362 BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



498b. A. p. bryanti Ridgw. BAHAMA RED-WING. Similar to A. p. flor- 

 idanus but smaller, the bill much more slender; 9 with the underparts 

 streaked with brownish. W., 3'70; T., 3'50; B., '90; depth of bill at nos- 

 tril, '35. 



Range. SE. coast of Fla., Florida Keys to Key West, and the Bahamas. 



498c. A. p. floridanus Mayn. FLORIDA RED-WING. Similar to A. p. 

 phceniceus but smaller, bill longer, and more slender. <? W., 4'20; B., *90; 

 depth at base, "40. 



Range. Fla. (except the se. coast and keys), and w. along the coast at 

 least to Galveston, Tex. 



Nesting date, Lake Flirt, Fla., Apl. 15. 



498d. A. p. fortis (Ridgw.). THICK-BILLED RED-WING. Similar to 

 A. p. phceniceus but larger (largest of the genus), bill shorter and proportion- 

 ately thicker, 9 somewhat paler and browner, d" W., 5*00; B., *80; depth 

 at base '50. 



Range. Cen.. N. A. Breeds from cen. Mack, and s. Keewatin s. to ne. 

 Colo, and n. Texas ; winters principally in the s. part of its breeding range, 

 wandering irregularly further eastward. SE. Minn., common T. V. 



501. Sturnella magna magna (Linn.}. MEADOWLARK. (Fig. 63fe.) 

 Ads. in summer. Prevailing color of upperparts black, crown with a buffy 

 line through center, back bordered and tipped with rufous and buffy; 

 outer tail-feathers mostly white, middle ones with imperfect, connected bars, 

 not reaching the outer edge of the feather; line from bill over eye yellow; 

 sides of the throat and ear-coverts whitish; throat, between the lower 

 branch of the under mandible, breast, and middle of the upper belly bright 

 yellow; a black crescent on breast; sides and lower belly whitish, spotted 

 or streaked with black. Ads. and Im. in winter. Feathers all much more 

 widely margined, the prevailing color of the upperparts rufous-brown; 

 black breast crescent veiled with buffy; yellow of underparts duller. 

 L., 1075; W., 4'76; T., 3'16; B., 1'30. 



Remarks. This bird is to be distinguished from the western species by 

 its much darker upperparts, by the imperfect, confluent tail-bars, and, 

 especially, by the absence of yellow on the sides of the throat. 



Range. E. N. Am. Breeds in Transition and Upper Austral zones from 

 e. Minn., s. Ont., s. Que., and N. B. s. to n. Tex., Mo., and N. C., and w. to 

 w. Iowa., e. Kans., and nw. Tex.; winters regularly from s. New England 

 and Ohio valley s. to the Gulf States, and n. locally to the Great Lakes and 

 s. Maine. 



Washington, common P. R., less common in winter. Ossining, tolerably 

 common S. R., Feb. 20 to Nov. 27; a few winter. Cambridge, common S. R., 

 not common W. V. N. Ohio, abundant S. R., Mch. 5-Nov. 15; a few winter. 

 Glen Ellyn, common S. R., Jan. 24-Nov. 15; irregular W. V. SE. Minn., 

 common S. R., Mch. 25-Oct. 15, rare W. V. 



Nest, of grasses, usually arched, on the ground. Eggs, 4-6, white, spotted 

 or speckled with cinnamon or reddish brown, 1*15 x "80. Date, Beech Haven, 

 N. J., May 7; Chester Co., Pa., May 9; Cambridge, May 28; Tampico, Ills., 

 May 5; se. IV^inn., May 16. 



In walking through grassy fields, meadows, or marshes, we some- 

 times flush rather large, brownish birds, which, alternately flapping 

 and sailing, scale away with a flight that suggests a Quail's. Their 

 white outer tail-feathers show conspicuously, and, if, instead of return- 

 ing to the ground, they alight on a fence or the outer branch of a tree, 

 as they utter a dzit or yert and metallic twitter, they will nervously 

 flit their tails, displaying the same white feathers. When in an exposed 



