286 



Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



use common roosts in the bottoms, scattering over the entire 

 county at early dawn to feed. The southward movement com- 

 mences early in October and continues until well into December. 



AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS FORTIS Ridgway. Thick-billed Red-wing. 

 Irregular, sometimes very abundant, migrant and winter resident. 



DISTRIBUTION OF A. P. FORTIS 



i MINN, f 



[A 



fe-wstef 



ANS VX \ P"'^ /^-- -^ 



J \ V---"7' 



r" V- V T -reNN.^^-v.,. 



i\ 



OKLAHOMA 



\ *\~\ \ 



; A** // \ 



/ \ GA 



'"\ -&USS.J AU^. ^ 



\/f 

 l-A.^--, > 



/ ^^O^^*^ 



x/*'\ 



Continuous line encloses breeding range. 

 Broken line shows extent of winter range. 



The Red-wings wintering in this vicinity were long suspected 

 of belonging to this very noticeably larger subspecies, but prior 

 to the winter of 1916-1917 no systematic investigation had ever 

 been made in western Missouri to establish their subspecific status. 

 This rather severe winter proved to be a favorable one for this 

 study, as the birds were present in unusual abundance. A large 

 series of specimens was taken over a wide area and covering the 

 entire period of their sojourn. 



They began arriving in small numbers during the middle of 

 November and continued coming in increasing numbers until 

 during the intense cold periods of late December and January 

 there were countless thousands resorting to common roosts in 

 the timbered bottoms along the Missouri River. In the early 

 mornings when the birds scattered to feed, great flocks flew over 



