A GELJE US PHCENICEUS. 
135 
Young female. Similar to the adult but has no rosaceous on the throat, or red on the shoulder. There is more rufous 
above, especially in winter. 
Young male of the year in spring. With the feathers above widely margined with rufous, especially on the shoulders, 
where there are but few indications of scarlet. There are superciliary lines and a slight maxillary line. All the feathers 
below are edged with whitish. The ground color is black, however, but this is rather brownish, especially on the tips of 
the wings. 
Young male of the year in winter. Similar in color to the female, being brown above, with the feathers margined with 
yellowish-white and reddish. White, beneath, streaked with dark-brown. There is a tinge of yellow on the throat. No 
indications whatever of red on the shoulders. Other markings similar to those of the adult female but the size is always 
considerably larger. 
Young female of the year. Strongly tinged below with yellowish which is more noticeable in winter. Otherwise simi¬ 
lar to the young. 
Nestlings. Resembles the above, but there is much more yellow below, and there are indications of wing bars. The 
bill is light-brown. There is a naked .space around the eye and on the throat long after all of the remainder of the body 
is covered with feathers. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Adult males from Massachusetts have a pale-buff margin to the shoulder patches which are of an intense scarlet. This 
margin is made up of the lower row of lesser wing coverts and they are darker where they are covered. Florida birds have 
less of this edging and it is of a darker buff. In Western skins of the so-called “ gubernator ” these coverts are only buff 
at the base, the tips being black. The Southern females do not differ much from more Northern specimens, excepting that 
they are smaller, as are aLso the malas. Females from Utah have the colors on the anterior portions more obscured, and 
there is but little trace of a median line. A male specimen in the collection of the Masters Bangs, taken in October, is 
quite similar to some taken at Key West only a month later. Distributed in summer throughout the United States. Win¬ 
ters in the Carolinas and southward. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of fifteen male specimens from New England. Length, 9*03; stretch, 14*72; wing. 4*75; tail, 
3*55; bill, ‘98; tarsus, 1*07. Longest specimen, 9'50; greatest extent of wing, 15'25; longest wing, 5'00; tail, 3*65; bill, 1'05; 
tarsus, 115. Shortest specimen, 8*61; smallest extent of wing, 14*20; shortest wing, 4'50; tail, 3 45; bill, *92; tarsus, 100. 
Average measurements of fifteen female specimens from New England. Length, 7*72; stretch, 12*20; wing, 3*83; tail, 
2*87; bill, *82; tarsus, *95. Longest specimen, 8*00; greatest extent of wing, 14*50; longest wing, 4*00; tail, 3*05; bill, dX); 
tarsus, 1*00. Shortest specimen, 7*45; smallest extent of wing, WOO; shortest wing, 2*40; tail, 2*70; bill, *85; tarsus, -90. 
Average measurements of fifteen male specimens from Florida . Length, 8*57; stretch, 14*12; wing, 4*30; tail, 2*87; 
bill, *85; tarsus, *97. Longest specimen, 9*25; greatest extent of wing, 14*50; longest wing, 4*66; tail, 3*62; bill, 1*00; tarsus, 
1*05. Shortest specimen, 7*90; smallest extent of wing, 13*75; shortest wing, 3*95; tail, 3*00; bill, *71; tarsus, *90. 
Average measurements of fourteen female specimens from Florida. Length, 7*50; stretch, 12*72; wing, 3*32; tail, 2*75; 
bill, *95; tarsus, 1*05. Longest specimen, 7*98; greatest extent of wing, 12*25; longest wing, 3*90; tail, 3*02; bill, *95; 
tarsus, 1*05. Shortest specimen, 7*10; smallest extent of wing, 11*15; shortest wing, 3*00; tail, 2*45; bill, *75; tarsus, *92. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed in trees, bushes, or on tussocks. They are compact structures, composed of quite coarse grass and weeds, 
lined with fine grass. Dimensions; external diameter, 4*15, internal, 3*12. External depth, 5*85, internal, 1*85. 
Eggs, oval inform, three to five in number, pale-blue in color, spotted, blotched, and lined irregularly with reddish- 
brown and umber. The above described markings are on the surface, and usually cluster around the larger end, but there 
are other spots which are duller and incorporated in the shell. The spots vary greatly in number, and occasionally one will 
be immaculate. Dimensions from *90 x *65 to 1*07x *75. 
HABITS. 
There are few, if any, among onr insessorial birds that are found in such immense 
flocks as the Red-winged Blackbirds. Large quantities associate together in New Eng¬ 
land, but as they move southward these communities join forces, and when they arrive in 
the rice fields of the Carolinas and Georgia, they have accumulated in such vast swarms 
as to fairly darken the air. Great numbers also occur throughout Florida, and I even found 
them abundant at Key West. During the entire winter they are gregariously inclined, 
but as spring approaches they break up into small flocks and the males which have only 
the cluck , used as a call note when flying, or as one of alarm when startled, begin to give 
