-STo. 2.] nOFFMAN ON THE BIRDS OF NEVADA. 229 



uests before the parent birds would leave them. The nests were gener- 

 ally built upon the ground near the tufts of grass, though sometimes 

 within the tufts where not too compact, and constructed rather loosely 

 of grass, fine rootlets, &c. The eggs number from four to five, and in 

 a number of instances were found parasitic eggs of Molotlirus ater. 



The plumage of the males changes nearly to that of the females later 

 in the season, though I found in several instances, upon male birds secured 

 in June, quite a sprinkling of white feathers about the neck and breast, 

 as though there might be a tendency toward partial albinism. The 

 males have a habit of rising a short distance above the nest, over which 

 they hover while singing, thus acting as a guide, without which many 

 hours might have been spent in searching for the desired localities. In 

 the region just referred to the Skylark {Neocorys spraguei) was found a 

 common associate of this species. 



ICTEEID^. 



DolicJionyx oryzivorus (Linn.) Swains. — Bobolinkj Eeed-birdj Eice-bird. 

 The discovery of this bird in l!^evada was made by Mr. Eidgway at 

 the Overland Eanch, in Euby Valley, where it was common in August, 

 in the wheat fields. It was not met with in summer, and it is considered 

 doubtful by the above author whether it breeds anywhere in the interior 

 south of the 40th parallel. Mr. Henshaw says it is "rather common in 

 the fields in the vicinity of Provo, Utah. The parent birds were noticed 

 feeding their young, scarcely fledged, July 25." 



Molothrus ater (Bodd.) Gray. — Cow-bird; Cow Blackbird. 



This species is rare according to the observations of Mr. Eidgway, 

 but three specimens being noted and obtained by him. Mr. Henshaw 

 reports it from Utah, where he secured several specimens in Provo 

 Caiion. Dr. Cooper thinks that a few pass the winter in the Colorado 

 Valley, and, perhaps, also in the San Joaquin Valley, but he saw none 

 at any time nearer the coast. Several specimens were seen at Camp 

 Independence, Cal., in August, but nowhere else during the expedition. 

 This genus is represented farther south by M. ohscurus, but has not been 

 reported from any locality north of the southern portion of Arizona, 

 belonging more properly to the jSTorthwestern Mexican fauna. 



Xanthoceplialus icferocepUalus (Bonap.) Bd. — Yellow-headed Blackbird. 

 This large and handsome bird was found common in all the marshy 

 regions and grassy meadows from Independence Valley southward to 

 Fort Mojave, excepting in the southern interior valleys, which appear 

 too much isolated and constricted. They seem to prefer the cultivated 

 areas in the vicinity of settlements, and were frequently found in great 

 numbers in and about the corrals and gardens of the frontier ranches. 

 The Eed-wiuged Blackbird was usually found in the same region with 

 this species, though they appeared to breed in settlements by them- 



