36 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 82. 



was taken May 12, 1875." Here again a discrepancy in dates 

 is apparent, and the record is omitted altogether in his final 

 published list. This record may be safely eliminated from 

 consideration, and there appear to be no others at all suffi- 

 cient to admit the species to the state list. Jerome Trombley, 

 of Petersburg, Monroe County, a careful and keen observer, 

 was unable to find it in a section of the state where it might 

 naturally be expected to occur if at all. 



NOTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF AGE- 

 LAIUS PHOENICEUS. 



BY NOEL L. HACKETT. 



The following observations on the habits of the Red- 

 winged Blackbird (Agcloius p. pha'niccits) were made dur- 

 ing the spring' of 1910 on a farm in the JMissouri river bot- 

 toms about thirty-five miles south of Sioux City. 



The birds came into the country along about the last of 

 March from the twenty-fifth to the thirty-first. The males 

 seemed to flock together and the females by themselves, but 

 they came so close together that I could not tell whether 

 there was any difiference in the date of arrival. They came 

 in large flocks containing several other species, such as the 

 yellow-headed blackbird and bronzed grackle. 



They were seen for about a week and then it seemed as 

 though they had almost all disappeared from the country, 

 but again about the first of i\Iay they appeared in small 

 flocks of twenty-five or thirty, and took to the meadows 

 rather than to the trees as they had done earlier in the sea- 

 son. They now began the process of mating, but it was im- 

 possible for me to tell much about the way this was accom- 

 plished. 



However, there seemed to be a scarcity of females, and all 

 over the meadow little flocks could be seen, consisting of four 

 or five males and one female. On the Sunday morning fol- 

 lowing their second arrival I could not find in the whole col- 



