234 ZOOLOGY— BIRDS. 



Collurio ludovicianus var. cxcubitoroidcs, Uoue«, Key N. A. Birds, 1872, 125— Bd., 

 Brew., & Ridg., N. A. Birds, i, 1S74, 421.— Yarrow, Rep. Orn. Specs., 1871, 

 Wheeler's Exped., 1874,34. — Yarrow '& Henshaw, Rep. Orn. Specs., 1872, 

 "Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 13.— Allen, Proc. Bust. Soc. Nat. Hist., June, 

 1S74, 24.— COUES, Birds Noithwest, 1874, 102.— Henshaw, An. Lye. Nat. 

 Hist. N. Y., xi, 1874, 5.— LI., An. List Birds Utah, 1872, Wheeler's Exped., 

 1874, 43.— Id., Rep. Orn. Specs., 1S73, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, GO, 78, 107. 



Lanius elegans, Bd., Birds N. A., 1858, 328 (foot-note), pi. 75, f. 1. 



Collyrio elegans, Bd., Birds N. A., 1S58, 35. 



Collurio elegans, Bd., Rev. Am. Birds, 1800, 444.— Cooper, Birds Cal., i, 1870. 140. 



Collyrio ludovicianus, Henry, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, 107 (New Mexico). 



Collurio ludovicianus var. robustus, Bd., Am. Nat., vii, 1873, G09 (same specimen for- 

 merly called C. elegans). — Bd., Brew., & Ridg., Birds N. A., i, 1874, 420. 



This, the Western Slirike, is found over a large area of country from 

 the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast, It appears to reach its maximum 

 of abundance north of about the thirty-sixth parallel, south of which, in 

 New Mexico and Arizona at least, its numbers appear to decrease, and it 

 was met with by our parties in this region only occasionally. Dr. Coues gives 

 it, in his Fort Whipple list, as a probable resident, but rare. In Utah, it is 

 everywhere abundant, and resident, I believe, in the extreme southern por- 

 tion. Equally numerous in Colorado, it does not there appear ever to 

 winter, as Mr. Aiken informs me, but goes farther south, returning early in 

 spring ; its occurrence in El Paso County having been noted by him April 

 5. I saw it in New Mexico near Albuquerque in December, and think it 

 probably winters at least as far north as this point. Its habits appear every- 

 where the same, and are essentially like those of its relative of the Gulf 

 States. It preys largely upon insects and grasshoppers, and these, indeed, 

 form by far the major portion of its food, though it occasionally attacks 

 successfully the smaller species of birds and mice. 



Near Denver, Colo., numerous individuals of this species were seen dur- 

 ing the first days of May, and apparently all were mated, and possibly nesting, 

 though I did not succeed in finding any nests. It has at this season quite 

 a number and variety of notes, some of which are the call notes and common 

 to both sexes. The male also makes an occasional attempt at a song, and 

 1 1 1 < ■= notes, though harsh, are not impleading. 



