RED CONSPICUOUS IN PLUMAGE 475 



mountains. His call-note is a loud metallic " konkaree " 

 that can scarcely be distinguished from that of the red- 

 wing. 



500. TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD.— Agelaius tricolor. 

 Family : The Blackbirds, Orioles, etc. 



Length: Male 8.00-9.05 ; female 7.10-7.85. 



Adult Male : Glossy blue-black with silky plumage ; shoulder patches 

 dark red, bordered with white (tinged with buff in winter). 



Adult Female : Plumage silky texture ; upper parts dusky, with green- 

 ish lustre ; crown streaked ; scapulars and interscapulars with grayish 

 edgings ; wings with grayish and white bands ; throat and chest 

 streaked ; remainder of under parts dusky. 



Young : Similar to female, but browner, and under parts finely streaked ; 

 wings with two bands. 



Geographical Distribution : Valleys of the Pacific coast from Southern 

 California to Western Oregon. 



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

 Sierra Nevada, from Mt. Shasta to San Diego ; east to Lake Tahoe. 



Breeding Season : May to July. 



Nest and Eggs: Similar to those of the Sonoran red-wing. 



The Tricolored Blackbird is a common resident of 

 the interior valleys west of the Sierra Nevada from 

 Mount Shasta to San Diego. In the vicinity of Lake 

 Tahoe these birds stray across the crest, but not in the 

 numbers in which they are found westward. 



They breed in large colonies in the tule marshes and 

 wet meadows, oftentimes placing the nests in trees or 

 bushes after the manner of the red-wing. " Mr. Hen- 

 shaw found a colony of these birds nesting in a dry 

 pasture in a patch of nettles and briars covering between 

 three and four acres in the Santa Clara valley, Cali- 

 fornia. The nettles grew so dense and high (twelve feet) 

 that he found it almost impossible to force his way into 



