474 LAND BIRDS 



Breeding Range: Southeastern portion of State along Lower Colorado 



Eiver. 

 Breeding Season ; April to June. 

 Ifest : Usually built in reeds or bushes, near the ground, and sometimes 



in a clump of grass ; made of rushes or sedges ; lined with finer grass. 

 Bggs ; 3 to 5 ; light blue, marbled, blotched, and clouded with light and 



dark purple and black. Size 1.00 X 0.75. 



499. BICOLORED BLACKBIRD. — Agelaius gubemator 

 califomicus. 



Family : The Blackbirds^ Orioles, etc. 



Length : Male 7.80-8.60 ; female 6.90-7.50. 



Adult Male : Plumage black, red shoulder patch ; middle wing-coverts 



buffy or brownish at the base, but concealed by black tips. 

 Adult Female : Nearly uniform dusky and streaked ; chin and throat 



pale buffy or pinkish, the latter marked with triangular spots of 



dusky. 

 Geographical Distribution: Valleys of California and Western Oregon, 



south into Mexico. 

 California Breeding Range : Locally in the interior valleys west of the 



Sierra Nevada. 

 Breeding Season : April to July. 

 Nest : Placed on tufts of marsh grass or weeds, from 1 to 3 feet above 



the water ; made of grasses and strips of bark ; lined with grass and 



sometimes horsehair. 

 Eggs : 2 to 4 ; light bluish green, generally marbled, spotted and streaked 



with brown, black, and purple. Size 1.00 X 0.68. 



The Bicolored Blackbird is similar in all his habits 

 to the red-winged. His nest differs only in the bark 

 and horsehair used in construction, and the shallower 

 cup. Like all blackbirds, he loves wet meadows and 

 marshes near open water, and during the breeding sea- 

 son is found in these localities. For the rest of the year 

 he roves in company with the Brewer blackbirds over 

 the valleys of the interior west of the Sierra Nevada 



