5 



ICTERID.E -THE OlilOLES. IQl) 



discover tlicni, i'Xfc'[»t 1>y diligt'iit seiirch, aided by tainiliarity with their 

 liabits. 



Ill Texa.s Mr. I)re^st'r met witli a tew in the fall, and a^aiii in A])ril hv 

 found the prairies covered witli tliese l»irds. For ..* >ut a week vast tloeks 

 remained al)out the town, after which they suddenly disai)peareil, and no 

 more were seen. 



In California, Dr. Cooper states that tliey winter in lar^e inimhers in tlie 

 middle districts, some wanderinu to tlie Colorado Vallev and to San J)ie'4o. 

 They nest around Santa liarluira, and thence northward, and are very abun- 

 dant about Klamath Like. They a.s;s(K'iate with the C)ther IJlackltirds, l»ut 

 always kec]) in "•■"r-ite companies. They are \ery gregarious, even in 

 sunnner. 



Dr. Cooper states i. -^ r'::- nly song the male attempts consists of a few 

 lioarse, chuckling in js an* . omical sipieakings, uttered as if it was a great 

 ett'ort to make any sound at all. 



Dr. Coues s])eaks of it as less numerous in Arizona than at most other 

 localities wliere found at all. He sj)eaks of it as a summer resident, but in 

 this 1 think he may have been mistaken. 



In Western Iowa Mr. Allen saw a tew, during the first week in 'Tuly, 

 about the gras.sy ponds near lioonesboro'. He was tcjld that they breed in 

 great numbers, north and east of that section, in the meadows of the Skunk 

 River country. He also reports them as breeding in large numbers in the 

 Calumet ma-- hes of Northern Hlinois. 



Sir Jolm iJichardson found these birds very numerous in the interior of 

 the fur countries, ranging in summer as far to the north as the r»8th parallel, 

 but not found to the eastward of Lake Winnipeg. They reached the Sas- 

 katchewan by the 20th of May, in greater nund^ers than the Kedwings. 



Through California, as well as in the interior, Mr. Kidgway found the 

 Yellow-headed I>lackl)ird a very abundant species, even exceeding in num- 

 bers the A. lohonirt'ns, occurring in the marshes filled with rushes. This 

 species he found more greg. ous than the Kedwing, and fret[uently their 

 nests almost filleu the rushes oi' their breeding-places. Its notes he describes 

 a", harsher than those of any other bird he is acquainted with. Yet they 

 are by no means disagreeable, while frequently their attempts at a song- 

 were really amusing. Their usual note is a deep rlarl-, similar to that of 

 most Ulackbirds, but of a rather deeper tone. In its movements upon the 

 ground its gait is firm and graceful, and it may fre([uently be seen walking 

 about over the grassy flats, in small comi)anies, in a man" .r similar to the 

 Cow Iilackbird, Mhich, in its movement.s, it greatly resembles. It nests in 

 the sloughs, among the tale, and the maximum number of its eggs is four. 



Mr. W. .> . ^IcLaughlin of Centralia, "lansas, writes (American Xaturalist, 

 III, p. 493) that these birds arrive in that region about the first of ^Fay, and 

 all disaj)pear about the loth of .Tune. He does not think tliat any breed 

 there. During their sta; they make themselw - :ry valuable to the farmei*s 



VOL. H. 22 



