BLACKBIRDS, ETC.: THICK-BILLED RED-WING 647 
head with dark brown streak; shoulders faintly tinged with red; underparts coarsely 
streaked with wide whitish and narrow dusky lines, throat and chest more or less 
suffused with pinkish buff. Young in juvenal plumage: Similar to adult female, 
upperparts brownish black margined with buffy or rusty, underparts broadly streaked 
with black and buff. 
Range. —Breeds in southeastern California (Lower Colorado Valley), southern 
Arizona, and southwestern New Mexico south over coastal plain of Sonora to Tepic. 
Recorded from Lower California in migration. 
State Records. —Specimens of sonoriensis were taken in the Animas Valley at 
5,000 feet, August 9, 190S (Birdseye); August 10, 1908 (Goldman); and at Chloride, 
May 9, 1913 (Ligon). [At Palomas Springs near Elephant Butte, May 19, 1916, 
several pairs, probably of this subspecies, were nesting, with two half completed 
nests and one nest with two fresh eggs (Ligon).] 
THICK-BILLED RED-WING: Agelaius phoenfeeus fortis Ridgway 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 8.3-9.5 inches, wing 4.9-5.2, tail 3.5-4.1, 
bill .8-1, depth of bill at base .5-.6. Female: Length (skins) 6.8-7.7 inches, wing 
4-4.3, tail 2.8-3.2, bill .7-.8, depth of bill at base .4-.5. Adult male: Not readily 
distinguished from male of sonoriensis except by size and proportions. Adult female: 
Similar to female sonoriensis but larger, bill heavier. 
Range. —Breeds from Wyoming east to central Nebraska and south to north¬ 
western Texas and Colorado. It occurs in migration at least east to Minnesota, and 
winters south to New Mexico, southern Texas, and Louisiana. 
State Records. —The Thick-billed Red-wing is the common breeding bird of 
Colorado south to the San Luis Valley and at least almost to the New Mexico line. 
There is as yet no sure record of the breeding of this form in New Mexico, but, of 
course, it must be common there in migration and winter. On the Carlsbad Bird 
Reserve it was noted in December, 1916 (Willett). Identified specimens are avail¬ 
able from Las Vegas Hot Springs, December 15,1882 (Batchelder); Aztec, December 
5, 1893 (Loring); and Socorro, January 16, 1899 (Harris).—W. W. Cooke. 
Food. —Caterpillars, aquatic and ground beetles, aquatic flies and spiders, but 
near alfalfa fields, especially alfalfa weevils (over 40 per cent in June). Its greatest 
value as an alfalfa weevil destroyer is that “it is among the earliest of the weevil¬ 
eating migrants, often preying on these insects when snow is still on the ground” 
(Kalmbach). 
Additional Literature.—Saunders, A. A., Condor, XVI, 136, 137, 1914 
(nest and eggs). 
NEVADA RED-WING: Agelaius phoenfeeus nevadensis Grinnell 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 7.8-9 inches, wing 4.6-5, tail 3.4-3.S, bill 
.8-9, depth at base .4-5, tarsus 1.1-1.2. Female: Length (skins) 6.6-7.0 inches, 
wing 3.8-4.1, tail 2.6-3.1, bill .7-.8, bill at base .4-.5, tarsus .7-1.1. Like sonoriensis 
but smaller, the adult female darker above with streaks less strongly contrasted, and 
below with streaks broader and grayer. In winter with little if any rusty on upper- 
parts. 
Range. —Breeds from eastern British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, and Wyo¬ 
ming south to western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; winters south to Chihuahua. 
State Records. —[The Nevada Red wing is abundant over the full length of the 
Rio Grande in New Mexico and in suitable places all over the State up to 8,000 feet. 
Abundant, May 27, 1924, in the Rio Grande Valley, from Albuquerque to Belen, and 
