BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 49 



mon S. R., Mch. 22-Nov. 11. Cambridge, common S. R„ Mch. 

 25-Nov. 1; occasional in winter. N. Ohio, abundant S. R., 

 Mch. 10-Nov. 15. Glen Ellyn, common S. R., Mch. 15- 

 Sept. 10. SE. Minn., common S. R., Apl. 11-Aug. 19. 



Outlaws among birds, they pair not neither do they 

 build. Without moral standards or maternal instincts the 

 female accepts the attention of any male that chances to 

 win her fancy and deposits her eggs in the nests of other 

 birds. She is a slacker and a shirker, who keeps much 

 in the background during the breeding season. Color, 

 habit, his sliding, glassy whistle, and guttural gurgling, 

 make the male conspicuous. Leaving the care of their 

 foster parents the young join others of their kind and 

 flock in the grainfields or about cattle in the pastures. 



YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 

 Xanthocepkalus xanthocepkalus. Case 6, Fig. 45 



Large size and a yellow head distinguish the male; the female 

 is duller, the body brownish, the head yellowish. L. 10. 



Range. Mississippi Valley and westward, breeding from north" 

 ern Illinois northward to Canada; winters from the west Gulf 

 coast and southern Calif ornia into Mexico; accidental east of the 

 Alleghanies. 



Washington, A. V., one instance, Aug. Cambridge, A. V., one 

 record, Oct. Glen Ellyn, A. V., May 21, 1898. SE. Minn.; 

 common S. R., Apl. 21. 



Hanging their cradle nest in the quill-reeds or rushes, 

 the Yellow-heads are not found far from it until the young 

 take wing. The male entertains his mate with a variety 

 of strange calls and whistles, but leaves to her the hatching 

 of the brown speckled eggs and care of the young while 

 they are in the nest. Like other Blackbirds they migrate 

 and winter in flocks. 



\fRED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 

 Agelaius phxniceus phceniceus. Case 5, Figs. 5, 6 



The male in spring and early summer is unmistakable; in 

 winter his feathers are tipped with brownish, more pronounced 



