104 VOHTII AMi:iM('A\ IJIIIDS. . 



ist, tin's sjK'cit'S is cliicily fouml in tlic wanner interior of ralilorni.i, Santa 

 Cru/ Itein;,' the oiily point on the oMist where lie has met with it. He 

 t'onnd it in seattere<l pairs, in May, thron;:hout the Coast llani^'e, even to 

 the suniniits, where there are small marshes tail of rushes, in which they 

 huihl. He has not lx*en ahle to detect anv ditferenee between the hahits 

 and notes of this bird and the connnon Redwin;^'. The fact that specimens 

 with entirely red shoulders seem limited to the middle of the Stat^, or are 

 rare alonu; the coast, while most of those on the coast closely resemhle the 

 eastern l»ird, Hr. ('oo|»er rejjiards as sug^^estive of its hein;,' only a local race, 

 thou^di said to occur also in ^^exico. 



Dnrin^' the summer this sj)ecies is said to emit a variety of sweet and 

 li([ui<l notes, delivered from some tree near its favorite mai'sh. These are 

 also sometimes minj^ded with jin^dinu and creakin^^ sounds. 



Dr. Suckley, in his liei)ort on the Zo()h»<,'y of Washington Territory, ex- 

 presses the o])inion, that, althoujjfh a specimen of this bird is re])orted as 

 havin<' been taken by Townsend on the Columbia, it is very rarely found so 

 far north, as he never met with it in Washin^'ton Territory, and has never 

 been able to hear of any other specimen having Ijeen found there. 



Dr. Kennerly, in his IJeport on the birds observed in the snrvey of the 

 35th j)arallel, states that durini; the march along liill Williams Fork, and 

 along the Great Colorado and the ^lohave llivers, this s})ecies was found (^uite 

 numerous. They were more abundant still along the creeks and swampy 

 grounds that were passed as they a])]iroached the .settlements of California. 

 Large tiocks could there be seen ^vhirling around in gmceful curves, like dark 

 clouds, chattering joyfully as they moved along, or settling as a black veil ou 

 the topmost branches of some tree, indulging loudly in their harsh music. 



In his IJeport of the birds observed in the survey under Lieutenant Wil- 

 liamson, Dr. Heermann mentioiis finding this species abundant, an<l, in the 

 fall .season, as associated with MolothrvA paoris and A. trirolor. Its nest he 

 found built in the willow bushes and tussocks of irrass above the level of 

 the water, in the marshes. There were but a few pairs together, and in this 

 respect they diifer froUi the tricolor, which prefers dry situations near 

 water, and ^yllicll congregate by thousands while breeding. The nest was 

 composed of mud and tine roots, and lined with fine grasses. The eggs, four 

 in number, he describes as pale blue, dashed with spots and lines of black. 

 Neither this nor the tricolor was detected by Dr. Coues in Arizona. 

 The.se Blackbirds were found by Mr. Liduwav abundant in the marshy 

 regions of California, but they were rarely met with east of the Sierra Ne- 

 vada. A few individuals were collected in Nevada in the valley of the 

 Truckee. A fe\v pairs were found breeding among tlie tt'le sloughs and 

 marshes. The nests found in the Truckee IJeservations were built in low 

 bushes in wet meadows. 



A nest procured by Dr. Coo]>er from the summit of the Coast Kange was 

 1)uilt of grass and rushes, and lined with finer grass. The eggs are described 



