RED CONSPICUOUS IN PLUMAGE 473 



There is a spirit of reckless daring inherent in every 

 young blackbird, and the Red-wings are no exception. 

 One of these bald-headed babies balancing himself gin- 

 gerly on the edge of the swaying nest is a comical sight 

 on a calm day, but funnier still when the wind blows. 

 How tightly his tiny claws grasp the stout rushes, as he 

 bobs this way and that in a desperate struggle to keep 

 right side up ! How curiously those in the nest watch 

 his gyrations ! Occasionally a second and a third will 

 climb out beside him, and that means that something 

 is sure to happen. Too often it is a tumble for all three 

 back into the nest, or a less lucky tip out into the rushes. 



As soon as thei^ wings are strong enough for short 

 flights, the wise parents coax them back to the safer 

 feeding ground of the orchard or farm, where day after 

 day they pick up bugs, and night after night roost side 

 by side with hundreds of other Red-wings in the shelter 

 of the trees. 



498 a. SONORAN RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 



Agelaius phceniceus sonoriensis. 



Family : The Blackbirds, Orioles, etc. 



Length: Male 8.15-9.35 ; female 6.80-7.86. 



Adult Male : Uniforin black, except for red and buffy or whitish shoulder 

 patches. 



Adult Female : Plumage not so glossy as the male's ; upper parts more 

 or less streaked with dusky ; top of head and fore part of back dark 

 brown, with buffy median crown stripe and superciliary ; shoulders 

 faintly tinged with red ; under parts broadly streaked with dusky 

 and whitish ; chin and throat more or less tinged with buffy or 

 pinkish. 



Geographical Distribution : From the Lower Colorado valley in Southern 

 California and Arizona south to Mexico. 



