398 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 
The Icteride, or blackbirds, grackles and their allies, were rep- ! 
resented by five or six species, of which three, the yellow-headed, 
red-winged and Brewer’s, occurred in immense numbers. The 
yellow-headed and red-winged live in the marshes, from which at 
this season they make excursions in great flocks over the neigh- 
boring country, by their voracity and numbers causing no little 
loss to the farmers, by destroying the ripening corn. The Brew- 
er’s blackbird, though less an inhabitant of the marshes, to a 
considerable extent associates with them, and is only less destruc- 
tive because less numerous. The immense flocks of these associ- 
ated species bring vividly to mind the descriptions of Wilson and 
others of the hordes of red-wings and grackles that occur in autumn 
and winter in the more southern portions of the Atlantic States. 
The meadow lark is the next most abundant species of this group. 
The cowblackbird, though perhaps occurring, was not observed, 
but to our great surprise the bobolink was quite frequent. Bul- 
lock’s oriole is also a common summer resident, taking the place 
of our familiar Baltimore of the East. 
Among the Corvide, the raven and the magpie were both com- 
mon, the latter near the streams and the former more generally 
distributed ; the great-crested, Woodhouse’s and the Canada Jays 
were of frequent occurrence in the mountains, the former being 
familiarly known as the “ mountain jay.” The common crow 18 
said also to be common, but it escaped our notice. 
Nuttall’s whippoorwill was abundant on the lower parts of am 
mountains, and we heard scores of them near the mouth of Ogden 
Cañon on several occasions, after nightfall. Though 50 pres 
all our efforts to procure specimens were futile, as it did not usual y 
manifestits presence till after it became too dark for it to be clearly 
distinguished. We saw the last one October 7th, during a sev? - 
snow-storm on the mountains north of Ogden, the snow bas 
already accumulated to the depth of several inches. a 
had probably surprised the bird as much as its own presence 0 de 
such peculiar circumstances did us. The night hawk and t% 
broad-tailed humming bird were both common through the ak 
part of September, and the kingfisher is doubtless a common fY 
dent throughout the year. 
woodpeckers, owing to the scarcity of w 
sparsely represented. Only two species were no 
which, apparently the downy woodpecker, was seen once, * 
ticed, one of ; 
the 
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