404 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— PASSEBUS—OSCINES. 



Analysis of Species and Varieties. 



Middle wiug-coverts buff, bordering the bright red patch phceniceus 316 



Middle wlng-coverts buff, but black-tipped, usually leaving red patch without buff border . gubemator 317 

 Middle wing-coverts white, bordering the dark red patch tricolor 318 



316. A. phoenl'ceus. (Gr. (jiou/liceos, phomiJceos, Lat. phceniceus, red, of a color introduced in Greece 

 by the Phoenicians. Fig. 259.) Blackbird. Marsh Blackbird. Eed-winged Black- 

 bird. Rbd-and-bupp-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. $ : Lesser wing-coverts scarlet, 

 like arterial blood, broadly bordered by brownish-yeUow, or brownish-white, the middle row of 

 coverts being entirely of this color ; sometimes the greater row, likewise, are mostly similar, 

 producing a patch on the wing nearly as large as the red one ; occasionally, there are traces of 

 red on the edge of the wing and below; in some specimens the bordering is almost pure white, 

 instead of buff. Extremes: ^, length 8.25-9.85; extent 13.60-15.30; wing 4.35-5.00; tail 

 3.12-3.90; bill 0.75-1.00; average: Length 9.00; extent 1450; wing 4.65; tail 3.60. ?, 

 length 7.35-S.55 ; extent 11.85-13.55; wing 8.65-4.25; tail 2.65-3.20 ; bill 0.70-0.80 ; aver- 

 age: Length 7.65 ; extent 12.35; wing 3.85; tail 3.00 ; bill 0.75. The extremes here given 

 not often seen. Southern-bred birds are much smaller as well as glossier. Temperate N. Am., 

 but chiefly E. of the Rooky Mts. ; breeding anywhere in its range, wintering from about 35° 

 southward. From its general dispersion in low or wet thickets or fields, swamps, and marshes, 

 the blackbird collects in August and September in immense flocks, thronging the extensive 

 tracts of wild oats and other aquatic plants in marshes and along water courses, also visiting and' 

 doing much damage to grain-fields. Thousands are destroyed by boys and pot-hunters, but the 

 hosts scarcely diminish, and every known artifice fails to protect the crops from the invasion of 

 the dusky hordes. At other seasons the "maize-thief" is innocuous, if not positively beneficial, 

 as it destroys its share of insects. Nest usually in reeds or bushes near the ground, or in a 

 tussock of grass, or on the ground ; occasionally in small trees, vines, and shrubbery ; a bulky 

 structure of coarse fibrous materials, usually strips of rushes, sedges or marsh grass, lined with 

 finer grasses; eggs 4-6, 1.00 X 0.75, May and July, pale blue, fantastically dotted, blotched, 

 clouded, and scrawled over with dark or even blackish-brown, and paler or purplish shell-marks. 

 The usual note is a guttural chuck; in the breeding season the " creaking chorus " makes an 

 indescribable medley. 



317 A. p. guberna'tor. (Lat. gubemator, a governor, alluding to the red epaulettes, as if a sign of 

 rank or command.) Red-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. Lesser wing-coverts scarlet, as 

 before, nan'owly or not at all bordered with bufi', the next row having black tips for all or most 

 of their exposed portion, so that the brownish- yellow of their bases does not show much, if any. 

 Pacific Coast, U. S. and British Columbia. Scarcely different; 9 indistinguishable from ? 

 phcmiceus. 



318. A. tri'color. (Lat. tricolor, three-colored ; . red, white, and black.) Red-and-whitS!- 

 SHOULDERED Marsh BLACKBIRD. Lesser wing-coverts dark red (like venous blood), bor- 

 dered with pure white. Besides this obvious distinction from phceniceus, the bill is usually slen- 

 derer and the tail is less rounded ; the gloss of the plumage is bluish, not greenish (appreciably 

 so in the ? as well as in the ^f). ? with median wing-coverts white-edged. California and 

 Oregon, especially coastwise ; resident or scarcely migratory. General habits the same ; nest 

 and eggs indistinguishable. 



101. XANTHOCE'PHAIiUS. (Gr. ^avdos, a;a»8«/»os, yellow ; Ke<f)a\fi, kephale, head.) Yellow- 

 Headed Blackbirds. General characters of Agelceus; claws more developed, the lateral 

 reaching much beyond base of the middle. Tail more nearly even, with nan'ower feathers. 

 Wings long and pointed ; tip formed by outer 3 quUls. Colors black, white, and yellow. 



319. X. icteroce'phalus. (Gr. 'ixTtpos, iJcteros, Lat. icterus, yellow. Fig. 260.) Yellow-headed 

 Blackbird. $: Black, including lores and small space around eye and bill; whole head 

 otherwise, with the neck and breast, rich yellow, orange in high feather, the color extending 



