NORTH AMEMICAN BIRDS. o^? 



4986. BAHAMAKT BEB-WIUG. AgeUius pUwniceus Hryanii RIdgw. Geog. 

 Dist. — Bahamas and Southern Florida, west to the Gulf coast of Liouisiana (Lake 

 Borgne), south to Yucatan and Nicaragua. 



A smaller race -with a larger bill than the preceding subspecies; the plumage of 

 the upper parts Is darker. 



498c. FLORIDA RED-WING. Agelaius phceniceus floridianus Maynard. Geog. 

 Dist.— Florida. 



The Florida Red-winged Blackbird has in' all respects the general habits and 

 characteristics of the Red-wing of the Northern States. Its nesting and eggs are 

 identical. 



499. BICOLOBED BLACKBIRD. Agelaius gubernator (Wagl.) Geog. Dist.— 

 Pacific coast districts, from Western Washington, south to Lower California, west to 

 the Cascades and the Sierra Nevadas. Casually to Western Nevada and Southeast- 

 em California. 



The Red-and-black-shouldered Blackbird occurs along the Pacific coast from 

 British Columbia south throughout California. The female is not distinguishable 

 from the female Red-wing, and the nesting habits are exactly the same, placing the 

 nests in watercress or rushes, along running streams, ditches and swamps. The 

 eggs are light blue or bluish-white, marked around the larger end with waving lines 

 of dark brown, lighter in shade than the markings on the eggs of the common Red- 

 wing; four or five in number; size from .90 to 1.05 in .length by .64 to .74 in breadth. 



500. .TRICOLOB>ED BLACKBIRD. Agelaius tricolor (Nutt.) Geog. Dist.— 

 Valleys of the Pacific coast, from Southern California to Western Oregon. 



This species is known as the Red-and-white-shouldered Blackbird, and belongs 

 to California and Oregon; is especially abundant in the swamps and marshes of the 

 former State. Like the Swamp Blackbird of the Eastern States, it nests in, the vi- 

 cinity of water, in colonies, usually placing the nest in alder bushes, willows and flags. 

 It is composed of mud, straw and coarse grass, lined with finer fibrous material. 

 The eggs are of a light blue, slightly deeper than the ground-color of the Red-wing's 

 eggs, marked around the larger end with a circle of ashy-browui, sometimes black, 

 irregular lines and blotches; four or five In number; size 1.00x.60. 



501. MEADOWLARK. Sturnella magna (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Eastern North 

 America, west to the Plains, north to Canada. 



The Old Field Lark is a well-known bird in the United States east of the Missis- 

 sippi, breeding wherever found, from Florida and Texas northward. West of the 

 Mississippi it is replaced by the Western form, Sturnella magna nefflecta (Aud.) As its 

 name implies, the meadows and fields are Its home. In almost any stretch of pasture- 

 land may be found a pair or colony of Meadowlarks, and the sweet sound of their 

 wild, ringing, and rather melancholy notes fill the air at short Intervals from sunrise 

 till the gloaming. The nesting time is in May, usually beginning in the middle or 

 latter part of the month. The nest is built on the ground, in a thick tuft of grass; it 

 is pretty compactly made of coarse, dry, wiry grasses, and lined with finer blades of 

 the same. It is usually formed with a covered entrance in the surrounding withered 

 grass through which a hidden and sometimes winding path is made, and generally 

 so well concealed that the nest is only to be found when the bird is flushed. The eggs 

 are crystal-white, more or less tMekly spotted or dotted with reddish-brown and 

 purplish, four to six in number, with great variation in size, averaging l.lOx.80. 



