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MOLOTHRUS PECOKIS, COW-BIRD, 



MOLOTHRDS PECORIS, (Gm.) Sw. ' 

 Cow-bird; Cowpen-bird ; Cow-Blackbird. 



a. pecoris. 



Frhtgilla pecorls, Gm., Svst. Nat. i, 17S8, 910 ( 5 ).— Lath., Ind. Orn. ii, 1790, 443.— 

 LiCHT., Verz. 1823, Nos. 230, 331.— Sabine, Fraukl. Journ. 676. (I'', nirginiana of 

 Brisson ; Cowpeu Finch of I'ennant, Arct. Zool. ii, 371, No. 241.) 



Emhcriza pecoris, WiLS., Am. Orn. ii, 1810, 145, pi. 18, figs. 1, 2, 3. 



Passerina pecoris, Vieili.., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxv, 1819, 22. 



Icterus pecm-ia, Bp., Obs. Wils. 1(^24. No. 83; Syn. 1828, 53.— Nutt., Man. i, 1S32, 178.— 

 AUD., Orn. Bioff. i, 1831, 49::; ; v, 1839, 233, 400; pis. 99, 424. 



" Psarocolinf) pecoris, WaGL., Syst. Av, 1827, No. 30'' {fide Cabanis). 



ilolothrus pecoris, Sw. ^ Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 277.— Bp., List. 1838, 29; Cousp. i, 1850, 

 436.-At;D., Svn. 1839, 139: B.Am, iv, 1842, 16, pi. 212.— Gii:., B. L. I. 1844, 

 139.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 524.— Trippe, Am. Nat. iii, 1869, 291 (biography).— 

 Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1870, 405.— CouES, Key, 1872, 155.— B. B. & R., N. 

 A. B ii, 1874, 154, pi. 32. f. 6, 7 ; and of writers generally. 



Mololrus pecoris, Sdndevaee, Metb. Nat. Av. Disp. Tentamen, 1872, 22 (after Cab., 

 Mus. Hein. 192). 



MolotlvHS alcr, Ghay, Hand list, ii, 1870, 36, No. 6507 (after BODD., PI. Enl. 606, fig. 1). 



"Oriolus fiiscus, G'^i; Syst. Nat. i, 1/88, :0.>" (thus identified by Cabanis and Graii; 

 qneried hy Haird ; probably belongs here). 



"Oriolns minor. Gji., Syst. Nat. i, 1788 394 " (ajnid Cabanis and Cassiv) ; also of LatJiam. 



" Iclerns emberizoides, Daudix" (fide Chraij and Cabanis). 



FringiUa ambigua, NuTT., Man. i, 1832, 484 (unquestionably!). 



b. obscurvs. 



St)iy)nts obscurus, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 804 (S. novaliispaniai, Bkiss., ii, 448). 



Sturniis jiinceti, Lath., Ind. Om. ii, 1790, 326 (=<S. obscurus, Gm.) 



Molothrus obscurus, Cass.. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 18 (Lower California and Mexico). — 



Coop., B. Cal. i. 1870, 260.— Gray, Hand-list, «i, 1870, 36, No. 6508. 

 Molothrus pecoris, var. obscurus, CotJES, Key, 1872, 155 (Arizona and southward). — B. B. 



& R., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 154 (in test), pi. 32, f. 8. 

 Molothrus pecoris, (?) SCL., P. Z. S. 18.57, 213; 1859, 365; 1860, 252.— COUES. Pr. Phila. 



Acad. 1866, 90. J I - 



Hab.— The typical form throughout temperate North America (excepting Pacitii; ^/ b 

 coast?). North to 68-. Breeds abundantly from about 35° northward, and winters iu <•■ "' 

 great numbers in the Southern States. Var. obscurus in Arizona, Lower California, and 

 southward. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. — 4355, Fort Pierre; 4365, 5368, mouth of the Yellow- 

 stone : 5327, Medicine Hill ; 9334, 9336-7, Loup Fork. 



Later Expeditions. — 6045U, La Bont6 Creek, Wyoming. 



The bird I have designated as var. obscurus, or the Dwarf Cow-bi'd, as above, and 

 also in the Key, is strikingly smaller thau the typical form. Indeed, Jlr. Cassin was 

 led to make it a distinct species, which, however, it is not. It is precisely like the 

 ordinary bird in color, but is much smaller, the male only about equaling the female 

 of true pecoris. The female of var. obscurus is under 7 inches long, with the wing about 

 3i, and the tail 2^ ; the female of pecoris is 7 to 7.i inches long, the wing nearly 4, the 

 tail nearly 3; while an average male pecm'is measures full 8 inches, the wing over 4, 

 and the tail over 3. 



Earlier authors described the Cow-bird nnder a variety of names, and not always 

 accurately, causing uncertainty if not confusion. But we may be reasonably sure that 

 pecoris, the name usually adopted, is not the one having priority. Turning back a few 

 pages of Gmelin, from p. 910 (pecoris), we find on p. 804 a, certain Stumus obscurns, evi- 

 dently a Cow-bird, and usually held identical -with pecoris, but which, from the refer- 

 ence to <S. norw-MspanicE of Brisson, is the dwatf Mexican form. So far as this goes, 

 the above quotations ought in strictness to be reversed, giving us Molothrus obscurus 

 and M. obscurus var. pecoris. But back still farther in Gmelin, we find Oriolus minor 

 (p. 394) and 0. fuscus (p. 393), both probably Cow-birds. It appears, however, that we 

 need not employ any of Gmeliu's names ; for, according to Mr. G. R. Gray, the ater of 

 Boddaert is this species, and antedates them all. It would appear, therefore, that the 

 proper name of the species is Moloihnis ater (BoDD.), Gray, and of its variety, M. ater 

 var. obscurus (Gm.), Coubs. Even the generic name has given trouble, for' both Ca- 

 banis and Sundevall understand, upon philological grounds, that Swainson should 

 have written Molobrus instead of Molothrus. 



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