YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. 251 



and late in fall they also subsist on all kinds of seeds, especially those of the reeds and 

 sedges. Most of their food is picked up from the ground, and they even dig into the 

 soft earth with their bills in search of insects and their larvae. It is interesting to watch 

 them while running over the ground. They are straddling about with a quaint and 

 graceful gait, entirely in the manner of the Redwings and others of the family. 



The notes of the Yellowhead are harsh and not musical, but they are by no means 

 disagreeable, while frequently their attempts to utter a song to. the best of their ability 

 is very amusing. Every sound is usually accompanied by raising and lowering the head, 

 turning the neck, spreading the wings and tail, and stretching the legs. The common 

 call-note is a loud teck, similar to that of all Blackbirds, but of a rather deeper tone, 

 while the song, if song it may be called, consists of several whistling and many harsh 

 and guttural sounds. When hundreds of these birds have alighted in an isolated tree 

 and almost every male is uttering its peculiar notes, the effect of the concert is really 

 pleasant. I have kept one for several years in a roomy cage, and from early April until 

 the middle of July the bird was by no means parsimonious with its notes. 



These birds are exceedingly gregarious, even in the nuptial season, breeding in large 

 communities wherever found. As soon as the young are able to join they move about 

 in dense swarms, and it is a very attractive sight to observe the immense black cloud- 

 like hordes, moving along over the ground or speeding on in graceful undulating lines 

 through the air. 



There is no doubt about the real and assthetical value of these birds. They belong 



to the most active and beautiful ornaments of our American landscape, g,nd desolate 



and dead indeed would seem our tree and bushless marshy prdiries without the presence 



of these elegant summer sojourners. 



NAMES: Yellow-headed Blackbird, Yellowhead.— Gelbkopfstarling (German). 



SCIENTIFIC N.4.MBS: Icterus xantbocephalus Bonap. (1826). Agelaius xaatbocephalas Swains. (1831). 

 Icterus icterocepbalas Bonap. (1835). Xantbocephalus kterocepbalus Baird (1858). XANTHO- 

 CBPHALUS XANTHOCEPHALUS Jordan (1884). 



DESCRIPTION. "Male: Black, including the lores; head, neck, and fore breast, yellow; a large white wing- 

 patch.— Length, 10.00 to 11.00 inches; extent, 16.50 to 17.00; wing, about 5.50; tail, 4.50 inches. 

 "Female and young: Brownish-black, the yellow restricted or obscured, and little if any white on 

 the wing. Female much smaller than the male. — Length, 8.50 to 9.00 inches." 



(Stearns & Cones, New England Bird-life. Vol. I, p. 300.) 



