892 KEPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



sometimes remain until October. The following are some other rec- 

 ords: Sedan, October 29, 1889; Sandusky, 0., October 17, 1896; Cook 

 County, 111., October 5, 1895; Greensburg, October 31, 1896, Novem- 

 ber 16, 1894; Plymouth, Mich., October 24, 1894; Hillsdale, Mich., 

 November 1, 1894. 



112. GBNUS XANTHOCEPHALUS SWAINSOX. 



*189. (497). Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (BONAP.). 



Yellow-headed Blackbird. 



Adult Male. Head (except lores), neck and chest, yellow; primary 

 coverts and some of greater coverts, white; rest of pfumage, black. 

 Female and Immature. Brownish-black; little or no white on wing; 

 yellow, restricted or obscured. Female smaller than the male. 



Male, length, 10.60-11.10; wing, 5.65-5.80; tail, 4.50-4.85. Female, 

 length, 9.00-10.00; wing, 4.40-4.65; tail, 3.50-3.70. 



RANGE. Western North America, from Mexico (Valley of Mexico), 

 north to British Columbia, and Keewatin; east to Manitoba, Wiscon- 

 sin, Indiana, Missouri and Texas. Breeds throughout its range. Win- 

 ters from Louisiana and Texas, southward. 



Nests, in colonies; nests fastened in rushes or other aquatic plants, 

 of grass, reeds and rushes, lined with finer grass. Eggs, 2-5; grayish 

 or greenish-white, rather evenly blotched or spotted with different 

 shades of brown, drab and pearl-gray; 1.02 by .71. 



This Western species is a summer resident in some localities, in 

 northwestern Indiana. It frequents swamps and has a preference for 

 certain localities, where it breeds in colonies. Mr. C. E. Aiken informs 

 me that he found it breeding abundantly along the Calumet River, in 

 Lake County, in 1871. He took over a hundred eggs. Mr. Geo. L. 

 Toppan has also found it breeding in Lake County, and also abun- 

 dantly about Mud Lake, over the line, in Illinois. There is a pair in 

 the State Museum that are marked from Porter County. Mr. Ruth- 

 ven Deane informs me one was taken from a flock of Red-winged 

 Blackbirds at English Lake, August 7, 1897, and Mr. Chas. Dury 

 says he obtained specimens from there years ago. None, however, 

 have been reported from there for fifteen years or more. The hab- 

 its of the Yellow-headed Blackbird are, in many respects, similar 

 to those of the Red-winged Blackbird. They are swamp birds. The 

 nest is built in reeds or tufts of grass; they have the somewhat similar 

 harsh clacking notes. 



