Harris Birds of the Kansas City Region. 



285 



AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS PHOENICEUS (Linn.). 



AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS PREDATORIUS (Wilson). Proposed April, 



1917. 



Common summer resident; very abundant migrant; irregular, some- 

 times not uncommon winter resident. 



DISTRIBUTION OF A. P. PREDATORIUS 



Continuous line encloses breeding range. 

 Broken line shows extent of winter range. 



Immense hordes of Red-wings migrate up and down the low- 

 lands bordering the Missouri River. Flocks numbering untold 

 thousands are present during spring and autumn, and occasional 

 birds are found among the wintering throngs of Thick-bills and 

 Northern Red-wings. The earliest flocks, composed almost en- 

 tirely of males, begin to arrive during the first few days of 

 March while the wintering birds are still present in some num- 

 bers. In favorable winters this northward movement may start 

 as early as the middle of February. Not until the first of May 

 have the last flocks of late females passed, leaving only the 

 breeding birds present. These summer residents may be looked 

 for in the bottom lands or on the uplands about swampy places, 

 or where there are reeds, rushes, high grass or cat-tails near 

 water. They start nesting about the middle of May. Flocking 

 begins as early as the middle of July when the birds begin to 



