168 



NORTH AJIEraCAN BIRDS. 



Si". CiiAK. First quill nearly as louj; as the socoiiil and third (lonp^est), dooidcdly longer 

 than the limrlh. Tail roundi'd. or slii;litly ■.'radnatiMl. (iciioral color l)li\('k, including,' the 

 inner sinliiee of winj^-.s and axillaries, base of lower niandihle all round, feathers adjacent 

 to nostrils, lores, upper eyelids, and remaining space around the eye. The lu^ad and neck 

 all round; the forepart of the breast, exteudiuf,' some distance down on the median line 

 and a somewhat hidden space round the anus, yellow. A conspicuous white patch at the 



ba.<e of the wing tijiiued liy the .spinious 

 feathers, interrupted by the blaelc alula. 



Female smaller, browner; the yellow con- 

 fined to the under parts ami sides of the head, 

 and a superciliary line. .V dusky maxillary 

 line. No white on the wing. Jycugth of male, 

 10 inches ; wing, ").()(•; tail, 1. .')(). 



II.vii. Westei'ii America i'roin Texas, Illinois, 

 Wisconsin, and .Vorth Red River, to (,'alifornia, 

 south into -Mcxiix); (jreeidand (Rkixiiaudt); 

 Cuba (C.\n.\xi.s, J. VII, 1S.')1). ;i,jtl); Massa- 

 chusetts (MAYXAiin, D. ('. Ma.-<.s. 1870, Vl'J.); 

 A'olusia, Florida (Mus. S. I.) ; Cape St. Lucas. 



Xanthocephaliis icterocephalits. 



The color of the yellow in this species 



varies considerably ; sometimes being 



almost of a lemon -yellow, sometimes of 



a. rich orange. There is an occasional trace oi' yelliMV around the base of the 



tarsus. Immature nudes show every gradation between the colors of the 



adult male and femide. 



A very young bird (4,8:32, Dane Co., Wis.) is dusky above, with feathers 

 of the dorsal region broadly tipped with ochraceous, lesser and middle wing- 

 coyerts white tinged with fulvous, dusky below the surftice, greater covei^s 

 very broadly tipped with iiih oiis-white ; primttry coverts narrowly tipped 

 with the same. Whole lower parts unvariegated tid\ous-white; head all 

 round plain ochraceous, deepest aitoye. 



Haiuts. The Vellow-headed P.lacklurd is esseutitdly a prairie bird, and is 

 found in all favorable localities from Te.xas on the south to Illinois ami 

 Wisconsin, and thence to the Pacific. A single si)ecinuin is recorded as hav- 

 ing been taken in Greenland. Tins was September 2, lcS2(l, at Xcmutalik. 

 llecently the Smithsonian Museum has received a specimen from Xew 

 Smyrna, in Florida. In October, 18(iit, a si)ecimen of this bird was taken 

 in Yatertown, ]\Iass., and Mr. Cassin mentions the cajiture of sevend 

 netir Thiladelphia. These erratic ai)])eartinces in ])laces so remote i'roju their 

 centres of reproduction, and from tlieir route in emigration, sulliciently attest 

 tlie noniiulic cliariu'ter of tins species. 



They are found in abundtmce in all the grassy meiulows or rnsliy marshes of 

 Illinois and Wi.sconsin, wk.ere they breed iu large communities. In swamjis 

 overgrown witii ttiU rushes, and partially overllowed, they construct their 

 nests ju.st above the wider, and Imild them around tlie .stems of tliese water- 

 plants, where tliey tire thickest, in sucli a nmnner that it is dilhcult to 



