of passage. 



On the Pacific coast, it is only found, in any numbers, in Washington 

 Territory and in Oregon, about cultivated tracts. Dr. Cooper thinks that 

 none inhab't the bare and mountainous prairie regions east of the Cascade 

 ^lountains. Small flocks wintered at Vancouver al)Out stables and hay- 



