29 



other ground-nesting prairie birds, collected at the same time and 

 over the same area, not one contained an egg of the cow bird ! 



46. Euspiza americana Bon. Black-throated Bunting. 

 Occasional along the bushy ravines from Fort Bice westward to 



the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri. 



47. Goniaphea melanoeephala Bowd. Black-headed 

 Grosbeak. 



Observed at frequent intervals along the wooded portions of the 

 streams from the Missouri to the Yellowstone. 



48. Cyanospiza amoena Baird. Western Indigo Bird. Lazuli 

 Finch. 



Quite abundant on the Missouri at Fort Rice, and met with occa- 

 sionally thence westward throughout our journey. 



49. Pipilo maculatus var. arcticus Coues. Arctic Towhee. 

 A common inhabitant of the wooded bottom-lands everywhere. 



Heard a few whose songs were undistinguishable from the songs of 

 P. erythrophthalmus. A single individual seen on Davis Creek could 

 not be distinguished in appearance, though but three or four yards 

 distant, from the true P. erythrophthalmus. 



ICTERID^]. 



50. Dolichonyx oryzivorus Sw. Bobolink. 



A few were seen at distant intervals about midway between the 

 Missouri and Yellowstone, — not more than half a dozen in all, — and 

 none were met with elsewhere. Dr. Hayden reports it as common 

 about Fort Pierre, but states that he " never observed it high up 

 towards the sources of the Missouri." 1 



51. Molothrus pecoris Swain. Cow Bird. 



Abundant and very generally diffused. Its eggs occurred in nearly 

 one-third of the nests of the lark bunting we found, in one instance 

 three, and in several instances two, being found in the same nest. 

 They thus form no inconsiderable check upon the increase of this 

 bird; but in no instance were their eggs found in the nests of the 

 other prairie birds. 



52. Agelseus phceniceus Vieill. Red-winged Blackbird. 

 Met with only at distant intervals, and nowhere in considerable 



numbers. Not observed either on the Musselshell or the Yellowstone. 



1 Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, xii, p. 169. 



