156 Howell and van Rossem, Red^mnged Blackbirds. [April 



Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus (Linnaeus) 

 Eastern Red-winged Blackbird 



[Oriolus] phoeniceus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, vol. 1, p. 161, 1766 



(based on Sturnus niger, alis superne rubentis Catesby, Nat. Hist. 



Carolina, vol. 1, p. 13, pi. 13, 1731). 



Sturniis predatorius Wilson, Amer. Ornith., vol. 4, p. 30, plate 30, 1811. 



Subspeafic characters. — Compared with mearnsi (see postea): Size 



larger; bill sUghtly shorter and decidedly thicker at base; females with 



upper parts more blackish (less brownish) ; under parts clearer white (less 



buffy), with dark streaks more blackish. 



Remarks. — When Dr. Meams assigned the name phoenicetis to 

 the Redwings of the Florida Peninsula and revived predatorius of 

 Wilson for the northern race, he based his decision on a small 

 series of breeding birds from the vicinity of Charleston, South 

 Carolina. This series, collected by Meams, Riley, and Brown is 

 still available in the U. S. National Museum collection and has 

 been reexamined by the writers in the present connection. Of 

 the 9 males, only 3 are adult, the other 6 being one year old birds. 

 It can not be too strongly emphasized that one year old males 

 have decidedly shorter wings and tails than adults, and due to 

 the preponderance of young males in the series examined by 

 Meams, the average measurements come closer in these particulars 

 to the measurements of Florida adults than to those of the northern 

 race; however, when the adults and immatures are separated the 

 6 one year old birds are found to closely approximate in measure- 

 ments immature specimens from the north, and the same is true 

 of the adults. Furthermore, it seems clear to us that Mearns 

 was in error in stating that Catesby's plate represents the slender- 

 billed bird of Florida, for measurements of the figure give the 

 culmen a length of 21 mm.; the bill is shown open, but the com- 

 bined measurements of maxilla and mandible give the bill a 

 depth at base of 13.2 mm. There is, of course, no certainty that 

 Catesby intended to figure his bird exactly life size, but the pro- 

 portions of the bill certainly apply only to the northern race. 



In color, breeding females from the coast of South Carolina and 

 Georgia are clearly referable to the race ranging throughout the 

 northeastern States, and show no approach in this character to 

 the brownish birds of the Florida peninsula. Specimens from 

 the extreme southern part of the range, however, show intergrada- 



