NO. II DATA ON THE PARASITIC COWBIRDS — FRIEDMANN 9 



Flame-colored tanager 



Piranga bidentata (Swainson) 



This tanager has been added to the known hosts of the bronzed 

 cowbird by Hall (1965), who saw a fledgling of the parasite, just out 

 of the nest, being fed by a male of this host on June 24, 1959, near 

 Rancho Miramar Chico, near Zilitla, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. On 

 geographic grounds, this record must refer to the race P. b. sanguino- 

 lenta of the host and to the race T. a. aeneus of the parasite. 



Red ant-tanager 



Habia rubica (Vieillot) 



Previously unrecorded as a victim of the bronzed cowbird, this ant- 

 tanager was found by J. Stuart Rowley (in litt.) to be parasitized in 

 Oaxaca, Mexico, where on June 12 and 14, 1963, he observed two such 

 instances. One nest, found 19 miles north of Puerto Escondida, con- 

 tained three eggs of the host and one of the parasite; the other, found 

 2^ miles north of San Gabriel Mixtepec, held one punctured egg of 

 the ant-tanager, one infertile egg of the bronzed cowbird, and one 

 egg of the latter ready to hatch. The records refer to the subspecies 

 H. r. affinis, the Pacific slope race of the host, and the race T. a. 

 assimilis of the parasite. 



Lichtenstein's oriole 



Icterus gularis (Wagler) 



Webster (1962) notes that the bronzed cowbird has become well 

 established around San Antonio, Texas, where it now parasitizes the 

 race /. g. tamaulipensis of this oriole as well as other species of orioles. 

 No indication is given of the number of such cases reported in that 

 region. 



Cardinal 



Richmondena cardinalis (Linnaeus) 



All previous records of the cardinal serving as host for the bronzed 

 cowbird in eastern and southern Texas are of single or moderate 

 numbers of eggs of the parasite. Recently Webster (1963, p. 471) 

 cited three instances in which the intensity of parasitism was very 

 heavy, the nests containing from six to eight cowbird eggs each. He 

 also noted four other records, as well as Blacklock's experience in the 

 Nueces Bay area of southern Texas, where almost every cardinal's 



