5ICOLORED BLACKBIRD. 



Agelaius gubernator Bonaparte. 



In California we find, besides the common Red-wing, two other similar species. 

 One is the Tricolored Blackbird and the other the Bicolored Blackbird, the subject of 

 this sketch. It is also known as the Red-and-black-shouldered Blackbird and the Crimson- 

 shouldered Blackbird. It occurs abundantly along the Pacific coast fi-om British Columbia 

 south throughout California. According to the observations of several ornithologists, 

 among whom may be mentioned Prof. Robert Ridgway, Dr. Heermann, Dr. Kennedy, 

 and Dr. Cooper, this Blackbird is chiefly found in the warmer interior of California. It 

 is found in scattered pairs throughout the Coast Range, even to the summits, where 

 there are small marshes full of rushes, in which it builds. In its habits it much resembles 

 the Redwing, and these birds are said to emit a variety of sweet and liquid notes, 

 delivered from some tree near their favorite marsh. Large flocks can be seen in California 

 whirling around in graceftil curves, like dark clouds, chattering joyfully as they move 

 along, or they are settling as a black veil on the topmost branches of some tree, indulging 

 loudly in their harsh and jingling music. 



Its nest has been found in willow bushes and tussocks of grass above the level of 

 the water, in the marshes. It is composed of slender stems of reeds, mud, and fine 

 roots, and is lined with fine grasses. 



The eggs, usually four in number, are light blue or bluish-white, marked around 

 the larger end w^ith waving lines and streaks of dark brown. These markings are lighter 

 than those on the eggs of the common Redwing. 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Psarocolius gubernator Wagler (1832). AGELAIUS GUBERNATOR Bonaparte 

 (1837). 



DESCRIPTION: Adult male, deep lustrous velvety black with faint greenish gloss; the lesser coverts, rich 

 crimson; the middle coverts, brownish-yellow at base, but the exposed portion black. — Length, 9.00 

 to 10.00 inches; wing, 5.17; tail, 3.83 inches. Adult temale, nearly uniform dark slaty-brown; lower 

 parts, brownish dusky, more or less distinctly streaked with dull brownish-gray ; chin and throat, pale 

 buffy or pinkish.— Length, 8,00 inches; wing, 4.21; tail, 3.04 inches. 



TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD. 



Agelaius tricolor Bonaparte. 



This beautifiil species, which is also known as the Red-and-white-shouldered Black- 

 bird, occurs in great abundance in California and Oregon. Mr. Ridgway observed it 

 among the tul6 in the neighborhood of Sacramento, where it was very abundant, 

 associating with the common Redwing, the Bicolored Blackbird, and the Yellow-headed 

 Blackbird. By its conspicuous white stripe on the wing it may be easily distinguished 

 from the other species, where they are all seen together. In his opinion the notes of the 

 Tricolored Blackbird differ considerably from those of the two other Red-winged 

 Blackbirds. 



Dr. Heermann, when hunting in the w^inter of 1852 in the marshes of Suisan 

 Valley, Cal., often found, on hearing a dull, rushing, roaring noise, that the same was 

 produced by a single flock of this species, numbering so many thousands as to darken 



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