130 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Many pairs were seen May 16 and June 2 and 16, 1877, though no nests 

 were found. — (E. cornuta, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 486. — E. alpestris chry- 

 solcema, Sennett, B. Rio Grande, 9.) 



84. Molothrus ater, (Bodd.) 



Very common duriug winter, arriving early in September aud leaving 

 in April. The males frequent the stables and picket-lines in large flocks, 

 with three or four other species of Blackbirds : the females are much 

 less common. — (31. pecoris, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 492.) 



85. * Molothrus ater var. obscurus, (Gmel.) 



Common duriug summer, replacing v'dv.pecoris when it leaves. I have 

 found the eggs or young in nests of Pyrocephalus var. mexicanus, Vireo 

 noveboracensiSj Icteria virens, Amphispiza bilineata, Embcrnagra rufivir- 

 gata, Icterus cucullatus, I. var. affinis, and Agelccus pheeniceus.* Fifteen 

 eggs now before me average .78 by .61, which is considerably larger than 

 the measurements given by Dr. Brewer.t — [M. ater obscurus, Sennett, 

 B. Rio Grande, 22.) 



86. * Molothrus aeneus, (Wagl.) — The Red-eyed Cowbird. 



a. wneus. 



Psarocoliua ceneus, Wagl., Isis, 1829, 7f)8.— Bonap., Consp. I, 1850, 426. 



Molothrm emeu*, Caban., Mus. Hein. I, 1851, 192.— Scl., P. Z. S. 1856, 300; 

 1859,365 (Jalapa), 381 (Oaxaca); Catal. 1861, 135, No. 819 (Jalapa;.— 

 Scl. & Salv., Ibis, 1860, 34 ; Now. Neotr. 1873, 37— Owen, Ibis, 1861, 

 61 (Guatemala; descr. eggs).— Cass., Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 1866, 18 

 (Mazatlan, Manzanillo, and Jalapa, Mexico; Yucatan; Nicaragua: 

 Costa Rica ; Panama).— Sumiciik., Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 1869, 552 (Vera 

 Cruz; hot and temperate regioDs. Vulg. : " Tongouito" ; "Enmante- 

 cado ")•— Salvin, p. Z. S. 1870, 191 (Cbitra and Calobre, Veragua).— 

 Lawr., Ann. Lyc. N. Y. IX, 1868,104 (Costa Rica); Mem. Bost. Soc. 

 II, 1874, 281 (Ma/.atlan, Manzanillo Bay, and Mts. of Colima, W. 

 Mexico. Habits) ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 4, lh76,24 (Tapana, Isth. 

 Tebuantepec; April.— " Iris red"). — MERRILL, Ball. Nutt. Orn. Club, 

 I, Nov. 1870,88 (Ft. Brown, Texas; very abundant); ib. II, Oct. 1877, 

 85 (habits; deter, of eggs and young. — "Iris blood-red" in adult; 

 brown in young).— Couks & Sennktt, Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. 

 Surv. Terr. Feb. 1878, 23 (Fort Brown, Tex.— Syn., diag., remarks). 



Molothrus robustus, Caban., Mus. Hein. I, 1851, 193; J. f. O. 1861, 81. 



(i. armculi. 



Molothrus armenli, Caban., Mus. Hein. I, 1851, 192; J. f. O. 1861, 82.— Cass., 

 P. A. N. S. March, 1866, 18 (Demarara; Savanilla, New Granada). 



* On June 13, 1877, I found an egg of this variety in a neet of Aviphispiza bilineata 

 that contained three young and two addled eggs. The Cowbird's egg was cracked 

 almost entirely across the middle, and in it was one of the addled Sparrow's eggs. This 

 must have been done by some idle Mexican. 



t Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, North American Birds, ii, 157. 



