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come slowly for a week. They are not so abundant in the spring as in 
the fall. The bulk depart about March 21. The first arrived at Ellis, 
Kans., April 5. 
Tn the spring of 1885 the first Brewer’s Blackbird was seen at Pierce 
City, Mo., March 1; at Richmond, Kans., March 4; Laporte City, Iowa, 
March 26; and at White Earth, Minn., April 6. 
Mr. Lloyd states that they are a fall migrant in western Texas, occa- 
sionally wintering in Tom Green County, and that they are abundant 
in winter in the Nueces Cafion. Mr. Nehrling states that they are an 
abundant winter resident in eastern Texas, and that a few stop to breed 
in Harris County. 
They are an abundant winter resident in the Lower Rio Grande Val- 
ley, arriving the first week in October and remaining till April (Merrill), 
511. Quiscalus quiscula (Linn.). [278.] Purple Grackle. 
This, the typical form of the Purple Grackle, is a bird of the Atlantic 
coast region, from southern New England to Florida. It has been re- 
cently recorded as breeding in West Baton Rouge Parish, La., by Dr. F. 
W. Langdon, who found it common there from the middle of March to 
the middle of April, 1881. He says of it: 
A common species during our stay; apparently breeding April 1 to 15. A few 
specimens, evidently residents, shot for purposes of identification, proved to be of the 
purpureus form, thus considerably extending the known area of its distribution, 
(Journ. of the Cincinnati Soc. of Nat. Hist., Vol. IV, 1881, p. 150.) 
5lla. Quiscalus quiscula agleus. (Baird). [278a.] Florida Grackle, 
As its name implies, the true home of this Grackle is in Florida. 
Thence its range extends westward along the Gulf coast to Louisiana, 
where it was found by Dr. A. K. Fisher in the spring of 1886, 
511b. Quiscalus quiscula zeneus (Ridgw.). [278 b.] Bronzed Grackle, 
This Grackle inhabits all of the Mississippi Valley from the Gult far 
into British America, and thence eastward to the Alleghanies, breeding 
throughout its range. Itis less common on the Plains. All notes on 
Quiscalus will be treated under this head, whether they have been sent 
as pertaining to the Purple or Bronzed Grackle, Crow Blackbird, or 
Boat-tailed Grackle, as it is practically certain that this is the form that 
has really been seen. There is an interesting and as yet unexplained 
peculiarity in its winter habitat. Near the Mississippi River it is resi- 
dent as far south as southern Illinois, and it is not uncommon in winter 
as far north as Minnesota. A fine male was seen at Hastings, Minn., 
December 29, 1883, where it had successfully withstood a temperature 
of 30 degrees below zero; and during the whole winter of 1881~82 
small flocks stayed at various points in the State. In Louisiana* it was 
*Since the taking of typical Quiscalus quiscula in Louisiana by Dr. Langdon, and 
the discovery of Quiscalus quiscula agleus near New Orleans by Dr. Fisher, considera- 
ble doubt attaches to the Louisiana records of the present subspecies. A profitable 
field is open to the ambitious student of ornithology who will undertake to ascertain 
the exact distribution of these three forms in the Gulf States.—C, H. M, 
