1872.) -239 [Trippe. 
115. Aglaius phoeniceus. Common; breeds. I never saw 
Xanthocephalus icterocephalus, nor could I hear of its occurrence in 
this part of the State. 
116. Sturnella magna. Abundant; breeds. Migratory in its 
habits, great numbers passing southward about the middle of October. 
117, Sturnella neglecta. If this bird is merely a variety of 
S. magna, it certainly is a very remarkable one. Not having exam- 
ined a sufficient number of specimens, I am not qualified to judge; 
and, indeed, should hesitate to do so in any event, after such com- 
petent authorities have pronounced on the question. Careful ob- 
servations for the last. two years, however, have convinced me of the 
following fact, viz: that there are two varieties or species of the 
Meadow Lark in Southern Iowa, that possess totally different songs 
and notes, and that these differences are constant. The common 
lark, S. ludoviciana is, here, by far the most abundant; its notes are 
precisely similar to those of the same bird in the East, and its habits, 
also, nearly or quite the same. The Western Lark, S. neglecta, on 
the contrary, never utters the peculiar, long-drawn whistle of the 
common species, — at least I never heard it, — and it has a number 
_ of notes which the latter never utters, one in particular which re- 
sembles a note of the red-winged blackbird. ‘The western lark, like 
the common species, has a rapid chatter, but so different in every 
bird that I have heard, that the difference was at once appreciable ; 
indeed it is more striking than the resemblance. The western lark 
is here quite a shy, timid species, comparatively to the other at least, 
which is as tame’as the bluebird or chipping sparrow. The former 
is never heard after the first of September, although it arrives as 
soon, or a little before the other, viz., early in March; while the lat- 
ter remains till November. I have never heard a bird whose notes 
were intermediate between the two. : 
Here, then, we have the remarkable fact of two varieties —if they 
are such — of the same species, existing side by side, seldom or never 
mingling, and each preserving its peculiar notes and habits; yet re- 
sembline each other so closely in form and plumage, that the most 
experienced ornithologists are unable to draw the dividing line be- 
tween them. 
118. Icterus spurius. Rather common; breeds. 
119. Icterus Baltimore. Rather common; breeds. 
120, Scolecophagus ferrugineus. Abundant in spring and 
late fall. Never seen in very large flocks, but generally in parties 
of from ten to thirty. Its favorite resorts are roads and cattle yards, 
where it picks up the fallen grain. 
