KTKKID.K -TlIK ORIOLKS. \(\r} 



as i»al(* «,TtH;iiisli-\vliito, with lait^e curvinjr .streaks an<l sj)()ts <»t' dark ))ro\vii, 

 mostly at the lar^e imkI. Tliev are said to measure one inch hv .T"* nf an inch. 

 K;4;4s of this variety in my «al>im't, taken in California hy l^r. lleermann, 

 are of a roumled-oval shaiic, nearly equally ol»tuse at either end, and vary- 

 ing' in length from .'.Mi of an ineh to an inch, and in ]>readth from .70 to .SO. 

 Their ground-color i.s a light l»lue, fading into a hluish-white, marked only 

 around the laiger end with waving lines of dark l.rown, much lighter in 

 shade than the markings of the phituiccus usually are. 



Agelaius tricolor, Bona?. 



BED AHD WHITE SHOULDEBED BLACKBIBD. 



Icterus tria>for, "NrrrALi,," Arn. Oni. Hiuff. V, 18:Jl», I, pi. i-ockxxviii. — Nuttall, 

 Man. I, (2.1 «'tl.,) 1840, lj<»j. J;fen,;»s frimfor, Bon. I.ist, 1838. — Aru. Syn. 1839, 

 141. — Ib. Bints Am. IV, 1842, 27, pi. c xiv. - Hi.ki:m. X, S, 53 (nest). — Baiud, 

 Birds N. Am. 18r.8, 530. — Cooi-ki;, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 205. 



Sp. Char. Tail m-arly evon. Rerond and third quills lonfjest; first a little shorter 

 than the ionrth. Bill slondt-r. not half as hi<rh as lonjr. 



Male, fxcncral color unirorin Instrous v<'lvet-l)la(k. \vitli a strong silkv-lilnisli roHec- 

 tion. S^houMcrs and lessor win^'-»-overls l)rownisli-n.'d, ol" nmch the color of venous 

 blood; the median coverts of a well-detined and nearly pure white, with sometimes a 

 brownish tinire. Winir. 4.90 ; tail, .5.70; eulmen. .!»7 ; tarsus, 1.13. 



Female. (Jeneral color tlusky slaty-l»rown, faintly varieu'ated on head also by li<rhter 

 streaks; middle winij-coverts broadly and sharply bordered with pure white. An 

 oltsolete sujierciliary and maxillary stripe of f,'rayish-white. Ben«'ath irrayish- white for 

 anterior half, with narrow streaks of dusky, this color jrratlually i»revailin,ir posteriorly, 

 the sides, flanks, and crissum bein<r nearly uniform dusky. Wiu;.'. 4.2.'); tail, o.20. 



Hab. Pacitic Province of United States, from Columbia liiver southward, not yet 

 found out of California and Orcfion. 



Immature males sometimes have the white on the wing tinged with 

 brownish-yellow, as in A. j)h(rnm'us. The red, however, has the usual 

 brownish-orange shade so much (hirker and duller than the brilliantly scarlet 

 shoulders of the other species, and the black has that soft Iduish lustre 

 peculiar to the s])ecies. The relationships generally between the two species 

 are very close, but the bill, as stated, is slenderer and more sulcate in trirohr, 

 the tail much more nearly even ; the first ])rimary longer, usually nearly 

 etpial to or Lmger than the foiuth, instead of tlu; fifth. 



Two strong features of colomtion distinguish the female and innuature 

 stages of this species from gnhruntor and jfJit^'tfii h.'^. They are, first, the soft 

 bluish gloss of the males, 1)oth adult and immature ; and secondly, the clear 

 white and broad, not ]>rown and narrow, borders to the middle wing-coverts. 



Habits. The IJed and White shouldered lilackbird was seen by Mr. 

 Itidgwav among the fti/f< in the neighborhood of Sacramento Citv, where it 

 was very abundant, associating with the .1. jtlufnim/s and (luhcrutitor, and 

 the Yellow-headed Blackbird. The conspicuous white stripe on the wings 



