\a: Ivy



United States National MuseumBulletin 211
LIFE HISTORIES OFNORTH AMERICANBLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES,TANAGERS, AND ALLIES
Order Passeriformes: Families Ploceidae,Icteridae, and Thraupidae
By ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION . WASHINGTON, D. C. . 1958
Publications of the U. S. National MuseumThe scientific publications of the National Museum include twoseries known, respectively, as Proceedings and Bulletin.The Proceedings series, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as amedium for the publication of original papers based on the collectionsof the National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology,anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and revi-sions of limited groups. Copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, aredistributed as published to libraries and scientific organizations andto specialists and others interested in the different subjects. Thedates at which these separate papers are published are recorded inthe table of contents of each of the volumes.The series of Bulletins, the first of which was issued in 1875, containsseparate publications comprising monographs of large zoologicalgroups and other general systematic treatises (occasionally in severalvolumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, catalogs of type speci-mens, special collections, and other material of similar nature. Themajority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto size has beenadopted in a few instances. In the Bulletin series appear volumesunder the heading Contributions from the United States NationalHerbarium, in octavo form, published by the National Museum since1902, which contain papers relating to the botanical collections ofthe Museum.The present work forms No. 211 of the Bulletin series.Remington Kellogg,Director, United States National Museum.
UNITED STATESGOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON : 1958
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing OfficeWashington 25, D. C. - Price $2.25 (paper)II
CONTENTS PageIntroduction vnOrder PasseriformesFamily Ploceidae: Weaver finchesPasser domesticus domesticus: English sparrowHabitsDistribution 23Passer montanus montanus: European tree sparrow 24Habits 24Distribution 27Family Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials 28Dolichonyx oryzivorus: Bobolink 28Habits 28Distribution 49Sturnella magna magna: Eastern meadowlark 53Habits 53Distribution 78Sturnella magna argutula: Southern meadowlark 80Habits 80Distribution 82Sturnella magna hoopesi: Rio Grande meadowlark 82Habits 82Distribution 83Sturnella magna lilianae: Arizona meadowlark 83Habits 83Distribution 83Sturnella neglecta neglecta: Western meadowlark 84Habits 84Distribution 96Sturnella neglecta coujluenta: Pacific western meadowlark .... 98Habits 98Distribution 98Xanthocephalusxanthocephalus: Yellow-headed blackbird 99Habits 99Distribution 120Agclaius phoeniceus phoeniceus: Eastern redwing 123Habits 123Distribution 147Agelaius phoeniceus mearnsi: Florida redwing 151Habits 151Distribution 153Agelaius phoeniceus floridanus: Maynard's redwing 153Habits 153Distribution 154Agelaius phoeniceus littoralis: Gulf coast redwing 155Habits 155Distribution ,,.... 156
IV U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Family Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials?Continued PageAgelaius phoeniceus megapolamus: Rio Grande redwing 157Habits 157Distribution 158Agelaius phoeniceus arctolegus: Giant redwing 158Habits 158Distribution 161Agelaius phoeniceus fortis: Thick-billed redwing 162Habits 162Distribution 164Agelaius phoeniceus nevadensis: Nevada redwing 164Habits 164Distribution 167Agelaius phoeniceus caurinus: Northwestern redwing 168Habits 168Distribution 168Agelaius phoeniceus mailliardorum: San Francisco redwing .... 169Habits 169Distribution 169Agelaius phoeniceus californicus: Bicolored redwing 170Habits 170Distribution 174Agelaius phoeniceus aciculatus: Kern redwing 174Habits 174Distribution 176Agelaius phoeniceus neutralis: San Diego redwing 176Habits 176Distribution 177Agelaius phoeniceus sonoriensis: Sonora redwing 177Habits 177Distribution 178Agelaius tricolor: Tricolored redwing 179Habits 179Distribution 189Agelaius humeralis: Tawny-shouldered blackbird 190Habits 190Distribution 191Icterus spurius: Orchard oriole 191Habits 191Distribution 207Icterus graduacauda audubonii: Audubon's black-headed oriole . . 210Habits 210Distribution 215Icterus cucullatus sennetti: Sennett's hooded oriole 215Habits 215Distribution 218Icterus cucullatus cucullatus: Swainson's hooded oriole 219Icterus cucullatus nelsoni: Arizona hooded oriole 220Habits 220Distribution 226
CONTENTS VFamily Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials?Continued PageIcterus cucullalus californicus: California hooded oriole 226Habits 226Distribution 229Icterus cucullatus trochiloides: San Lucas hooded oriole 230Habits 230Distribution 231Icterus gularis tamaulipensis: Alta Mira Lichtenstein's oriole . . . 231Habits 231Distribution 236Icterus pustulatus microstictus: Western scarlet-headed oriole . . . 237Habits 237Distribution 238Icterus parisorum: Scott's oriole 239Habits 239Distribution 245Icterus galbula: Baltimore oriole 247Habits 247Distribution 266Icterus bullockii bullockii: Bullock's oriole 270Habits 270Distribution 279Icterus bullockii parvus: Lesser Bullock's oriole 281Habits 281Distribution 282Euphagus carolinus carolinus: Continental rusty blackbird .... 282Habits 282Distribution 296Euphagus carolinus nigrans: Newfoundland rusty blackbird . . . 300Habits 300Distribution 301Euphagus cyanocephalus: Brewer's blackbird 302Habits 302Distribution 332Cassidix mexicanus mexicanus: Boat-tailed grackle 335Habits 335Distribution 350Cassidix mexicanus nelsoni: Sonoran boat-tailed grackle 351Habits 351Cassidix mexicanus monsoni: Monson's boat-tailed grackle .... 351Habits 351Cassidix mexicanus prosopidicola: Mesquite boat-tailed grackle . . 352Habits 352Distribution 356Cassidix mexicanus major: Florida boat-tailed grackle 357Habits 357Distribution 364Cassidix mexicanus torreyi: Eastern boat-tailed grackle 365Habits 365Distribution 374
VI U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Family Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials?Continued PageQuiscalus quiscula stonei: Purple grackle 374Habits 374Distribution 387Quiscalus quiscula quiscula: Florida grackle 391Habits 391Distribution 394Quiscalus quiscula versicolor: Bronzed grackle 395Habits 395Distribution 420Molothrus ater ater: Eastern brown-headed cowbird 421Habits 421Distribution 447Molothrus ater artemisiae: Nevada brown-headed cowbird .... 451Habits 451Distribution 452Molothrus ater obscurus: Dwarf brown-headed cowbird 453Habits 453Distribution 455Tangavius aeneus milleri: Miller's bronzed cowbird 455Habits 455Distribution 457Tangavius aeneus aeneus: Red-eyed bronzed cowbird 458Habits 458Distribution 466Family Thraupidae: Tanagers 466Piranga Ludoviciana: Western tanager 466Habits 466Distribution 477Piranga olivacea: Scarlet tanager 479Habits 479Distribution 488Piranga flava dextra: Eastern hepatic tanager 492Habits 492Distribution 492Piranga flava hepatica: Western hepatic tanager 492Habits 492Distribution 495Piranga rubra rubra: Eastern summer tanager 496Habits 496Distribution 504Piranga rubra cooperi: Cooper's summer tanager 507Habits 507Distribution 509Literature Cited 510Index 533
IntroductionThis is the twentieth in a series of bulletins of the United StatesNational Museum on the life histories of North American birds.Previous numbers have been issued as follows:107. Life Histories of North American Diving Birds, August 1, 1919.113. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns, August 27, 1921.121. Life Histories of North American Petrels and Pelicans and Their Allies,October 19, 1922.126. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), May 25, 1923.130. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), June 27, 1925.135. Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds, March 11, 1927.142. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 1), December 31, 1927.146. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 2), March 24, 1929.162. Life Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds, May 25, 1932.167. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 1), May 3, 1937.170. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 2), August 8, 1938.174. Life Histories of North American Woodpeckers, May 23, 1939.176. Life Histories of North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, andTheir Allies, July 20, 1940.179. Life Histories of North American Flycatchers, Larks, Swallows, and TheirAllies, May 8, 1942.191. Life Histories of North American Jays, Crows, and Titmice, January 27,1947.195. Life Histories of North American Nuthatches, Wrens, Thrashers, and TheirAllies, July 7, 1948.196. Life Histories of North American Thrushes, Kinglets, and Their Allies,June 28, 1949.197. Life Histories of North American Wagtails, Shrikes, Vireos, and TheirAllies, June 21, 1950.203. Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers, June 15, 1953.The same general plan has been followed, as explained in previousbulletins and need not be repeated here. The nomenclature of the1931 Check-List of the American Ornithologists' Union, with itslatest supplements, has been followed.Many who have contributed material for previous volumes havecontinued to cooperate. Receipt of material from over 530 contrib-utors has been acknowledged previously. In addition to these, ourthanks are due to the following new contributors: Hildegarde C.Allen, F. S. Barkalow, Jr., Ralph Bcebe, H. E. Bennett, A. J. Berger,Virgilio Biaggi, Jr., C. H. Blake, Don Bleitz, B. J. Blincoe, L. C.Brecher, Maurice Broun, J. H. Buckalew, H. L. Crockett, RubyCurry, J. V. Dennis, M. S. Dunlap, J. J. Elliott, A. H. Fast, EdithVII
Vin U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211K. Frey, J. H. Gerard, H. B. Goldstein, L. I. Grinnell, HoraceGroskin, G. W. Gullion, R. H. Hansman, W. R. Hecht, J. W. Hopkins,R. F. James, Verna R. Johnston, Malcolm Jollie, R. S. Judd, Louisede K. Lawrence, G. H. Lowery, J. M. Markle, D. L. McKinley, LyleMiller, A. H. Morgan, R. A.' O'Reilly, K. C. Parkes, G. H. Parks,O. M. Root, Doris H. Speirs, E. A. Stoner, and R. B. Williams. Ifany contributor fails to find his or her name in this or in some previousvolume, the author would be glad to be advised.As the demand for these bulletins is much greater than the supply,the names of those who have not contributed to the work withinrecent years will be dropped from the author's mailing list.Winsor M. Tyler rendered valuable assistance by reading and in-dexing four of the leading ornithological journals for references. Heand Alfred O. Gross each contributed two complete life histories.Alexander F. Skutch, Alexander Sprunt, Jr., Laidlaw Williams, andRobert S. Woods have each contributed one complete life history.The greater part of the egg measurements were taken from theregister sheets of the United States National Museum by WilliamGeorge F. Harris, who also relieved the author of a vast amount ofdetail work by collecting and figuring hundreds of egg measurementsand by collecting, sorting, and arranging several thousand nestingrecords to make up the "egg dates" paragraphs.Through the courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Mr. ChandlerS. Robbins has compiled the migration paragraphs. The distributiondata have been taken from advance sheets of the fifth edition ofthe A. O. U. "Check-List of North American birds." The authorclaims no credit and assumes no responsibility for these data, whichare taken from the great mass of records on file in Washington.The manuscript for this bulletin was completed in 1949. Contri-butions received since then will be acknowledged later. Only infor-mation of great importance could be added. The reader is remindedagain that this is a cooperative work; if he fails to find in these vol-umes anything that he knows about the birds, he can only blamehimself for not having sent the information to
?
The Author.
Arthur Cleveland BentArthur Cleveland Bent died in his home in Taunton, Massachusetts,in his eighty-ninth year on December 30, 1954. In keeping with hisability, as a successful business man, to plan for eventualities he had longforeseen the improbability of his living to complete the Life Histories ofNorth American Birds, and had taken steps to assure completion of thework. Quite naturally, he turned to the Nuttall Ornithological Club,which he had originally joined in 1888, later becoming one of the fourHonorary Members in the history of that organization. He arrangedthrough James Lee Peters for the Club to take ultimate charge. Subse-quently, he chose me to head up a Committee of national distribution,largely ornithologists he designated.In addition to Mrs. Bent, whose cooperation has been invaluable,members of the Committee are Messrs. Arthur W. Argue in charge ofphotographs, Charles H. Blake, Alfred O. Gross, William George F.Harris, so well known already in this series for his work on eggs, FrederickC. Lincoln, who has handled so much of the detail in Washington, RobertA. Norris, Christopher M. Packard, and Lawrence II. Walkinshaw.Mr. Bent could anticipate completion. He could not foresee thefervor with which ornithologists throughout North and Central Americahave rallied to ensure fulfillment of his great undertaking. Than thisthere can be no higher praise. Wendell Taber,Chairman, Arthur Cleveland Bent Life History Committee,Nuttall Ornithological Club.

LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICANWEAVER FINCHES, BLACKBIRDS,ORIOLES, AND TANAGERS
By Arthur Cleveland Bent
Order Passeriformes: Family Ploceidae, Weaver Finches
PASSER DOMESTICUS DOMESTICUS (Linnaeus)English SparrowHABITSThe common name English sparrow is a misnomer, but it has stuckto this bird for some hundred years and is likely to survive indefinitely.It was quite natural to call it the English sparrow, as most of thebirds were imported from England, but the species is widely distributedin Europe and Asia, with closely related forms in North Africa. Fora full account of its distribution and geographical variations the readeris referred to an excellent paper on the subject by Dr. John C. Phillips(1915). And, after calling it a sparrow for these many years, andour commonest and best known sparrow at that, we must recognizeit as a weaver finch and separate it widely from our sparrows in theA. O. U. Check-List. Who wants to call it the European weaverfinch? The scientific name has not been changed, for which we maybe truly thankful!Many years ago, when I was a small boy, probably in the late1860's or early 1870's, my uncle, who lived next door to us in Taunton,was the first to introduce English sparrows into that immediatevicinity. He built a large flying cage in his garden that was roofedover, covered with netting on four sides, and well supplied withperches and nesting boxes. Here the sparrows were so well fed andcared for that they soon began to breed. It was not long before thecage became overcrowded, and he ordered his coachman to put up1
2 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211numerous nesting boxes all over the place and to liberate the sparrows.They soon filled all the new boxes, and also drove away the purplemartins, tree swallows, and house wrens from all the older boxes.When the neighbors' cats killed a few of the precious sparrows, whichwere the newest pets and were zealously guarded, my uncle became soangered that he ordered his coachman to "kill every cat in the neigh-borhood." My uncle drove in that night to find the coachman withnine of the neighbors' cats laid out on the stable floor, a cause for someprofanity. It was not long, however, before my uncle began to missthe martins, swallows, and wrens and to realize that the sparrowswere not as desirable as expected; so he ordered the coachman toreduce them. This he did effectively by digging a trench and fillingit with grain, so that he could kill large numbers with a single rakingshot. But the martins, swallows, and wrens never returned. Thisincident is typical of what happened in many other places before werealized that we had made a great mistake in importing this undesirablealien.Walter B. Barrows (1889), in his Bulletin on this species, quotes thefollowing account by Nicolas Pike of his efforts to get the Englishsparrow established in this country:It was not till 1850 that the first eight pairs were brought from England to theBrooklyn Institute, of which I was then a director. We built a large cage forthem, and cared for them during the winter months. Early in the spring of 1851they were liberated, but they did not thrive.In 1852 a committee of members of the Institute was chosen for the re-intro-duction of these birds, of which I was chairman [sic].Over $200 was subscribed for expenses. I went to England in 1852, on my wayto the consul-generalship of Portugal. On my arrival in Liverpool I gave theorder for a large lot of Sparrows and song birds to be purchased at once. Theywere shipped on board the steam-ship Europa, if I am not mistaken, in charge ofan officer of the ship. Fifty Sparrows were let loose at the Narrows, accordingto instructions, and the rest on arrival were placed in the tower of GreenwoodCemetery chapel. They did not do well, so were removed to the house of Mr.John Hooper, one of the committee, who offered to take care of them during thewinter.In the spring of 1853 they were all let loose in the grounds of GreenwoodCemetery, and a man hired to watch them. They did well and multiplied, andI have original notes taken from time to time of their increase and colonizationover our great country.Barrows lists the following other places in which the sparrows wereintroduced directly from Europe: Portland, Maine, in 1854 and 1858Peacedale, R. I., in 1858; Boston, Mass., 1858-60; New York, 1860-66Rochester, N. Y., between 1865 and 1869; New Haven, Conn., 1867Galveston, Tex., 1867; Charlestown, Mass., 1869; Cleveland, Ohio1869 ; Philadelphia, Pa., 1869 or earlier; Salt Lake City, Utah, 1873-74Akron, Ohio, 1875; Fort Howard, Wis., 1875; Sheboygan, Wis., 1875
ENGLISH SPARROW 3and Iowa City, Iowa, 1881. He gives a long list of places in whichthe sparrows were introduced, probably by transplanting from otherplaces in the United States, and adds: "A study of these tables showsthat even before 1875 there were many large sparrow colonies through-out the United States, east of the Mississippi, as well as several inCanada, one or more in Utah, one at Galveston, Tex., and probablyanother in San Francisco, Cal. There were small colonies also ineastern Iowa and in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska."With all these importations and transplantings, it is no wonder thatthe English sparrow was soon able to overrun the whole country.Barrows (1889) estimated that by 1886 the sparrow was "found tohave established itself in thirty-five States and five Territories." Itspread and increased very rapidly. Between 1870 and 1875 it spreadover 500 square miles; from 1875 to 1880 it spread over 15,640 squaremiles; between 1880 and 1885 it spread over 500,760 square miles; andin the year 1888 alone it added 516,500 squares to its range. This rangewas naturally spotty, there being many portions of each State thathad not been invaded, and the centers of abundance were near thepoints of introductions. For example, although it made its firstappearance in California, in the San Francisco Bay region, in 1871 or1872, it extended its range very slowly during the next 20 years intoadjacent regions; it apparently did not become established in LosAngeles County until about 1906 and in San Diego County about1913, according to Grinnell and Miller (1944), but by 1915 it "hadspread to virtually all sections of the State, at least locally in townsand about ranches, inclusive of desert areas and the larger islandsoffshore."It evidently invaded Arizona in 1903 and 1904, and New Mexicoabout 1909. Finley (1907) reported it at Portland, Oreg., in 1889,but Rathbun tells me that it did not appear in Seattle until 1897 andBellingham, Wash., in 1900. It spread through Colorado between1895 and 1906.E. R. Kalmbach (1940) writes: " At present the range of the Englishsparrow in North America covers the entire continental United Statesexcept Alaska, all thickly settled parts of the contiguous CanadianProvinces, and similar areas in Mexico south at least as far as SanLuis Potosi and Guadalajara in Jalisco. * * * The most northerlypoint of occurrence of which the writer has record is Two IslandsIndian Village on the Mackenzie River, 30 miles below Fort Simpson,Mackenzie, latitude 62 N. * * * The bird is known also at Atha-baska Landing in northern Alberta and is present in most of thesettlements in the coastal region of British Columbia."Leonard Wing (1943), in comparing the spread of the English spar-row with that of the starling, states that "the English sparrow spread
4 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211much faster than the starling, and its occupation was substantiallycompleted forty years after its introduction. The starling spread isstill far from finished fifty years after its introduction." The rapidspread of the sparrow is largely due to the fact that it was much morewidely introduced and artificially transplanted. Being largely agrain-eating bird, it traveled extensively from place to place alongthe highways, where it could pick up waste grain dropped by passingvehicles and find some semidigested grain in the droppings of horses.Undoubtedly many found their way to more distant places by securingunintentional transportation in grain cars or cattle cars, as shown bythe fact that towns and cities along the principal railway lines,especially where there has been heavy traffic in grain, have been thefirst communities occupied. When these places have become over-crowded, the birds have spread out into the surrounding rural orsuburban regions.At the peak of its abundance, during the early part of this century,the English sparrow was undoubtedly the most abundant bird in theUnited States, except in heavily forested, alpine, and desert regions.Within its favorite haunts one could easily see twice as many sparrowsas all other birds combined. Mrs. Nice (1931) says: "The Englishor House Sparrow appears to be the most abundant breeding bird inOklahoma. On 1,166 miles of 'roadside censuses' taken in May,June, and early July, 1920-1923, in all sections of the state, we counted2,055 of these birds; this was 26 percent of all the birds seen and twiceas many as the most common native bird?the Dickcissel."Tilford Moore tells me that in his counts in St. Paul, Minn., herecorded 42 English sparrows to 20 other birds. On the other hand,Wing (1943) estimates that in the Eastern States these sparrows con-stitute about 3 percent of the breeding bird population and about 4.5percent of the wintering bird population. If this is true today, therehas been a marked decrease in the East during the past two decades;and this is quite evident to the casual observer.The decrease is most marked in the Eastern States, especially in thecities and towns, though the sparrows are still common in the ruraldistricts, about the farmyards and poultry farms, where there is stillplenty of grain being fed to livestock. The vast hordes that formerlyroosted in the trees of the King's Chapel and Granary burying grounds,in the center of the city of Boston, are no more, though a few maystill be found in the public parks, where the pigeons seem to find somefood. Warren F. Eaton (1924), then of Weston, Mass., publishedsome interesting data showing the decline in the numbers of thesesparrows in eastern Massachusetts, between 1914 and 1922. Thenumber of days on which the sparrows were seen declined from 232 in1916 to 101 in 1922; and the total number of sparrows seen declined
ENGLISH SPARROW 5from 2,705, an average of 13.7 per day, between November 20, 1914,and January 1, 1916, to only 570, an average of 5.6 per day, betweenJanuary 1, 1921, and June 28, 1922. He claims to have kept a carefulrecord and "accurate account of every bird seen at any time."According to W. H. Bergtold (1921), there was a marked decreasein the number of English sparrows in Denver, Colo., during the 15 yearsprevious to 1921. His observations were made in "a well grassed andtimbered area surrounding the Court House," opposite his office; heestimated conservatively that 15 years ago "the sparrow populationof this area * * * could not have been less than one thousand birds."Careful counts made by him on 7 days in October 1919, in the samearea, varied from 5 to less than 20 birds seen each day.Considerable falling off in numbers has been noted in the cities andtowns of eastern Canada, but in the rural districts and in some of thetowns in the Prairie regions the decline in numbers is less marked andthe population has become more static.Natural causes do not seem to have been sufficient to account forthe decrease in numbers; English sparrows have no more seriousnatural enemies than other birds; there is no evidence of any wide-spread epidemics or diseases ; the elements have caused some wholesaledestruction in a few places, but other birds have recovered from theresults of such disasters. There remains a generally accepted cause,the diminution in the food supply, especially in the cities. It is signifi-cant that the decrease in the sparrow population in urban and suburbanareas coincides very closely with the increased use of motor vehiclesand the decrease in the number of horses that formerly spread abountiful food supply along our streets and highways. Even in thefarming districts, the tractor and other mechanical agricultural ma-chines have largely replaced the horse; and in the cities and towns ahorse-drawn vehicle is a rare sight today. Bergtold (1921) gives ussome figures to illustrate the passing of the horse; official statisticsshow that, in Denver, the number of horses declined from 5,904 in1907 to 3,832 in 1917, a reduction of about 33 percent. He saysfurther: "There can be, however, little^question concerning the realityof the 'vanishing horse', for it has been shown (Saturday Evening Post,Sept. 13, 1919) that the number of horses in New York City recentlydeclined from 108,036 to 75,740, and it is probable that what amountsto decrease (by displacement or substitution) has occurred also insuburban areas, since statistics seem to show a decrease or displace-ment of 33% of the horses in one of the Dakotas. Finally in thisconnection it can be said that early in November 1919 there wereenough tractors in use in Colorado to displace 16,000 horses."The above is largely ancient history, but the figures show the trend,which has been going on ever since at an increasing rate until the
6 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211horse, as a tractive force, has almost reached the vanishing point.The motor vehicle has driven the English sparrow out of our cities notonly by removing its principal, almost its only, food supply, but bymaking its street life so hazardous among the swiftly moving vehiclesas to cause it to seek safer surroundings, where food is more easilyobtained. Studies of stomach contents show that no very large pro-portion of the food of this bird consists of semidigested oats, fromwhich it may be contended that the passing of the horse was not aprimary factor in the decline of the sparrow; nevertheless the passingof the horse certainly resulted in driving the great concentrations ofsparrows out of our large cities.Courtship.?The courtship of the English sparrow is more spec-tacular and strenuous than elegant. It used to be a common ex-perience to see a group of these dirty, soot-begrimed street gaminsstruggling and fighting almost under our feet in our streets and gutters,oblivious to their surroundings. Charles W. Townsend (1909) thusdescribes the actions of the ardent male:With flattened back, head held up and tail down [up?], wings out from the body,the tips of the primaries touching or nearly touching the ground, he hops backand forth before the coy female as if on springs. Not one but several dancethus before a lady who barely deigns to look at them, and then only to peck infeigned disgust at the love-lorn suitors. These pecks are often far from love pats.At times she stands in the middle of a ring of males at whom she pecks viciouslyin turn as they fly by, all chirping excitedly at the top of their lungs. The casualobserver might think the lady was being tormented by a crowd of ungallant males,but the opposite is in reality the case for the lady is well pleased and is showingher pretended feminine contempt for the male sex, who on their part are tryingtheir best to attract and charm her. At other times she plants her bill firmlyon the head of the suitor, and pecks at him violently from time to time withoutletting go her hold. I have seen several such one-sided fights, for the oppressedrarely fights back, where the male seemed to be on the verge of exhaustion, lyingpanting on the ground, but on being disturbed both birds flew off apparently nonethe worse. * * * About a year ago I wratched two males in fierce encounteron a small grass plot in front of my house. One had the other by the bill and heldhim back downwards on the grass. They were both using their claws vigorouslyand bracing with their wings. Occasionally they would roll over, or go head overheels. Breaking apart they would fly up at each other like enraged barn-yardcocks. Although I stood within two feet of them, so intent were they that theydid not notice me until I made an incautious movement and they fled to fightelsewhere.A disgraceful fight between two female English Sparrows occurred in front ofmy house one April day. Catching each other by the bills they pulled and tuggedand rolled over on the grass. When they broke away the fight was renewed afew inches above the ground in fighting cock style. Three males appeared, andwatched the fight. One, evidently scandalized, endeavored to separate theAmazons by pecking at them, but they paid no attention to him and only aftersome time flew away, one chasing the other.
ENGLISH SPARROW 7Claude T. Barnes has sent me the following interesting account ofthe mating of this strenuous species: "The incredible English sparrowis the best illustration of furor amatorius. The male suffers fromsatyriasis, the female from nymphomania. In the several years thatwe have observed them breeding, in two instances copulation tookplace fourteen times in succession, with a stopwatch record of fiveseconds for the act and five seconds for the interval. In each instance itwas the soft tee tee tee tee tee tee of the female, sitting with outstretchedwings, that attracted our attention, and our count one was perhaps inreality two or three. Since other males within 20 feet took no interest,we believe that despite its reputation for promiscuity the domesticsparrow, after earlier imbroglios are settled, actually does mate withat least a short period of fidelity. Once mated, however, the femaleseems willing to continue the venery beyond the capacity of the male,for in every instance we have observed she continued her flutteringchant until he ceased to respond."Nesting.?The resourceful and adaptable English sparrow willbuild its bulky, unkempt, and loosely constructed nest in almost anyconceivable spot that will give it support, some security, and a reason-able degree of concealment, though some of the locations seem to lackeven these requirements.Their favored site appears to be a nesting box, from which otherbox-nesting birds are often excluded or sometimes even evicted.But sometimes, even where boxes are available, natural sites havebeen occupied. Richard L. Weaver (1939) found in his studies atIthaca, N. Y., that "boxes were not preferred to natural sites if thenatural ones were well hidden. This was shown at the sanctuarypavilion where boxes were placed besides the natural sites. Onlyfive of the twenty-five broods raised there were in boxes, the othersbeing in rafters under the overhanging porch."In eastern Massachusetts, favorite nesting sites are found in thedense growths of Boston ivy which climb luxuriantly over many ofour large buildings and offer good support, security, and some conceal-ment. Similar ivy and other vines are favored in different parts ofthe country. These vines sometimes harbor so many nests that theybecome a nuisance; the slovenly nests disfigure the walls, while thevines and the ground beneath are defiled by the droppings of the birds,and the noisy chattering of so many birds disturbs the occupants ofthe buildings. Attempts to drive away the birds by pulling down thenests have not always been successful; some of the nests are 40 or 50feet from the ground and difficult to reach; and the birds are so per-sistent that they return to build again. But repeated efforts willeventually succeed and the sparrows will learn to build their nests inless conspicuous places, where they are less likely to be disturbed.380928?58 2
8 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Charles R. Stockard (1905) writes: "There was a church in Colum-bus [Miss.] the walls of which were completely covered with ivy andthe ivy was almost as completely filled with sparrows' nests. Permis-sion was obtained to raid this colony and in one day four hundred andfifty-nine eggs were taken and about seven hundred young sparrowswere killed. * * * Several compound nests were found, one a largeball of hay with three small openings each leading to a separatefeather-lined chamber containing a set of eggs."In the days when we had arc lights over the streets, sparrows builttheir nests on the supports under the hoods, where they had shelterand warmth at night. Occasionally I have seen sparrows occupyingone compartment in a large martin box while the purple martins livedin the others. The bulky nests of large hawks often have sparrownests in their lower portions ; many times I have seen one in an osprey'shuge nest, and have even found one occupying a crevice in the nest of aSwainson's hawk. The sparrows do not seem to bother the martins,nor are they afraid of the large hawks. Sometimes sparrows driveout cliff swallows and occupy their bottleneck nests; occasionally theyuse deserted nests of cliff or even barn swallows.A. Dawes Du Bois tells me that he found "a great many Englishsparrows" occupying the lower holes in a large colony of bank swallows.He also saw one building a nest in a woodpecker's hole.Natural cavities in trees, especially apple trees, cavities such as areused by starlings, bluebirds and tree swallows, offer convenient nestingsites. When the sparrows were more abundant in our cities theynested in large numbers, sometimes as many as half a dozen nests ina tree, in the shade trees along the streets and in the parks; their largenests were very conspicuous before the trees were in full leaf. Mostof these nests were in deciduous trees at heights ranging from 10 upto 50 feet. Some nests were in spruces; and, in California, nests areoften seen in the tallest eucalyptus trees, and even palms.In or about buildings the sparrows will build their nests whereverthey can find lodgement for them, on a rafter or a brace, on the corbelof a pillar, on a rain spout under the eaves, behind blinds or shutters,or in the pocket of a drawn-up awning; in the last case, if the awningis lowered, the nest is destroyed, but the sparrows will build thereagain, if the awning remains drawn-up long enough. Hervey Brack-bill has sent me the following description of an awning nest: "A nestbuilt in a deep fold of a drawn-up awning in Baltimore city was agreat mass of loosely-placed and loosely-woven material, in the middleof which was a comparatively small and rather neat pocket for theeggs. In its extreme dimensions, the whole unkempt thing was 20inches tall and 12 by 5 inches in breadth. The actual nest pocket hadan extreme depth of 7 inches, but from the point where the walls
ENGLISH SPARROW 9became solid the depth was only 5 ; the inner diameter was 3 inches.The nest was made chiefly of very long, coarse grass stems with theheads still on, but it also contained some leaves, a few small feathers,a small wad of cotton, several pieces of string, a piece of cloth, and apiece of waxed chewing gum paper."Nests in other cavities vary greatly in size, the space, whether largeor small, being filled with the material. Nests in open situations intrees are usually large, more or less globular in shape, with the entranceon the side.William L. Finley (1907) published a photograph of a nest in anunusual location, of which he says: "Down near the end of sparrowrow some hornets built a nest up under the projecting eaves of thefront porch of a cottage, just beside the bracket. I can understandhow a pair of sparrows will fight for a bird-box and drive other birdsaway, but I never dreamed they would be envious of the hornets.But a sparrow must have a place to nest. Whether the hornets leftvoluntarily or with the aid of the sparrows I do not know, but the nexttime I passed I found the birds in possession?actually making a homein the hornet's nest. They had gone in through the bracket and pulledout a large part of the comb, and were replacing it with grass andfeathers."Weaver (1939) observed that
?
Nest sites were chosen both before and after mating had occurred. If before, themale selected the site and performed his courtship from there, but if afterward, thefemale helped with or probably did most of the choosing. * * *"The variations in nest structure resulted mostly from the presence or absenceof certain nesting materials. The commonest form of nest was one with an outerstructure of coarse hay or dried weeds, and a lining of finer materials such asfeathers, cord, hair, and frayed rope. Hay and dried weeds were preferable tostraw. Feathers were preferred to other lining materials and the birds oftentraveled several hundred yards to the chicken yards to obtain them.* * * "Coarse materials were brought to the site selected and layed downrather loosely for a foundation. When a strong support was necessary many stiffstems of hay or weeds were forced into small crevices around the sides and bottomof the nest. As the bulk increased upwards, the female formed the cup by turninground and round in the center. This movement caused the long strands to bendinto a *U' shape. The ends were, therefore, forced up along the sides and helpedto support the roof, which was added next. After the outer shell was constructed,the lining was added."The English sparrow is an early and a late nester, as well as aprolific breeder, raising several broods a year. Clarence Cottam (1929)holds the record for an early nesting date in Utah. On January 1,1929, a boy showed him a nest containing five naked young, recentlyhatched. The temperature was near the zero point at the time andwent down to 14 below during the month. "During the first 18 daysone or both parents were almost constantly on the nest. During the
10 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
night both parents remained within the bird house. Contrary to theusual custom of these birds, the young were practically grown whenthey left the nest and began to fly. One of these juveniles, collectedlate in February, disclosed a body that was fat and in perfect physicalcondition."This was, of course, a very unusual date for nesting, as the eggs werelaid in December. J. J. Murray writes to me that he has seen thesebirds carrying nesting material as early as February 1, and that aneighbor took a practically complete nest out of a wren box on Febru-ary 21. He has also seen them carry material into a hole as late asNovember 2. These dates indicate possible nesting activities in everymonth of the year. Weaver (1943), on the other hand says: "Theseason of nesting is from April to September for most of the UnitedStates but may start as early as March 2 in the South and may bedelayed until near the first of May in parts of Canada and in Europe."Eggs.?The number of eggs laid by the English sparrow variesfrom three to seven; five seems to be the commonest number, thoughsets of six are not very rare; as many as nine have been recorded, andfour seems to be the normal minimum. The eggs are mainly ovate inshape, with a tendency toward elongate ovate, and they have verylittle gloss. Niethammer (1937) gives a very good description of them,of which the following is a translation: "Eggs?very variable withbasic color almost pure white, greenish or bluish, less often green-gray or brownish. Marks limited to a few gray or brown dots, usuallyconsisting of closely packed, clouded or sharply limited spots, whichvary from deep black-brown through all tone ranges to bright ashygray and can crowd in toward the blunt end, however, without forminga genuine wreath structure. Usually the last egg is abnormallycolored; basic color brighter, spotting more pronounced and not sofrequent. Likewise the next to the last egg has a darker basic colorand very dense marking."Weaver (1943) gives the measurements of 54 eggs, of which theaverage is 22.8 by 15.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 25.0 by 16.0, 22.0 by 16.8, 20.2 by 15.0, and 20.4 by 14.5millimeters.Young.?Weaver (1943) found that incubation was performedwholly by the female, 12 days being the commonest incubation period:
"Three of the twenty-two sets required thirteen days, nine requiredtwelve days, one required eleven days, and three sets required tendays." He figured that incubation began with the laying of the thirdegg. Of the hatching operation he writes:A clicking sound usually announces the readiness of the young to start hatching.It is made by contact of the egg tooth with the shell and possibly also by a clickingtogether of the mandibles. The egg tooth presses against the shell and makes an
ENGLISH SPARROW 11
upraised crease around the larger end of the egg about one-fourth of the way fromthe end. The young bird may break the shell with the egg tooth before the creaseis noticeable. In either case, a slit now appears, starting at a point where the eggtooth first pushed through the shell. The slit is made in a circular directionaround the egg and meets the point where it started. The young is able to turnitself or its head in the egg making a complete circular slit possible. The head islocated in the larger end of the egg and as the slit nears completion the piece ofshell around the head is broken off and the head is freed. The larger piece of shellis now kicked free and the young forces itself out. The feet are crowded into thedepressions on either side of the neck while in the shell, and after hatching theyhave a tendency to remain doubled up for several hours. Often the shell does notcome free from the young immediately and the female will help to remove it, andwhen doing so may often carry the young and the shell out of the nest causingearly death to the unfortunate young.In another paper (1942) he describes the development of the youngin great detail, with illustrations, but I quote only from his summary:English Sparrows are hatched without natal down. * * *The egg tooth disappears and the edges of the bill change from white to lemon-yellow by the fourth day after hatching. * * *The greatest development in the plumage of young sparrows is delayed untilthe latter part of the period in the nest. The greatest change in appearance ofyoung English Sparrows occurs between the age of six and seven days, whenmost of the feathers emerge and many of them lose their sheaths.By the tenth day after hatching the color pattern is evident, showing a wing bar,and in some males a black bib.Practically all of the sheaths have disappeared from the contour feathers andall but one-fourth of the flight feathers are unsheathed by the fifteenth day.These sheaths may remain one to two weeks after the young depart from the nest.The greatest amount of sheath is present in the flight feathers on the eleventhday. The amount of sheathing present gives an accurate criterion of the ageof young birds in the nest.Most of the young left the nest at about the fifteenth day, but English Sparrowsmay remain in the nest for seventeen days if entirely undisturbed.Males and females share about equally in the feeding of the young at the nest,but the females do the greater portion of the nest sanitation. Both birds maybrood the young, although the female does the greater part of it, and alwaysstays in the nest during the night. The young are fed by regurgitation duringthe first part of the period after hatching.There was 70.5 per cent success of survival in thirty-eight nests which produced127 young from 180 eggs laid. This corresponds closely to that reported forother hole-nesting species.The older young are able to command the most advantageous positions inthe nest and thus receive relatively more food and often are able to leave the nestseveral days before the other young. The young can fly rather well upon leavingthe nest, considerably better than do the young of most species that nest in theopen.The young are fed by the adults for a period of two weeks, and probably more,after leaving the nest. The young have a strong bond for one another.The young, out of the nest, may be fed entirely by one adult or by both.A complete post-juvenal molt begins about five weeks after the young leavethe nest. It began in early August and ended in mid-September at Ithaca in1937.
12 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Probably the English sparrow raises regularly two broods of youngin a season and often three, but it is doubtful if more than three areoften raised. Reports of four or five broods have not been definitelyproven, so far as we know. Weaver (1943) suggests: "Since oneindividual nest may be used by three or more different females inone season, the actual number of broods raised by one female in aseason is questionable. Two banded females are known to haveraised but two complete broods in one season while one nest site isknown to have been used four times with three successful broods.Therefore, it is suspected that the large number of broods claimedby some writers may refer to clutches per nest site rather than broodsper female."When a nest is robbed or destroyed, however, the sparrows loseno time in making another attempt to raise a brood. Murray writesto me: "I tore a nest out of a hole on April 11, and 26 days later,on May 7, the pair had two young and two eggs ready to hatch."Barrows (1889) quotes Otto Widmann as saying: "A Sparrow neverdeserts its brood. If one of the parents is killed, the other will doall the work alone. If a young one happens to fall down from thelofty nest, it is not lost; the parents feed it, shelter, and defend it.If a young Sparrow is taken from the nest and placed in a cage, themother feeds it for days and weeks, even if she has to enter a room toget to it."Plumages.?Both sexes are alike in the juvenal plumage, whichDwight (1900) describes as follows: "Above, hair-brown somewhatbuffy, wings and tail slightly darker, and streaked broadly with clove-brown on the back; secondaries, tertiaries and wing coverts edgedwith wood-brown. Below, mouse-gray, darkest across jugulumand on the sides, the chin and mid-abdomen nearly white. A duskypostocular stripe."A complete postjuvenal molt takes place about 5 weeks after theyoung bird leaves the nest, at which the male acquires the black throatand becomes practically indistinguishable from the adult. Dwight(1900) describes this handsome plumage as follows:Pileum, rump and upper tail coverts smoke-gray, the feathers brownish edgedand dusky basally. The back streaked with black each feather partly Mar's-brown and edged with buff. Below, dull white tinged with French-gray on throatand sides, the feather tips with buffy wash, the shafts faintly grayish; the chinand throat, loral and postocular stripe, black veiled with grayish or buffy edgings;sides of chin and throat and mid-abdomen nearly white; auriculars olive-gray;posterior part of superciliary line, postauricular and nuchal regions chestnutveiled with buff edgings. Wings and tail dull black edged with pale cinnamon,rich chestnut on the greater and lesser coverts, the median coverts white, buff edgedforming a wing band.
ENGLISH SPARROW 13The first and subsequent nuptial plumages are acquired by wear,which brings out the contrasts in and the brilliancy of|the colors.A complete postnuptial molt for both yound and old birds beginslate in August. Adult males in winter plumage are not very differentfrom the first winter males; the black of the throat is*? usually,. moreextensive, the buff less evident, the crown grayer and the mediancoverts whiter. After the postjuvenal molt, females resemble themales above, but lack the black throat and the chestnut patches;the molts are the same.Stimulated by Wetmore's (1936) feather counting, Arthur E.Staebler (1941) took the trouble to count the contour feathers oneight English sparrows of different ages and sexes and at differentseasons, from which he made the expected discovery that the spar-rows wear more feathers in winter than in summer; only such feath-ers as formed parts of the outer covering were counted. He foundthat an adult male taken in January had 3,615 feathers, while anadult male taken in July had 3,138 feathers.Food.?The latest and most comperehensive study of the food ofthe English sparrow was made by E. R. Kalmbach (1940), basedon the examination of 8,004 stomachs of adults and nestlings, 337of which "were found to be too nearly empty or otherwise unfit foruse in the computation of bulk percentages." The stomachs of the4,848 adults were found to contain 3.39 percent of animal matter and96.61 percent vegetable. The proportions were largely reversed forthe nestlings, 68.13 percent animal and 31.87 percent vegetablematter. Grouped to show whether the consumption of the variousitems is beneficial, neutral or harmful to the interests of man, histables give the following figures: Adults' animal food is 2.67 percentbeneficial, 0.64 percent neutral, and 0.08 percent harmful. Adults'vegetable food is 16.97 percent beneficial, 24.14 percent neutral, and55.50 percent harmful. Nestlings' animal food is 59.21 percent bene-ficial, 4.48 percent neutral, and 4.44 percent harmful. Nestlings'vegetable food is 0.17 percent beneficial, 7.85 percent neutral, and23.85 percent harmful. By adding the totals it will be seen that thefeeding habits of the adults are 55.58 percent harmful while thoseof the nestlings are 59.38 beneficial; but, unfortunately, the feedingtime of nestlings is very limited.He gives the sparrow credit for destroying many weevils, particu-larly the very destructive alfalfa weevil, scarabaeid beetles, clickbeetles, leaf beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, caterpillars, moths,and some flies; but blames it for eating the useful predaceous groundbeetles and spiders. He gives it some credit for destroying some weedseeds, but condemns it for the large amounts of feed grains such as
14 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
oats, wheat, and corn that it eats. These grains alone made up over55 percent of the food of the adults.Forbush (1929) gives the following general account of the food ofthis bird: "The food of the House Sparrow includes many substances,chiefly vegetal, and ranging from fruit and grain to garbage, and un-digested grain and seeds in horse droppings. It eats greedily all thesmall grains and bird seeds, crumbs of bread, cake and other foodsof mankind, small fruits and succulent garden plants in their tenderstages. It destroys young peas, turnips, cabbage and nearly allyoung vegetables, and it often eats the undeveloped seeds of vege-tables. When numerous it attacks apples, peaches, plums, pears,strawberries, currants and all other common small fruits."It has repeatedly been seen eating apple blossoms and those ofpeas and beans. Tilford Moore (MS.) saw one trying to get at theseeds in a large sunflower head, "but, as the bloom was face down-ward and as he was unable to hang upside down, he was unsuccessful.The above method, sometimes successful, is used on seeds at the edgeof the bloom only. For seeds toward the center, they hover beneaththe bloom and reach up to draw one out. Then they fly to the groundwhere they remove the husks to get at the kernels. Thus the birdsof this species have harvested almost all the seeds."Irving W. Burr writes to me: "One of the bird's commonest foodin late summer and fall is the seed from crab grass (Digitaria sp.).That is the explanation of the foraging flocks on the lawns. Binocu-lars reveal that the bobbing heads are busy shoveling in the seeds,just as a boy will strip a weed stalk. The number of crab grass seedswhich a flock of forty sparrows will eat in a day must be enormous.Surely everyone would regard this as a commendable trait in thebird." I have seen the birds doing this on my lawns, but cannotsee that the crab grass is materially reduced.Judd (1896) also refers to the sparrows as eating the seed of crabgrass, chickweed, and dandelion, but none of these lawn pests havebeen exterminated anywhere, though they may be somewhat con-trolled. He says that "more than half of the dandelions that bloomedin April on the lawns of the U. S. Department of Agriculture weredamaged by Sparrows." Kalmbach (1940) mentions ragweed seedsas dominant in the food of this sparrow, but says that crab grassseeds are "taken in greater bulk and numbers but found in fewerstomachs. * * * As many as 1,274 were taken from the crop of asingle English sparrow from Alabama; more than 900 each from 2others; and 150 or more each from fully 40 others." He then givesa long list of other weed seeds and grass seeds eaten.Judd (1901) said of the vegetable food, as then known and not verydifferent from our present knowledge: "Of the 98 percent constituting
ENGLISH SPARROW 15the vegetable food, 7 percent consisted of grass seed, largely of plantsof the genera Zizania (wild rice), Panicum, and Chaetocloa, andnotably crab-grass and pigeon-grass, and 17 percent of various weedsnot belonging to the grass family. The grass and weed seeds takenare not noticeably different from those usually eaten by native spar-rows. But what especially differentiates the vegetable food from thatof all other sparrows is the large proportion of grain consumed, whichformed 74 per cent of the entire food of the year and 90 percent ofthat of the period from June to August."In late summer, when the numbers of these sparrows are augmentedby the addition of two or three broods of young, the sparrows swoopdown on the grain fields to raid the standing crops; they alight onthe stalks to pluck the grain from the fruiting heads or to shake thekernels down to the ground to be picked up at their leisure, all ofwhich results in heavy damage to the crops.Among the few redeeming features in the food of English sparrowsis the small percentage of harmful and annoying insects that it eats.Hervey Brackbill writes in his notes: "During one October whenaphids heavily infested the silver and Norway maples that lineseveral blocks in northwest Baltimore, English sparrows were amongthe most persistent of 13 species of birds that fed upon them. Thesparrows appeared daily, foraged throughout the 35- to 50-foot trees,and used many different methods. In a heavy vertical fork, a typeof place in which the aphids sometimes collected in particular num-bers, one bird once clung for some seconds head downward, muchlike a nuthatch, while snatching up the insects on all sides. Anotherclung to a silver maple trunk practically like a woodpecker andforaged over and beneath the flaky bark. The English sparrows alsooften picked the aphids off the under sides of leaves. The Englishsparrow is one of the heaviest bird feeders on the Japanese beetle,which has become such a pest in parts of the East. It is the mostversatile bird in its hunting of them, too. It flies to commandingperches on rose bushes and trellises, scans the leaves and flowersthoroughly, and upon locating a beetle makes its capture with aswoop. It searches the bushes from below, hopping along the flowerbeds, peering intently and then darting upward to seize its prey. Ihave seen it make catches as high as 18 feet up in trees. It alsopursues low-flying beetles through the air and captures them onthe wing."I can remember that many years ago, before the sparrows becameabundant, we were greatly annoyed by inch worms spinning downupon us from the trees which they had partially defoliated. Thenthe sparrows came and began foraging in our shade trees for theselittle caterpillars or canker worms, as well as for the elm-leaf beetles.
16 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETEST 211We frequently saw several sparrows at work in a single tree. Atthe height of the sparrow abundance these little worms were nearlyexterminated about my home, or at least very materially reduced innumbers. But, since the decline in the sparrow population, theinch worms have increased decidedly. The scarcity of vireos andother insectivorous birds may have partially accounted for theincrease in the inch worms.I remember once, when there was a plague of army worms here,the sparrows gathered in large numbers and fed greedily upon them.In the West, outbreaks of Mormon crickets have been at least checkedby English sparrows.According to William J. Howard (1937), English sparrows were themost numerous and most active of all the birds in attacking an emer-gence of 17-year locusts in Indiana. "Although there were multi-tudes of dead and dying insects upon trees and the ground, thesparrows were very active in pursuing flying locusts. As many asthree sparrows were seen to chase a single insect, and the squabbleand fight characteristic of this bird usually ensued when one of thebirds caught an insect."Sparrows are often seen picking insects off the radiators of auto-mobiles where they have been caught and killed. But they can alsocatch many flying insects in the air?wasps, bees, flying ants, andother Hymenoptera. They are, in fact, very resourceful in theirvaried feeding habits. They eat the snow-white linden moths whenthey appear in July, and feed on the tent caterpillars and brown-tailed moths.Behavior.?The English sparrow is a noisy, boisterous, and aggres-sive bully in its relations with other species. Generally cordiallyhated by both birds and men, its record is almost wholly black. Itdrives bluebirds, swallows, and wrens from their nesting boxes byforce, or by preempting them in advance. Some of these rightfultenants of the boxes can resist eviction by an aggressive pair ofsparrows, but they cannot withstand mob violence when the spar-rows attack in superior numbers, as they sometimes do; then thegentler birds give up the fight and retire to find more peaceful quarterselsewhere. But the box-dwellers are not the only sufferers; the spar-rows seize and occupy the bottleneck nests of cliff swallows, the opennests of barn swallows, and even the burrows of bank swallows. It wasthought that the English sparrow might meet its match in the housefinch in Colorado, but such was not to be. Bergtold (1913) writes:The loss of nests, eggs and young of the House Finch through direct destruc-tion by the English Sparrow is very large. It was 16% in some of the nestsstudied by the writer, and, moreover, this 16% loss of eggs does not include thevery large potential loss of House Finch eggs and young brought about by
ENGLISH SPARROW 17destruction of nests by English Sparrows before the House Finch eggs are laidin them. * * * The writer has personally witnessed English Sparrows goinginto the House Finches' nests, and has seen them throw out the young, thesenestings having the heads pecked open by the Sparrows before they were thrownout. The House Finch will often put up a mild fight against the invaders, giv-ing at the same time a very characteristic squeak but the Finch is almost invar-iably beaten in these battles. In many years' observations on this phase of theFinch question, the writer has but once seen a Finch whip a Sparrow.The sparrows destroy the eggs and young of the birds that nest inboxes and throw out the nesting material, also those of the otherbirds mentioned above. Nests of birds as large as robins have beenrobbed of their eggs and young. On the other hand, an Englishsparrow has been seen by reliable observers to defend the nest andfeed the young of a pair of red-eyed vireos, together with the parentbirds (see The Cardinal, vol. 2, pp. 191-192). We often see one ormore sparrows trailing a robin or a starling on the lawn, seeming toknow that the larger birds are more successful than they would be indigging out worms or grubs, and they look for a chance to steal theirfood. They are such aggressive and persistent bluffers that theysometimes succeed, by force of numbers or by strategy.They show their intelligence and ingenuity in other ways. JohnBurroughs (1879), with the remark that "it is too good not to betrue" tells the following story:A male bird brought to his box a large, fine goose feather, which is a great findfor a sparrow and much coveted. After he had deposited his prize and chatteredhis gratulations over it, he went away in quest of his mate. His next-doorneighbor, a female bird, seeing her chance, quickly slipped in and seized thefeather; and here the wit of the bird came out, for instead of carrying it into her ownbox she flew with it to a near tree and hid it in a fork of the branches, then wenthome, and when her neighbor returned with his mate, was innocently employedabout her own affairs. The proud male, finding his feather gone, came out ofhis box in a high state of excitement, and, with wrath in his manner and accusa-tion on his tongue, rushed into the cote of the female. Not finding his goods andchattels there as he expected, he stormed around a while, abusing everybody ingeneral and his neighbor in particular, and then went away as if to repair the loss.As soon as he was out of sight, the shrewd thief went and brought the featherhome and lined her own domicile with it.Mr. Brackbill says in his notes: "An instance of real ingenuity waswitnessed at a fountain and pool in Mount Vernon Place, in down-town Baltimore. On a flat rim of this pool, covered by water to anideal depth, sparrows were accustomed to gather and bathe. Oneday the pool was drained, leaving the birds only some steep-sidedbowls on a surrounding wall as watering places. From the rims ofthese they could lean forward and bathe their heads and shoulders,but the water's depth quite precluded complete baths in normalfashion. The birds got their baths nonetheless. To wash their hind
18 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211parts they turned around and tipped slightly backward. And towash their breasts and underparts generally they flew very low acrossthe water, dipping down into it one to several times on the way.Some contrived even better baths by swimming flutteringly thewhole way across the bowls."An instance of drinking was noted at a building where an exhaustpipe projected through the wall a yard or so above the ground. Thepipe was about an inch in diameter and it projected from the walljust about an inch. Water was dripping from it, and although thedrip was not fast enough to form even a small puddle on the ground,the sparrows of the neighborhood had solved the problem of gettinga drink. Every now and then one would come flying, alight on thebit of exposed pipe, bend downward?sometimes in a very awkwardposition?and drink the drops as they collected on the lip of the pipe.Four birds drank in this way during ten minutes that I watched."English sparrows will roost for the night wherever they can find alittle shelter in, under, or about buildings or other human structures,under electric light hoods, or in dense evergreen trees. But theyoften huddle together for mutual protection where there is no shelterwhatever, just as they did in the big city roosts, when the sparrowslived in the cities.On Chestnut Street, the principal business street in Philadelphia,writes J. P. Norris (1891), stood an old-fashioned dwelling, the onlyone on the street: "On the lower side of the house, just inside thebrick wall that encloses the garden, stands a tree about forty feet high,with many branches; and every afternoon the English Sparrows roosthere literally by thousands. Every branch is covered with them,and they are huddled together as close as they can sit. To count themall would be impossible, but I have seen over fifty on one branch.A long wall of an adjoining store is covered with ivy and VirginiaCreeper, and this forms a convenient roosting place for those birdsthat cannot find places on the tree."The spectacular sparrow roost that formerly existed in the King'sChapel burying ground in the center of Boston is well described byDr. Townsend (1909). The birds-frequent the place throughout the year but are decidedly less numerous in thespring months and most numerous during the fall and winter. Thus on Novem-ber 25, 1905, between 4 and 5 p. m., I estimated that about 3,000 were in thisplace in five trees. The other two trees were empty. On February 20, 1906, ona mild pleasant day, when the sun set 5:24 p.m., the roost was studied from thenear-by City Hall. The roosting trees seen from above looked as if their limbshad been whitewashed and the ground and grass beneath were similarly affected.The first arrivals appear at 3:45 p.m., about a dozen in all. At 4 the birds arecoming singly and in small groups alighting in the trees but frequently changingfrom place to place, chirping continuously and fighting for positions. At 4:05 a
ENGLISH SPARROW 19flock of 12 fly swiftly and directly to one tree; 4:10 p.m.: there are now about 150sparrows present, but new ones are coming sailing in with wings wide spread fromover or between the surrounding high buildings. They fly with astonishingswiftness and directness, projected as it were from space directly into the roost
?
is it the city rush and scramble for position? At 4:15 p.m. It is now rainingbirds. I have seen only one alight on a building before entering the roost; theyare in too much of a hurry to get there. The trees are a scene of great activityand the noise rises above the roar of the city's streets. The birds are crowdingtogether in the trees, constantly fighting and flying about as they are forced fromtheir perches. At 4:30 the birds are still coming, but by 4:45 there is a noticeablediminution in the numbers of the coming birds and by 5 o'clock the movementhas ceased with the exception of a few stragglers. Many are now spreading theirwings and tails and composing themselves for sleep. At 5:30 the roost is stillnoisy but many are fast asleep, and before long all is quiet.He describes the morning awakening as follows:On November 26, 1905, I watched the King's Chapel roost wake up and departabout its day's business. All were asleep and quiet until 6 o'clock when the firstchirp was heard, while the stars were still shining, and the first movement tookplace at 6:05, when a sparrow flew from one branch to another. The sleepingones had their heads depressed in front, or the head turned around with the billconcealed in the feathers of the back. A sudden general chirping begins at 6:07and a few buzz about from branch to branch. The chirping swells into a continu-ous volume of sound, not the chorus of the spring, but a confused conversationalchirping noise as if all were talking at once. Birds buzz about with rapid wingvibrations, suggestive of hummingbirds. The first one flies off in an unsteady wayas if still half asleep at 6:12. The sound grows louder, although the majority stillappear to be asleep. Some are stretching their wings and preening their feathers.The stars are nearly gone. At 6:20 no. 2 flies off uncertainly. 6:25. Now thereis greater noise and activity. Many are flying about and a dozen or more haveleft. All awake seem to enjoy spreading their tails. A considerable proportionsleep on through the hubbub. There is very little fighting compared with theevening. 6:26. Now the birds are leaving constantly. 6:27. They are leavingin bands of 15 or 20 at a time. 6:30 a. m. The stream of outgoers, mostly downTremont Street to the north, is now continuous and too great to count. Theremaining birds are noisy in the extreme, flying about vigorously and filling up theempty trees. 6:35 a.m. It is now broad daylight and the birds are flying off likebees, but more or less in waves. A few still sleep on undisturbed. The sun roseabout 6:50 and by that time doubtless all or nearly all of the birds had gone.Voice.?Little can be said in favor of the English sparrow's voice,except that it expresses cheerfulness under adverse weather conditions,indicates abundant energy and aggressiveness, but the incessant chirp-ing and chattering that one hears on spring mornings often seemsmonotonous and soon becomes tiresome.Dr. Townsend (1909) describes it very well as follows:The "chorus" begins from twenty to thirty minutes before sunrise in April,May and June on bright days?fifteen or twenty minutes later on cloudy daysand lasts in full volume nearly an hour. A few scattering chirps are first heardfrom the early ones, but the multitudes on vines and trees and house-tops soon takeup the theme, and the din is almost deafening. The chief note is chis-ick or tsee-upmonotonously repeated, with various modifications, for the most part high pitched
20 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
and ear racking, but occasionally deeper and almost melodious. Certain indi-viduals repeat notes or even series of notes that are not unattractive, and mayeven be called musical. These are not common but may be heard every spring,and, on mild days, even as early as January. At the height of the morning chorus,for such it must be called, there is at times a distinct rhythm, caused by some ofthe birds keeping time. This chirping rhythm I have frequently tried to countbut generally without success, for each bird appears to chirp manfully on his ownhook without regard to time. I have, however, sometimes found its rate to be60 or 70 times a minute, slowing down to 40 on hot days. In this respect theSparrow differs directly from the cold blooded insect that sings faster the hotterthe weather.Ernest Thompson Seton (1901) tells a remarkable story of an Eng-lish sparrow that was hatched in a cage by canaries and learned tosing.It escaped and was frequently heard to sing "a loud sweet song,much like that of a Canary." I wrote to Thompson-Seton, to learnif the story was just pure fiction. He replied that he met the birdmany years ago in Toronto, and that "in the main the story is foundedon fact," but he "expounded and developed the details." The story,"A Street Troubadour," is attractively written and well worth readingas a character study.We have other evidences of singing ability. Dr. Dayton Stoner(1942) writes of a versatile captive English sparrow: "This uniquesparrow possessed various types of vocal ability which he utilized toexpress insistence concerning certain kinds of food, absence of thecage cover at night, general well-being, disgust and the like. More-over, he acquired a remarkable proficiency in singing ability throughthe medium of two canaries which were his companions?in separatecages?for about six years. His imitations of the 'rolling' notes of theone and the 'chopping' notes of the other were sometimes so well doneas to deceive even his mistress." Furthermore, Tilford Moore hassent me the following note: "Sept. 15, 1941. I heard a male in thehoneysuckle beside my bed actually sing today. He was uttering theusual harsh chatterings of his kind, but about once a minute he'dsubstitute a short song for a squawk. The song was a thin andsqueaky but rather pretty one, with tut-tut at beginning and end. Nota warble, it varied over several notes, was rather like an incompletesong which I have heard from a white-throat."Field marks.?This impudent and aggressive little pest is easilyrecognized by its behavior, its familiarity, and its noisy chirps andchatter. The male is a handsome fellow in fresh, clean plumage,with his black bib, gray crown, and conspicuous markings of chestnut,black, and white about the head. The female is more soberly colored,lacking the conspicuous markings about the head, but similar to themale above and below.
ENGLISH SPARROW 21Enemies.?The resourceful English sparrow is more than a matchfor its small-bird enemies, of which there are plenty. Shrikes,grackles, and small hawks and owls take their toll. Many are killedon the highways by speeding automobiles; motor vehicles are increas-ing in numbers and in speed faster than the birds can learn to avoidthem, and nearly as many English sparrows are killed on the roads as allother species of birds combined; most of those killed are young andinexperienced birds.The natural elements take heavy toll on rare occasions. Sparrowsare hardy birds and generally can stand extreme cold and ordinarywinter storms, but those that roost in city trees, as they formerly didin large numbers, are sometimes killed by heavy sleet, hail or rainstorms. Ruthven Deane (1908) mentions such a catastrophe thatoccurred in Chicago in August. A "torrent of rain which is seldomexceeded in force or quantity" lasted most of the night, while the birdswere roosting in the trees. He quotes Luther E. Wyman as saying:"My own observations were confined to Garfield Park, where theyroost in great numbers. Here I found them dotting the grass underthe trees, but massed around the trunks of the larger trees, thoughmany lay even under such dense-growing shrubs as the lilac. * * *The area I examined would cover probably less than a third of a cityblock, jet I found upward of a thousand birds, all sparrows but one,a young robin."But the worst enemy of the English sparrow is man. Repenting ofhis folly in introducing this alien species, he has tried his best to ex-terminate it or control it, but with indifferent results. Various typesof traps have been used with temporary success, but the sparrow soonlearns to avoid them. Grain poisoned with strychnine will kill a fewsparrows, especially if they have been baited to some chosen spot withwholesome grain, but after a few have been seen to die, the survivorswill avoid it; furthermore, it may kill other birds.The most effective method of driving sparrows away from premiseswhere they are not wanted is by persistent shooting and by repeatedlydestroying their nests, both of which methods will eventually dis-courage them. A. long trench can be baited with grain, and, after thebirds have learned to feed there, a large number can be killed by araking shot. The use of light charges anywhere about the premiseswill not frighten away other birds. Nests should be removed regu-larly from the boxes, and most of those on trees and in vines can bereached by a long pole with a hook at the end. Where sparrows roostin large numbers in vines on buildings, they can be driven away byheavy spraying with a hose for several nights in succession; this alsocleans their filth from the vines. This method is also effective on theirnests, as it makes the nests uncomfortable and is likely to kill small
22 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211young. But any of these methods, to be successful, must be followedup persistently. Several important papers on this subject have beenpublished by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The latest andperhaps the best of these is by E. R. Kalmbach, "English SparrowControl" (U. S. Dep. Agric, leaflet 61, 1930).In spite of its many enemies, however, this sparrow is probably afairly longlived bird; Stoner (1942) tells of one in captivity that livedto be 12 years old.Economic status.?A study of what has been written above onthe food and the behavior of the English sparrow will throw much lighton this subject. Almost everyone who has written anything about thebird has had something to say about its faults and virtues, with adecided emphasis on the former. Barrows (1889) received 1,048original reports on the relation of this sparrow to other birds, of which168 were favorable to the sparrow, 837 unfavorable, and 43 inde-terminate. He gives a list of 70 kinds of wild birds that are known tobe molested in one way or another by English sparrows. And heremarks: "For our own part, after careful consideration of each bit oftestimony presented, we believe that the proportion of one hundred toone against the Sparrow is the most favorable estimate which anyunprejudiced person is likely to make."About all that can be said in favor of the sparrow's food habits isthat it destroys a few noxious insects and weed seeds; only 2.67 percentof the food of adults consists of harmful insects, to which should beadded 0.64 percent of neutral insects and a few (0.08 percent) that arebeneficial. Among harmful insects destroyed, in addition to thosementioned in its food (pp. 13-16), we should include the cotton bollweevil, the San Jose scale, other scale insects, and the caterpillars thatattack cotton and tobacco plants.On the other side of the ledger we may charge up against the sparrowthe great damage it does to our agricultural interests. Dr. B. H.Warren (1890) expresses this very well by saying: "In the spring itfeeds largely on the fruit buds of trees, bushes and vines, chief amongwhich may be mentioned pear, apple, peach, plum, cherry, currant andgrape. Different garden products, such as lettuce, beans, peas, cab-bage, berries, pears, apples and grapes are greedily fed upon. TheSparrow greatly damages the corn crop, tearing open the husks,devouring the tender part of the ear and exposing the remainder to theravages of insects and to atmospheric changes. It alights on fields ofwheat, oats and barley, consuming a large quantity, and, by swayingto and fro on the slender stalks and flapping its wings, showers theremainder on the ground."The sparrow is also accused of spreading the germs of blackhead,so fatal to turkeys, and the germs of hog cholera; as it feeds regularly
ENGLISH SPARROW 23in all poultry yards and pig pens, these germs could easily be pickedup and carried to other yards. It has been proven by H. E. Ewing(1911) that it "frequently harbors and is the host of one of the worst,if not the worst, of poultry pests, the chicken louse or chicken mite,Dermanyssus gallinse Redi. * * * The English Sparrow likewiseharbors and is the host of perhaps the most important of all the ex-ternal parasites of our native song birds, and likewise our tamed cagebirds, the bird mite, Dermanyssus avium De Geer."A sparrow that he picked up in a weak and sickly condition wasfound to "possess scores, if not hundreds," of the chicken mites. Arecently deserted sparrow nest was found to be heavily infested; bycounting the number of mites on a moderately infested feather, heesimated that there were some 18,000 chicken mites in the nest.By summing up the evidence regarding its food, its behavior, and thedamage that it does, it can be plainly seen that the English sparrow isone of the worst avian pests ever introduced into this or any othercountry. Barrows was probably not far wrong in estimating that theevidence is 100 to 1 against it.Winter.?The English sparrow is not a migratory bird, exceptthat it may be driven by very severe weather to leave the northernextremities of its range. Even in much of Canada it is a permanentresident and able to stand ordinary winter weather, provided it canfind food and shelter, but when the temperature remains as much as30 or 40 degrees below zero for a week or more at a time, they musthuddle together in buildings for protection and many may die for thelack of food or succumb to the cold.Farther south there is much less winter mortality ; there they clusterabout barns and farmyards, find a ready food supply, often undercover, and can roost at night inside the buildings. Except in theseverest weather, they find sufficient shelter in hedges, vines, brushpiles, or even huddled together in city trees. Formerly very abundantin our cities all winter, they can no longer find sufficient food there;but in rural districts they are our commonest winter birds, and wemust admit that, no matter how much we dislike them, they add alittle cheer to the bleak winter landscape.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The English sparrow was introduced in North America,and is now a permanent resident from central and northeastern BritishColumbia, central-southern Mackenzie, northwestern and centralSaskatchewan (Emma Lake), northern Manitoba (Churchill), central-western, central, and northeastern Ontario, southwestern and central-southern Quebec (Blue Sea Lake, Anticosti Island), and Newfound-380928?57 3
24 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211land; south to northern and central-eastern Baja California, Guerrero,Coahuila, Michoacan, southern Tamaulipas, the shores of the Gulf ofMexico, southern Florida (to Key West), Cuba, Jamaica, andBermuda.Egg dates.?Ontario, Canada: 9 records, April 4 to July 5.California: 50 records, March 18 to July 19.Illinois: 34 records, May 10 to July 5.North Dakota: 12 records, June 10 to 20.PASSER MONTANUS MONTANUS (Linnaeus)European Tree SparrowHABITSThis pretty little weaver finch is widely distributed throughout theEurasian continent, but less common and more local in England.Witherby's Handbook (1919) gives its distribution as "Europe gener-ally and Siberia. Replaced by closely allied forms in east Siberia,Japan, Turkestan, and Persia, India and China, Greater SundaIslands, Hainan and Formosa."Although we have only comparatively recently decided to place ourtwo species of Passer in the family Ploceidae, it is interesting to notethat this was being discussed as long ago as when Yarrell (1876) wrotehis "History of British Birds."As an American bird, the European tree sparrow is known only in thevicinity of St. Louis, Mo., where it was originally introduced andwhence it apparently has not spread very far. Otto Widmann gaveBarrows (1889) the following interesting account of its introductionand its struggle with the more aggressive house sparrow:Early in 1870 a Saint Louis bird dealer imported, among other birds, twenty-Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus) direct from Germany. Mr. Kleinschmidt,hearing of it, persuaded Mr. Daenzer, of the Anzeiger des Western, who was atthat time experimenting with the introduction of European singing birds, to con-tribute to the purchase of these birds. Accordingly they were bought and takento Lafayette Park, in the then southwestern part of the city, and liberated April25, 1870. All left the park immediately, and none were seen again until April 24of the following year, when a single bird was seen one mile east of the park.This discovery was considered worthy of mention in the public press, since atthat time the introduction of the European Sparrow at Saint Louis was thoughtto be a failure.During the next few years dealers had pairs of House Sparrows sent fromNew York, and well-meaning citizens bought them for liberation, but the exactnumber can not be learned, since the principal parties have died. Both speciesincreased amazingly, and as early as 1875 Passer had spread over the entire64 square miles which make up the city of Saint Louis. In the Southern partthe Tree Sparrow predominated [sic], and as late as 1877 no House Sparrow
EUROPEAN TREE SPARROW 25
was seen on my premises, one mile south of the arsenal, which latter point theyhad then occupied in large numbers. Also during the winter of 1877-'78 all ofmy twelve boxes set up for Sparrows were in undisputed possession of the TreeSparrows.On March 28, 1878, the first House Sparrow appeared on the scene, and troublebegan. One pair of Tree Sparrows was dislodged and a pair of House Sparrowsbegan nest-building. That summer no increase in House Sparrows took place inmy colony, and the Tree Sparrows reared their broods in peace, but when thefirst cold October nights forced the Sparrows to change their roost from the nownearly leafless trees to some warm shelter, a whole flock of House Sparrows tookpossession of the boxes and the Tree Sparrows had to leave. Thereafter theweaker Tree Sparrow had little chance to gain a suitable nesting site around itsold home. Only one pair continued breeding for a few years longer, in a boxwhich, besides hanging lower than the rest, had an entrance which the biggerHouse Sparrow found uncomfortably small. It appeared to me that the TreeSparrow would be much more of a house-sparrow if his stronger cousin did notforce him to be a tree sparrow by robbing him of every suitable nesting and roost-ing place about human habitations.With the increase of the House Sparrow the Tree Sparrow had to yield the cityalmost entirely to him and betake himself to the country, spreading in all direc-tions and resorting to tree-holes and out-of-the-way places, while the other tookthe cities and towns.Nesting.?The European tree sparrows in Widmann's coloDy evi-dently preferred to nest in the birdboxes until they were driven outby the English house sparrows and were forced to nest in holes intrees in the suburbs, as they do in Europe. Witherby (1919) saysof its breeding ha,bits: "More retiring than House-Sparrow butlocally common in suburbs of some large towns, breeding in holes ofivy-covered trees, pollarded willows, haystacks, thatched roofs,quarries, and old nests of larger birds; also in Woodpecker's holes andSand-Martin's burrows." The nest is similar to that of the house spar-row, "though smaller, but never built in open among branches; oftenshows little trace of roof." The nesting materials are also similar,mainly grass, hay, and feathers, with a mixture of various bits ofrubbish and trash.Eggs.?Witherby (1919) describes the eggs as "4-6, rarely 7 or8, much smaller than House-Sparrow's, darker, with finer stippling,browner in general tint, and more glossy. One light egg also com-monly found in each clutch. Average of 103 eggs, 19.5 x 14 mm."J. P. Norris (1890) describes and gives the measurements of five setsof from 3 to 6 eggs collected for him by Widmann, between June 10and July 2, near Saint Louis, some of which were colored much likethe eggs of the long-billed marsh wren.Young.?Incubation is shared by both sexes and lasts for 13 or 14days.In some notes sent to Bendire, Widmann says: "They begin to laj^eggs soon after the first of April (6 eggs April 10) and the young leave
26 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the nest about May 18. A second brood is commenced soon after-ward (7 eggs, June 6) and it takes nearly all July to raise them. I donot think that they make a third brood, but they succeed in raising 4or 5 young of each brood. The young ones are sweet little creatures,showing the same pattern of coloration as the old ones from thebeginning. They gather into flocks as soon as they can fly well andretire to out of the way places, where they enjoy themselves in hedges,brush-heaps, and similar retreats, spending hours in frolicking andtwittering. Other members of the sparrow family often associatewith them and seem to be perfectly satisfied with their behavior."Plumages.?The young European tree sparrow is hatched naked,with no natal down appearing. Witherby (1919) describes the juvenalplumage as much resembling that of the adult, "but crown mostlysmoky-brown, feathers with small blackish tips, sides of crown andback of neck dull chestnut-brown; mantle less rufous; throat, lores,and ear-coverts greyish-black; greater wing-coverts and outer websof wing-feathers brown, not chestnut-brown; tips of greater andmedian coverts buff; lesser coverts browner, not so chestnut." Thesexes are practically alike in this plumage and nearly alike in subse-quent plumages.A complete postjuvenal molt occurs in late summer and early fall toproduce a first winter plumage indistinguishable from that of theadult, the crown becoming uniform magenta-chocolate and the black-and-white areas on the head and throat becoming clearer. Thenuptial plumage is acquired by wear, producing little change exceptbrighter colors. Adults have a complete postnuptial molt betweenAugust and October.Food.?These sparrows sometimes visit the grain fields and eatsome wheat, oats, and corn, but probably not enough to do any greatamount of damage. A large part of their food consists of weed seedsand various insects, but no thorough study of their food seems to havebeen made, at least not in North America.Behavior.?This tree sparrow is evidently a very different birdfrom its pugnacious and aggressive relative, the house sparrow.Widmann says in his notes: "The St. Louis tree sparrow is a gentle,sociable bird, seldom seen quarreling among themselves or with otherbuds. They like to live in large flocks of 50 to 100 birds. Some treesparrows remain paired, or pair, during the winter, build warm nestsand spend much time in each other's company, away from the flock,and in anticipation of the joys of approaching spring. When sittingtogether in a tree it is one of their peculiarities to sit so close as totouch each other's side. This affords a very pleasing picture of peaceand good companionship, showing how much they are attached toeach other."
EUROPEAN TREE SPARROW 27Voice.?The same observer says that "though they have no realsong, a medley of their various tinkling notes answers well the samepurpose. There is a slight resemblance between the twittering of aflock of this species and that of Spizella monticola, and this has prob-ably led the first European settlers to give the name of tree sparrowto the latter species, an appellation which would otherwise be difficultto account for."Yarrell (1876-82) writes: "The common call-note of the Tree-Sparrow is a chirp, not unlike though shriller than that of the House-Sparrow, but, as Blyth remarks (Mag. Nat. Hist, vii, p. 488), it hasothers in great variety. The cock has also a proper song, which thesame observant naturalist describes as "consisting of a number ofthese chirps, intermixed with some pleasing notes, delivered in acontinuous unbroken strain, sometimes for many minutes together;very loudly, and having a characteristic sparrow tone throughout."Field marks.?The European tree sparrow bears a remote, super-ficial resemblance to our well-known English sparrow, but Witherby(1919) gives the following field characters: "Both sexes are alike anddiffer from male House-Sparrow in smaller size, trimmer build, blackpatch on ear-coverts, and chocolate-coloured, not grey, crown.Double white wing-bar is another, though less obvious, distinction.Notes bear general resemblance to House-Sparrow's, but are perhapsshriller, and chee-ip, chup is distinctive. Birds flying across openfields?often singly?may be detected by their sharp teck, teck."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Introduced and now resident in central-eastern Missouri(Creve Coeur Lake, St. Charles, St. Louis), southwestern Illinois(Alton, Grafton, Belleville), and Bermuda (no recent records).
28 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Family IcteridaeMeadowlarks,? Blackbirds, and TroupialsDOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS (Linnaeus)BobolinkPlates 1, 2, and 3HABITSOur familiar bobolink is known by various names in different partsof its seasonal wanderings. We know it in the north by the abovecommon name, which has stood for many years and is evidently anabbreviation of "Robert of Lincoln" in the classic poem of that nameby William Cullen Bryant. In New England it is sometimes calledby the pretty name, "meadow-wink," and the less complimentaryname, "skunk blackbird." owing to its fancied resemblance in colorpattern to that unpopular animal. On its fall migration it is recog-nized as "ortolan." "reed bird." and "rice bird" on account of itshaunts and habits, and, in Jamaica, where it has grown exceedinglyfat. they call it "butter bird." On its spring migration through thesouthern States, it is often called the "May bird."Unfortunately for us New Englanders our beloved bobolink haslargely disappeared, or at least has been greatly reduced in numbersin most of its former haunts, during the past 50 years. In my youth-ful days nearly every mowing field of long, waving grass, many of thedamper meadows near our streams, and some of the drier portions ofthe brackish marshes furnished attractive homes for one or more pairs,often many pairs, of bobolinks. In driving through the open countrypast such places we could always count on seeing some of these showybirds hovering in ecstatic flight just above the tall grasses, the wavingwhite daisies, and the bright yellow buttercups, pouring out a floodof bubbling, erratic song. They were always conspicuous to botheye and ear, forming one of the delights of a springtime ramble. Butthis is now mainly a happy memory, for there are so few places wherethey can now be found that it is an event of importance if we see one.The partial disappearance of the bobolink from the NortheasternStates has been due to several very evident causes. The heavyslaughter of the migrating hordes, both spring and fall, as will bediscussed later, has perhaps killed off a large proportion of the birdsthat formerly nested in New England. Fortunately, due to thereduction in the cultivation of rice in the Southern States, this slaugh-ter has been largely stopped and the birds are more rigidly protectedeverywhere. Another cause of less importance was the wholesale
BOBOLINK 29killing of "reed birds" for the market, but this is now prohibited by-law. But the New England population of bobolinks has not beenbuilt up to its former proportions. A local cause here that has alsohad its effect in driving away our breeding birds is a decided changein the time and in the methods of harvesting our hay crops. Former-ly, the grass in our mowing fields, the favorite nesting places forbobolinks, was cut by hand and rarely before the first or middle ofJuly. By that time the young bobolinks were out of the nest andsafely on the wing. Now the mowing is done earlier, usually beforethe end of June, the grass is cut close with mowing machines, and thehay is scraped off by machine rakes. Many young birds would thusbe killed while still in the nests or before they were able to escape byflight. This naturally drove the birds away to seek safer nestinggrounds. Furthermore, with the passing of the horse much less hayhas been needed, and there are fewer fields of the tall grass so muchpreferred by the bobolinks. The haying fields in Massachusetts arelargely a thing of the past.Southern New England is not the only place in the east where thebobolink has decreased in numbers. Robie W. Tufts writes to mefrom Nova Scotia: "My notes indicate a marked scarcity of thesebirds during the summer of 1919 and again in 1920. They werenoticeably scarce again during the summer of 1930, and during thepast summer of 1945 seemed alarmingly scarce." Ludlow Griscom(1923) wrote referring to the New York city region : "This distinguishedsongster was formerly a common summer resident throughout ourterritory, but is now found only in the outlying and more rural dis-tricts. Its great decrease started fifty years ago when trapping themales for cage-bird purposes was a profession on large scale." Todd(1940) remarks, for Pennsylvania: "Observers from various parts ofthe state agree that since the early twenties there has been a markedfalling off in the numbers of this species." And even as far west asMinnesota the bobolink is yielding ground, but not for the samereasons. Thomas S. Roberts (1932) writes: "There is some indicationthat the Bobolink has been decreasing in numbers in recent yearsand that, locally, it has almost disappeared from lowlands where itwas formerly abundant. Its place has been taken by the Brewer'sBlackbird, which has swept eastward across the state and is nowabundant even in the southeastern counties. It lives and nests hereunder exactly the same conditions as the Bobolink and, being alarger and more aggressive bird, there is reason to fear that it isdriving the Bobolink from its former domain."While the bobolink has been discouraged and its numbers have beendepleted in many of its eastern breeding resorts, it has been encouragedto extend its range and to increase in abundance farther west until it
30 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
is now a common breeding bird across the entire continent in thenorthern States and the southern Provinces of Canada. It apparentlynever liked to nest on the virgin prairies but it followed civilizationwestward, and with the settlement of the country it found congenialnesting sites in cultivated grasslands and clover fields. The westwardmovement evidently began many years ago, for Ridgway (1877)wrote: "The Bobolink seems to be spreading over all the districts ofthe 'Far West' wherever the cultivation of cereals has extended. Wefound it common in August in the wheat-fields at the OverlandRanch, in Ruby Valley [Nevada]." W. L. McAtee (1919) says:"The trend of the bird's breeding range to the northwest is unmistak-able; for instance in the first edition of the A. O. U. Check-List, theWestern limit of the breeding range was given as the Great Plains ; inthe second edition, 1895, as Nevada, Idaho and Alberta, and in thethird edition, 1910, as British Columbia."The bobolink began to be common and well distributed in Montanaduring the first decade of this century; Aretas A. Saunders (1921)recorded it as "a common summer resident of all except extremeeastern Montana, breeding in the wet meadows and irrigated fieldsof the prairie region, and in the valleys of the mountain region. * * *In most parts of the state the Bobolink is increasing with the extensionof irrigation."It apparently first appeared in Oregon about 1903. Gabrielsonand Jewett (1940) say: "The Bobolink seems to be a comparativelynew arrival in this State, as so good an observer as Bendire failed tofind it in the Harney Valley during his stay, through it is now a regularresident of that area."And for California, Dawson (1923) writes: "It was the chief sur-prise of a visit paid in 1912 to the Surprise Valley in Modoc Countyto find the Bobolink common and, apparently, breeding." Accordingto Grinnell and Miller (1944), it is now a "summer resident in extremenortheastern part of State, where there is at least one colony. Rarestraggler to other sections, chiefly in the autumn."Spring.?From its winter home in South America, as far southas south Brazil, northern Argentina, and Paraguay, the bobolinkmakes a very long and somewhat hazardous flight to its summer home,which extends from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. It enters theUnited States on a broad front, from Florida to Louisiana, with pos-sibly a few migrating along the coast of Texas.Just when the bobolinks leave their winter home or by what routethey reach the north coast of South America does not seem to beknown. Thence the main flight is almost directly northward. Onlya few, perhaps only stragglers, follow an eastern route, through theLesser Antilles and the Bahamas to Florida.
BOBOLINK 31The species is rarely mentioned by observers in the West Indies,but Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874) say:Dr. Bryant, in his visit to the Bahamas, was eye-witness to the migrationsnorthward of these birds, as they passed through those islands. He first notedthem on the 6th of May, towards sunset. A number of flocks?he counted nine
?
were flying westward. On the following day the country was filled with thesebirds, and men and boys turned out in large numbers to shoot them. He examineda quantity of them, and all were males in full plumage. Numerous flocks con-tinued to arrive that day and the following, which was Sunday. On Monday,among those that were shot were many females. On Tuesday but few were tobe seen, and on Wednesday they had entirely disappeared.The main flight passes farther westward, where thousands make the500-mile flight directly across the Caribbean Sea to Jamaica, then 90miles more to Cuba, and another oversea flight of 150 miles to Florida.Jamaica is passed in April, it does not linger long hi Cuba, and reachesnorthern Florida before the end of April. While we were cruisingsouth of the Florida Keys, on April 24, 1903, a steady stream ofbobolinks, water-thrushes, and other small land birds passed our boat,flying northward from Cuba to Florida against strong northerlywinds; they seemed much exhausted; a bobolink attempted to alighton our boat but missed it and fell into the water, from which we didnot see it rise; another alighted on the cabin and was so tired that itallowed us to pick it up. Many birds must perish on these longflights over open water against adverse winds, but some are probablyable to rise from the surface after resting there for a while. VincentE. Shainin (1940) saw this happen off the coast of Florida, during thespring migration from the Bahamas. "Using my eight-power binoc-ular I was amazed to see a male Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)riding the swells with both its head and tail held at right angles tothe surface. Occasionally its back would appear above the water.* * * For a few seconds it remained very still, then it began tostruggle vigorously for several seconds, finally leaving the waterdirectly without pattering along in coot fashion."Bobolinks also reach the United States by a trans-Gulf migration,from Yucatan to Louisiana, another long overwater flight. GeorgeH. Lowery, Jr. (MS.), reports that one came aboard his ship for afew minutes and then disappeared, on May 2, 1945, while the shipwas 210 miles from Yucatan and 328 miles from the coast of Louisiana.Audubon (1842) says:In Louisiana, small detached flocks of males or of females appear about themiddle of March and beginning of April, alighting in the meadows and grain-fields, where they pick up the grubs and insects found about the roots of theblades. * * *During their sojourn in Louisiana, in spring, their song, which is extremelyinteresting, and emitted with a volubility bordering on the burlesque, is heardfrom a whole party at the same time; when, as each individual is, of course,
32 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211possessed of the same musical powers as is his neighbours, it becomes amusingto listen to thirty or forty of them beginning one after another, as if ordered tofollow in quick succession, after the first notes are given by a leader, and producingsuch a medley as it is impossible to describe, although it is extremely pleasant tohear it. While you are listening, the whole flock simultaneously ceases, whichappears equally extraordinary. This curious exhibition takes place every timethat the flock has alighted on a tree, after feeding for awhile on the ground, andis renewed at intervals during the day.Bobolinks are, apparently, somewhat irregular in their appearanceand never very abundant in Louisiana in spring, whence they migratenorthward through the Mississippi Valley in moderate numbers; theyare generally regarded as only fairly common, or even rare, in thesouthern half of this Valley. This would seem to indicate that thelarge numbers of these birds that nest in the more western States andProvinces must reach their breeding grounds by a westward migrationfrom some of the Atlantic States.The flood tide of the great spring migration flows rapidly in a nearlynorthward direction through the Atlantic States, mainly east of theAlleghenies, and reaches the northern breeding grounds during thelast of April or early in May. Some observers say that it migratesby day and others regard it as a night traveler; perhaps circumstancesvary and both are partially correct. Bendire (1895) quotes the followingfrom W. M. Hazzard, of Annandale, S. C. : "The Bobolinks make theirappearance here during the latter part of April. At that season theirplumage is white and black, and they sing merrily when at rest.Their flight is always at night. In the evening there are none. Inthe morning their appearance is heralded by the popping of whipsand firing of musketry by the bird minders in their efforts to keep thebirds from pulling up the young rice. This warfare is kept upincessantly until about the 25th of May, when they suddenly dis-appear at night."In Massachusetts, we eagerly await their arrival around the 10thof May and are seldom disappointed, as their jovial, rollicking songsbring life to the fresh, green meadows.Courtship.?The males arrive a few days or a week in advance ofthe females, to select their nesting territories and to indulge in a fewdays of jolly frolic and exuberant song; the fields and meadows arenow being clothed with fresh green grass and the trees are burstinginto new foliage. The carefree birds are singing in little groups inthe trees, or chasing each other about over their chosen homes. Whenthe females come, courting begins in earnest; this largely consists ofrivalry in song, as the handsome male in full nuptial dress pours outhis joyous melody while perched on some tall, waving weed stalk,low tree, or fence. Often a "game of tag" ensues, as the female fliesacross the field, with two males in hot pursuit, as if she were saying
BOBOLINK 33
"catch me if you can." More often the female seems coy and indif-ferent, hiding in the long grass, until the rival males find her anddisplay their charms before her. As Townsend (1920) says: "Onemay see a male courting on the ground. He spreads his tail andforcibly drags it like a Pigeon. He erects his buff nape feathers,points his bill downward and partly open his wings, gurgling meanwhilea few of his song notes. The female indifferently walks away."The following attractive account is written by Miss Ruth Trimble(Todd, 1940)
:
On a morning in early May, in one of their favored haunts, a tinkle of fairymusic, like the strains of an old Greek harp, seems to come from the sky and maybe traced to a company of male bobolinks, circling on fluttering wings high above.While you watch, the tinkling notes descend earthward, and an exuberant malesinks to a swaying weed stalk; with tail spread, wings partly opened, and feathersof his nape ruffled, he concludes his song with a few enchanting notes addressed tothe mate he is wooing. Up she darts from the grasses to engage him in a lively chase,and in a flash he is off again in pursuit?an ardent troubadour, serenading his lady ashe follows her; at times, seemingly forgetting her, he mounts skyward, his throatfairly bursting with the ecstatic melody that bespeaks his joie de vivre. No otherbird courtship exhibits such reckless abandon. None is attended by such a flood ofjoyous music bubbling forth irrepressibly, with never a plaintive strain. Noother wooing seems so delightfully spontaneous and gay. This wanton frolicmay continue for a week or more before nest-building is actually begun and thefemale assumes responsibility for her family.Dr. Kendeigh (1941) made some interesting observations on thefamily relations of the bobolink on a restored prairie in Iowa:There were ten females here, but evidence for no more than six males, withpolygamy strongly indicated. The male at nest No. 1 was frequently presentalso at nest No. 7 about 200 feet away, although he was only seen to feed theyoung at No. 1. He was recognized by the characteristically clipped tail givenhim when caught at nest No. 1; no other male was seen around nest No. 7.Nests number 9 and 10 were separated by only 44 feet and the male appearedequally concerned for both nests, although he was observed feeding young onlyat number 9. No other male was seen here. * * *Notable in this species was the lack of territorial defense by either the adultmale or female. If these birds establish a territory at all, it must be only for themating and early nesting period. A fairly good spacing of the nests over thearea would indicate that they may establish territories during the period whennests are started, but certainly after the young are hatched there is very littleevidence for their continued maintenance. * * *Lack of territory was also manifested by the tolerance of other males close tothe nest. This was often noticed; once two foreign males were observed nearthe nest with the male who owned it disregarding them.P. L. Buttrick (1909) gives further evidence of polygamy amongbobolinks. One male and two females, the only bobolinks in thevicinity, raised four broods in two adjacent fields.Nesting.?The nest of the bobolink is a very simple affair?
a
hollow, either scraped in the ground or selected for the purpose,
34 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211loosely surrounded with coarse grasses or weed stems and thinlylined with finer grasses. The nest is sometimes placed in an oldwagon rut or in a depression made by a horse's hoof. A. D. Du Boismentions in his notes a nest that was in a hollow 3 inches in diameterby 1 inch deep; the measurements of the nest were: "Diameter 2.12to 2.25 inches; depth 1.62 inch." This was evidently quite typicalas to size. He mentions another nest that was "sunk among thebases of the standing tall grases; but there was no hollow in theground; the bottom of the nest was approximately at the groundsurface."What the flimsy nest of the bobolink lacks in construction it makesup for in concealment; it is almost invariably placed in a dense standof tall vegetation, in the long grass of some luxuriant mowing fieldor damp meadow, in a field of clover, alfalfa, or in a thick growthof weeds or other wild plants.Elisha Slade (1881a), who formerly lived in a town near me andwas well known locally, describes two most remarkable nests. Thefirst was
?
occupying the space between four stalks of a growing narrow dock (Rumex crispus).This nest was suspended from four points of its circumference, 90? apart, to thefour stalks of the plant which grew from the same root. The bottom of the nestwas about six inches above the ground. It was constructed entirely of vegetablematerial and consisted of two distinctly separate parts. A hemispherical cup, inone piece of coarse but neatly woven cloth, very strong and very light, was fastenedto the living, growing supports by strong fibres passing around each stalk aboveand below a joint firmly woven into the rim of the cup with some of the longerstrings interlacing the sides. * * *In this hanging basket was an elaborate lining of very soft blades of grass be-tween which and the cup was an elastic padding. The woven cup was about fiveinches in diameter and five inches deep, the padding about half an inch thick, andthe lining about the same thickness. The whole structure, dock and nest, swayedin every passing breeze but the nest was so strongly fastened to the stalks and theplant so securely held by the nest that it would have required a hurricane ortornado to have blown it away.He claims to have found a similar nest, 22 years later, at the sameplace and in a similar plant. This all sounds like a fairy tale, but isprinted here for what it is worth, as an interesting suggestion thatthe cloth cup may have been placed there by human hands. It seemsincredible that a bobolink could have built such a nest, or even beentempted to occupy it.The evidence indicates that the male selects the general locality forthe nesting, which he occupies until the female arrives and is per-suaded to remain there; she, then, probably selects the exact spot inwhich the nest is to be placed and does all the simple construction.Alexander F. Skutch, in his notes from Ithaca, N. Y., says: "In a
BOBOLINK 35field of alfalfa and grass where many males are singing, I have watchedlong to see a female building, but all in vain. I think that they mustwork under cover to avoid molestation by the too ardent males.May 28, 1931: Today I found a nest that already contained twoeggs?a sparse and shallow cup of dried grass stems placed on theground in the center of a clump of alfalfa, in a rather bare part of thegenerally lush meadow."The nest of the bobolink is one of the most difficult to find. Thefemale can almost never be traced to it during the simple process ofbuilding, for the small amount of building material can generally bepicked up in the immediate vicinity, without having to bring inanything from a distance. The female can seldom be flushed directlyfrom the nest, as she runs for some distance through the grass beforeflying. I have tried dragging a rope over a field where the birds werenesting, but there was never any nest where any of the birds flushed.The only method I have used with any degree of success is to runwildly back and forth over the field until all the females were flushed,then conceal myself and watch for their return; after marking downthe exact spot at which a female alighted, I then might, if I ranquickly to the spot, flush her near enough to me to be able to find thenest by going over the ground carefully on hands and knees.Dawson (1903) says: "If you care to spend an hour or so huntingfor the treasures, the safest way is to mark the spot where the birdrose, and then hunt toward your original position along the fine ofapproach." Skutch (MS.) tells of his method, which worked success-fully: "Whenever I came close to their nest, the bobolinks made nocries nor demonstrations of alarm, but withdrew to a very respectfuldistance and eyed me quietly?only the male at times letting a fewmelodious tinkles escape his muffled bell. The parent bobolinkstrusted implicitly in their nest's concealment; any demonstrationwould be superfluous or foolhardy. * * * Finally I set up some branchesin the ground in the general region of the nest. Returning with food,the bobolinks rested on these before dropping down out of sight amidthe grass. Noting the direction they took when leaving the firstbranch to go to the nest, I set up another on that side, on which theparents alighted when they next returned. And so, by giving myselfcloser and closer points of reference, I at length discovered the frailcup of grasses, on the ground between the stems of a daisy plant."Lyle Miller, of Youngstown, Ohio, writes to me: "Twice I haveflushed the female directly from the nest. On several occasions Ihave found it necessary to touch the brooding bird before she wouldleave the nest."Eggs.?The bobolink lays from four to seven eggs to a set, usually
36 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211five or six, and only one brood is raised in a season. Bendire (1895)describes the eggs as follows:The eggs are ovate or short ovate in shape. The shell is close grained andsomewhat glossy. The ground color varies from pearl gray or pale ecru drab to apale reddish brown or pale cinnamon rufous. They are irregularly blotched andspotted with different shades of claret brown, chocolate, heliotrope purple, andlavender markings, intermingled with each other, and varying greatly in size andintensity. Almost every set is differently marked, and it is extremely difficult togive a fair average description. In some specimens the ground color is almosthidden, the markings being nearly evenly distributed in the shape of large blotchesover the entire surface of the egg. In the majority, however, the darker markingsare mainly confined to the larger end of the egg, while the paler ones are morenoticeable in the middle and about the smaller end.The average measurement of seventy-seven specimens in the United StatesNational Museum collection is 21.08 by 15.71 millimeters, or 0.83 by 0.62 inch.The largest egg in this series measures 22.35 by 16.26 millimeters, or 0.88 by 0.64inch; the smallest, 17.53 by 15.24 millimeters, or 0.69 by 0.60 inch.William George F. Harris has in his collection a set of eggs largerthan any in the National Museum; these measure 23.9 by 16.2, 24.1 by16.1, 23.9 by 16.4, 23.8 by 16.2, and 24.0 by 16.1 millimeters.Young.?The period of incubation for the bobolink is given byF. L. Burns (1915) as 10 days, but Mrs. Wheelock (1904) says: "Themother bird broods alone for thirteen days, while Robert frolics gaylyover the fields with others of his sex, always within call, but seldom ornever feeding her. When the young are hatched, however, he takescharge of them, and I have found him alone with a brood of sevennestlings huddled in a fence corner in Michigan." E. H. Eaton (1914)says: "The young are hatched in about 11 days and develop veryrapidly so that they are able to take wing in from 10 to 14 days." Heprobably means that they leave the nest at this age, for it is wellknown that the young leave the nest and wander around in the grassfor several days before they learn to fly; at this stage many would bekilled by early mowing and raking. While still in the nest, the youngare practically invisible; packed in as closely as sardines in a box, theyshow no form or shape, remaining absolutely immovable and witheyes closed; and their colors match the surrounding earth so closelythat one could step on them without seeing them. Only when one ofthe parents comes with food do they wake up and give the buzzingfood call.A. D. Du Bois has sent me some very full notes on the behavior of apair of bobolinks and their young, from which I can quote only a fewparts: "June 14 (midmorning) : All the eggs appear to have hatched.The female jumps over the grass for a distance of three or four feet,then hobbles along in the grass; and, if I follow her, she repeats this
?
and continues to repeat until we are perhaps a hundred feet from thenest, when she flies for a short distance. This is the pattern of her ruse.
BOBOLINK 37As I return toward her nest she sits on a small shrub, and now andthen utters a note which sounds like quick. In the afternoon, while Iwas sitting on the ground adjusting a small observation blind five orsix yards from the nest, the female came rather near, calling quick;the male came up and perched on a tall spray of wild asparagus, callingrather anxiously a note different from hers.
"June 16 (between 8 and 9 a.m.): While hidden in the blind tryingto photograph the male on the nearby asparagus, I saw the female goto the nest two or three times to feed the young. Both parents wereagitated and continued chirping for some time after I was hidden.Upon examining the nest I found one almost naked nestling outside(two or three inches away) with its head down in the grass. It kickedwhen I touched it. As I was leaving, the male used the jumping re-treat, similar to that of the female.
"June 18: I can see only three young in the nest; they have grownrapidly; and there is one unhatched egg, which had hitherto beenhidden. The male is very communicative. When I was thinning theonion seedlings in the garden he sat on a nearby bean pole berating meand singing to me repeatedly. This evening he followed me across thegarden.
"June 21: There was a great deal of alarm-calling on the part ofboth parents when I went out this morning. After I had become wellsettled in the blind both parents came to the tall asparagus, and Ithought I saw a little billing. Soon I saw one of the youngstersscrambling out of the nest; and before 8:30 a. m. they all had left andwere crawling away in the tall grass. * * * During my stay in theblind, the male bobolink did the watching and guarding while the fe-male did the feeding; then he brought food to the young who werehidden in the grass at some distance from the nest. He alighted on theasparagus before taking food to them. He brought green larvae, adark miller, and an insect which looked like a brown wasp. The femaleonce brought a white object which had the appearance of being hardand about the size of a small seed of sweet corn. All the commotionwas repeated when I made another visit, near noon, to try to locatethe young. After I was hidden and all had become quiet again, Icould hear a youngster in the grass only a few feet from the nest.Occasionally it uttered a note resembling the syllable chib, and itmoved the grass so that I got its location and went out and found it.But before I reached the spot it had half buried itself, head downward,in the thick mat about the grass roots. Thus all its forward partswere hidden, and only its legs and the posterior extremity of its bodywere visible. While I was trying to part the overhanging grass suffi-ciently to photograph it in this position, it was overcome by some greatdiscomfort and quickly unburied itself, squirmed, shook itself, and sat
38 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
right-side-up. * * * The last three nestlings which left the nest inthe forenoon of June 21, were not less than 7 nor more than 8% daysold when they left."Plumages.?The striking plumage changes of the male bobolinkare well, and I believe correctly, described by Jonathan Dwight, Jr.(1900), one of the best authorities on the plummages of passerine birds.He calls the natal down buff, and describes the juvenal plumage as fol-lows: "Above, dull brownish black, median crown stripe, superciliaryline, nuchal band and edgings of the other feathers of back and wingsbuff deepest on nape; primaries, their coverts, secondaries and alulaetipped with grayish white. Below, rich buff paler on chin and faintlyflecked on sides of throat with clove-brown. A dusky postocularstreak. * * * This plumage is worn but a short time and the post-juvenal moult is well advanced by the end of July as shown by fourspecimens in my collection."The first winter plumage is "acquired by a partial postjuvenal moultin July which involves the body plumage, tertiaries and wing coverts,but not the rest of the wings nor the tail." This is "similar to theprevious plumage, but darker above and yellower below, a rich ochreor maize-yellow prevailing, paler on chin and abdomen, the sides ofthe breast and flanks and under tail coverts conspicuously streakedwith dull black veiled by the overlapping feather edges."The first nuptial plumage is acquired by a complete prenuptial molt.Dr. Dwight describes this plumage as "almost wholly black, the bodyplumage veiled by long maize-yellow feather tips. The nape is richochre and the scapulars white, the inner plumbeous, both edged witholive-gray. The outer primary is edged with white, the two adjacentwith maize-yellow, the tertiaries, greater coverts and interscapularieswith wood-brown. Rump plumbeous, upper tail coverts white, bothareas veiled with olive-gray or olive-buff. Tail tipped with olive-gray."This is the plumage in which the birds arrive in the United States,and in many cases the maize yellow tips have not entirely worn awayby the time that the birds reach their breeding grounds, the tips per-sisting longest on the abdomen, flanks, and under tail coverts.The adult winter plumage is acquired "by a complete postnuptialmolt beginning the end of July. Similar to first winter plumage,usually whiter below especially on the chin and middle of the abdo-men, and above with rich-brown edgings expecially of the tertiaries.The bill becomes clay colored or purplish [it was black in the spring].The chief differential character is however the presence of a few blackfeathers, usually yellow tipped, irregularly scattered on the chin andbreast."The adult nuptial plumage is "acquired by a complete prenuptialmoult in midwinter. Differs inappreciably from first nuptial dress,
BOBOLINK 39but it is probable that (as in other species) the yellow edgings diminishwith age."The fact that certain male bobolinks in captivity have assumed theblack spring plumage without any apparent signs of molting has ledto some discussion of the old, threadbare theory of color change with-out molt. Dwight (1900, p. 123) has discussed fully this and the evi-dence offered by others, and concludes that there is not the slightestevidence to support the theory. "Nowhere among living organismsdo restorative changes in tissue take place without destruction orcasting off of the old. Consequently belief that a feather which regu-larly develops, dies and is cast off, can possibly violate such a universallaw is not only contrary to common sense but contrary as well to everyestablished fact regarding the moulting of birds."The sequence of molts and plumages of the female is apparentlysimilar to that of the male, but not so conspicuous.Food.?As we know the pretty bobolink on its northern breedinggrounds we can find little to complain of in its feeding habits, whichare mainly beneficial to our interests, or at their worst only neutral,but when it becomes the "rice bird" in the Southern States the plantershave a strong case against it. While with us in the north it feeds oninsects and the seeds of useless plants, and the young are fed almostexclusively on insects, mostly harmful species. After the young areon the wing, the flocks wander about, living mainly on weed seeds, alittle waste grain, and the seeds of the wild rice which grows alongthe borders of our streams and marshes.Of the 291 stomachs examined by Beal (1900), 231 were collectedin the Northern States from May to September, inclusive. The foodwas found to consist of 57.1 percent animal matter and 42.9 percentvegetable. His table lists the following average percentages for thefive months: Predaceous beetles 0.6; May-beetle family 2.7; snout-beetles 9.0; other beetles 6.7; wasps, ants, etc., 7.6; caterpillars 13.0;grasshoppers 11.5; other insects 4.6; spiders and myriapods 1.4; oats8.3; other grain 4.1; weed seeds 16.2; and other vegetable food 14.3percent. Aside from the trace of useful predaceous beetles and a fewparasitic Hymenoptera, all the other insects are more or less harmful;the large percentages of caterpillars and grasshoppers may be placedto the credit of the bobolink. The small amount of grain eaten is oflittle account when compared with the large amount of noxious weedseeds such as barn-grass, panic-grass, smartweed, and ragweed.Beal evidently found no corn in the stomachs he examined, butWarren (1890) says that, in Pennsylvania, "they visit the cornfields,and in company with the English Sparrow, prey to a more or lessextent on the corn; like the sparrow they tear open the tops of thehusk and eat the milky grain."380928?57 1
40 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Forbush (1927) says of its food in New England:The food of the Bobolink on its breeding grounds consists chiefly of insects,which comprise from about 70 per cent to over 90 per cent of its sustenance inMay, June and July. Of the vast quantity of insects consumed by the bird lessthan 3 per cent, on the average, are beneficial species. In May it takes a smalland fast dwindling per cent of grain, and in July an increasing amount, whichrises in August to about 35 percent, but decreases rapidly until at the end of Sep-tember it is only about 3 percent. Its consumption of weed seeds averages about8 percent in May, June and July, but increases rapidly in August until at theend of September it reaches over 90 percent; by that time most of the Bobolinkshave left New England.On their southward migration they feed almost exclusively on theseeds of wild rice and other useless plants, together with some grain,until they reach the cultivated rice fields in the south, where they doenormous damage; this will be discussed in a later paragraph.E. R. Kalmbach (1914) writes: "The bobolink does exceptionallygood work as a weevil destroyer, for wherever it lives near infestedalfalfa fields the insect forms its most important animal food. * * *vSeven bobolinks collected in June [in Utah] had taken the weevil atan average of about 8 adults and 42 larvae per bird, to the extent of68 per cent of the stomach contents.In the stomach of one, 6 adults and 90 larvae formed the entire food.Another had eaten no less than 28 adults and 77 larvae, amountingto 86 per cent of the stomach contents, while a third had eaten 3adults and 61 larvae."Arthur H. Howell (1932) says: "Every one of 15 Bobolinks collectedin celery fields near Sanford [Florida] had fed on the destructivecelery leaf-tyer (Phlyctaenia rubigalis), the remains of this insectforming 67 per cent of the total food in their stomachs."Behavior.?Except when on their nesting grounds, bobolinks livelargely in open flocks, congregating in favorable feeding grounds.The males are still in small flocks when they first arrive in their sum-mer haunts, perching on trees or fences and indulging in frequentoutbursts of glorious song. While migrating they fly high in openformation, appearing much like other small blackbirds. The hoveringflight of males over their nesting grounds, or when courting theirmates, is very characteristic; they proceed rather slowly on rapidlyvibrating wings, a short distance above the tops of the tall grass,singing rapturously; their striking color pattern makes a pretty pictureabove the buttercups and daisies. On the ground, they seldom walkwith the dignified gait of other blackbirds, but usually proceed byhopping or running.Frederick C. Lincoln (1925) describes a flight behavior which Ihave never seen: "There was a small colony nesting near NorthNapoleon Lake [North Dakota] in a rank growth of milkweed (Ascle-
BOBOLINK 41pias), and while watching them on July 10 I observed a curious per-formance. On several occasions the males would flock together asat a prearranged signal, fly rapidly from the field in close formationfor a considerable distance, and then scatter like the fragments of abursting shell, each bird turning about and returning in a leisurelyfashion to his own part of the cover."Skutch says in his notes: "The brownj female bobolinks remainhidden in the tall grasses and weeds, where it takes sharp eyes topick them out. As soon as a female makes her appearance, evenwhen she has just been driven from her cover by my passage over themeadow, one or as often two males dash after her, twisting andturning to follow every quick maneuver she makes in her effort toescape their attentions, and not relaxing their hot pursuit until shedives again into the vegetation, all unmindful of the approachingman."Du Bois speaks several times in his notes of the male bobolinkfollowing him about, perhaps through solicitude for his young orperhaps as an evidence of curiosity. "June 19: This morning when Iwent over into the Wilkins lot to photograph a yellow warbler's nest,the male bobolink followed me, and 'hung around' to supervise thejob, though this place is probably more than a hundred yards fromhis nest. Later he went away; but when I had made a second photo-graph (after first returning to the house on an errand), and wassitting on a box writing notes, here came the bobolink again. He wascarrying something white in his bill (excrement no doubt) which hedropped as he alighted on a small sapling about eighteen feet from me."Evidently the male is a good "watchdog." The female is also veryalert for approaching danger while she is brooding, which makes itvery difficult to flush her directly from the nest. While he was in hisblind, close to the nest, and she was brooding the young, "she wasvery alert, continually looking about, and often stretching up herneck to see over the matted grass which surrounded the nest. In thisupstretched position the streaking of her head matched wonderfullywell the mixture of dead and green grass blades and stems throughwhich, and against which, I saw her?so well in fact that she wasrendered invisible except when she was moving, or when her eye wasin plain sight. The male remained on the nearby asparagus almostall the time that his mate was on the nest."Forbush (1927) writes of the slaughter in the South:Early in September 1912, I left Boston for Georgetown, South Carolina, andremained until after the fifteenth in the coastal region of the state. 1 found thatthe negroes used two methods of taking the birds: (1) hunting with a gun by-daylight, (2) hunting at night with torches, when the men poled skiffs along theirrigation ditches and picked the dazzled birds off the reeds where they roost, or
42 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
else threshed them off into the boat with branches cut for the purpose. Thiscould be done on dark nights. The following quotation from my report of thetrip will give an idea of the conditions there at that time regarding the Bobolink.On my arrival at the rice fields, colored gunners were seen in all directions, andthe popping of guns was continual. All the shooting appeared to be done bycreeping up to birds when they were sitting on stubble or on heaped-up rice,selecting a time when a large number flocked together. One of the negroes saidthat he often frightened up the birds in the rice fields and shot into the flocks asthey flew, but I saw nothing like this. One man with a full bag told me that he had8 dozen birds at noon and that he killed 16 dozen the day before. Another statedthat he had six dozen so far, and shot about 12 or 13 dozen daily on an average,but that formerly he used to get 14 or 15 dozen, or even more, when the birdswere numerous. He said it was not unusual formerly to kill 20 to 30 dozen atnight and sometimes even 40 dozen, but all the negroes that I talked with agreedthat they were getting very few at night now. Some said that nights must bedark for successful hunting. They said they received 20 cents a dozen now for
"shoot" birds and 25 to 30 cents for "ketch" birds. One gunner said that when hecould not get 25 cents a dozen he would knock off. * * *Mr. James H. Rice, then chief game warden of South Carolina, wrote to methat he had checked up the game shipped from Georgetown, South Carolina, inone year. The result was 60,000 dozen of rice-birds and about 20,000 dozen ofCarolina Rails and Virginia Rails, but at the time of writing (1912) the numbershipped had fallen off greatly on account of the reduced number of the birds.He also stated that these birds were not shot to protect the rice, as they were notkilled until they had grown fat on rice and until they would bring a good price inthe market.All this, happily, is now ancient history. The killing of songbirdsand their sale in the market for food is prohibited by law, and thecultivation of rice in the Southeastern States in the main migrationpath of the bobolink has been greatly reduced. But the bobolinkstill has its natural enemies. Birds of prey still take their toll andprowling quadrupeds still rifle the nests of these ground-nesting birds.In low meadows the nests are sometimes flooded by heavy rains.The wily cowbird finds the well-hidden nests and deposits one or twoof its unwelcome eggs; Friedmann (1929) gives only a few records,but so few bobolinks nests are ever found that the scarcity of recordsdoes not mean much.Voice.?Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following comprehen-sive study of this subject: "The song of the bobolink is a loud, clearseries of short notes, no two consecutive notes on the same pitch.The song begins on a comparatively low pitch. The pitch riseshigher and higher, and the notes follow each other more and morerapidly as the song progresses. It is most commonly sung in flight,the bird flying horizontally above the meadow as it sings. It isoccasionally sung from a perch in a tree or on the top of a tall weed.The song from a perch is frequently curtailed and not full length, butthe flight song is usually complete."The song is difficult to record and I have only 15 records of com-
BOBOLINK 43plete songs, and 5 other records of the beginnings of songs. Fromthese records I find the number of notes in a song varies from 18 to 43,averaging 27. The length of the songs varies from 2% to 4% seconds.The range in pitch is from E flat " to B '", or ten tones. Singlesongs range from 3% to 8 tones, averaging about 6 tones.
"In 9 records the first note of the song is the lowest in pitch, andin 11 the first note is next to the lowest, the second note lowest. In9 songs the last note is the highest in pitch, and in 6 songs the lastnote is next to the highest. Often, in the middle of the song a groupof 2 to 4 notes is repeated two or three times in rapid succession."The beginning notes of the song are loud and rich in quality, butthis richness seems to decrease as the song progresses, probablybecause as the notes become higher, the number of overtones thatare low enough to affect the human ear decrease. To the bird it isquite possible that the quality is just as rich at the end as at thebeginning.
"Consonant sounds, such as liquids like the letter L and explosiveslike K or T, are common throughout the song."The season of song lasts from the arrival of the birds in early May(in Connecticut) to the early days of July. They evidently sing onthe spring migration. On May 5, 1944, the day I saw the firstbobolinks of that year, 10 male birds flew north over a woodland, andseveral were in full song as they flew. Only in the last 5 years have Ibeen where I could observe the cessation of song in this bird. Thedate when the species as a whole had ceased singing averaged July 4,the earliest July 2, 1943, and the latest July 8, 1942. The date onwhich the last individual was heard to sing averaged July 9, theearliest July 2, 1943, and the latest July 18, 1942.
"Bobolinks have number of short call notes. I have written someof these, in the field, as tschick and tchow and pink. A three-syllablecall is tcheteeta and, when repeated several times, it suggests the flightnotes of a goldfinch. The pink note is commonly heard in latesummer and fall, and is used by birds flying southward in fall migra-tion."Francis H. Allen writes to me: "In August a continuous warblingsong may sometimes be heard from a flock feeding in grain fields. Itseems to be formless, though at times it is suggestive of the regularsong of the breeding season. On August 5, 1917, I heard snatches ofthe full song from a bird in Vermont."Du Bois (MS.) writes of notes that he heard about the nest: "Thefemale, agitated, utters her quick, quick, quick. The male, also muchconcerned, says chow, or chaup, in a pitch lower than the female'squick. As I moved away from the nest, or stood still at a littledistance, he exclaimed: Gee,whiz-ic\, repeating it several times in his
44 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
excitement (the gee higher than the whiz-ic). This was followed byhis chow notes; and sometimes he flew near to me, alighting on a weedand adding a portion of excited song to his entreaties or complaints."Albert R. Brand (1938), in recording the vibration frequencies inthe songs of passerine birds, gave as the approximate mean for thebobolink 3,000 and as the highest note 6,950 vibrations per second.No description of the song of the bobolink is adequate to convey-to the reader who has not heard it any appreciation of its beauty andvivacity. It is unique among bird songs, the despair of the recorder orthe imitator; even the famed mockingbird cannot reproduce it. It isa bubbling delirium of ecstatic music that flows from the gifted throatof the bird like sparkling champagne.F. Schuyler Mathews (1921) calls it "a mad, reckless song-fantasia,an outbreak of pent-up, irrepressible glee. The difficulty in eitherdescribing or putting upon paper such music is insurmountable. Onecan follow the singer through the first few whistled bars, and then,figuratively speaking, he lets down the bars and stampedes. I havenever been able to 'sort out' the tones as they passed at this break-neck speed."The song has often been rendered in human words; these attemptsgive a good impression of the vivacity of the song, but no idea of itsmusical quality. Among the best of these are those oft-quoted wordsfrom the classic poem of William Cullen Bryant (Robert of Lincoln)
:
"Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink." Henry D. Minot(1877) suggests the following:"Tom Noodle, Tom Noodle, you owe me, you owe me, ten shillingsand sixpence!"
"I paid you, I paid you!""You didn't, you didn't!""You lie, you lie; you cheat!"Field marks.?The male bobolink, in spring plumage, is so con-spicuously marked that it cannot be mistaken for anything else; thereis no other bird in its summer haunts that is at all like it. It is the onlyone of our small land birds that reverses the almost universal law ofconcealing coloration by being wholly black below and mainly light-colored above. The female is a shy, retiring bird, never much in evi-dence and generally out of sight in the long grass, where its yellowish-brown colors and its stripes help to conceal it among the grass stems.In the fall, all ages and sexes look much alike and can be recognizedonly by where they are and what they are doing.Enemies.?The bobolinks were largely driven out of New Englandby early mowing and raking of the hayfields. They were slaughteredin enormous numbers, for the market as "reed-birds," on then- fallmigration. And thousands, probably millions, were killed as "rice-
BOBOLINK 45birds" in the Southern States, where they did great damage in theripening ricefield in the fall and some harm to the sprouting grain inthe spring; many were also shot there for food.Coues and Prentiss (1883) comment on the reed-bird market: "Thefamiliar 'clink' of the Reed-bird begins to be heard over the tracts ofwild oats along the river banks about the 20th of August, and fromthat time until October the restaurants are all supplied with 'Reed-birds'?luscious morsels when genuine; but a great many Blackbirdsand English Sparrows are devoured by accomplished gourmands, whonevertheless do not know the difference when the bill of fare is printedcorrectly and the charges are sufficiently exorbitant."Economic status.?Much information*on the economic status ofthe bobolink will be found in the foregoing paragraphs and need notbe repeated here. While it is with us on its breeding grounds there isno doubt that it is a beneficial species. Most of the insects that iteats are of harmful species, or those of no value. The greater part ofits vegetable food consists of weed seeds, or the seeds of useless plants;much of the very little grain it takes is waste. On its migration south-ward it feeds mainly on the seeds of wild plants, such as wild rice orwild oats, of no economic value. But, in the cultivated ricefields ofthe Southern States, it does, or has done, immense damage to theripening grain in the fall and the sprouting grain in the spring. A fewquotations from Beal (1900) will serve to illustrate the damageformerly done in the ricefields. Mr. J. A. Hayes, Jr., of Savannah,Ga., reported that a field
?
which consisted of 125 acres of rice that matured when birds were most plentiful,and which, in spite of 18 bird-minders and 11 half kegs of gunpowder, yielded only18 bushels per acre of inferior rice, although it had been estimated to yield 45bushels. * * *As a sample of actual loss, the following statement, furnished by ColonelScreven, gives his account with the bobolink at Savannah, Ga., for the year 1885:Cost of ammunition $245. 50Wages of bird-minders 300. 00Rice destroyed, say 400 bushels 500. 00
1, 045. 50Colonel Screven cultivated in that year 465 acres of tidal land, so that he hasestimated a loss of less than 1 bushel of rice to the acre, while most of the ricegrowers estimate the loss at from 4 to 5 bushels.Captain Hazzard states that in cultivating from 1,200 to 1,400 acres of rice, hehas paid as much as $1,000 for bird-minding in one spring.He wrote to Major Bendire (1895)
:
The Bobolinks make their appearance here during the latter part of April. * * *Their next appearance is in a dark yellow plumage, as the Ricebird. There is nosong at this time, but instead a chirp which means ruin to any rice found in themilk. My plantation record will show that for the past ten years, except when
46 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211prevented by stormy south or southwest winds, the Ricebirds have come punc-tually on the night of the 21st of August, apparently coming from seaward. Allnight their chirp can be heard passing over our summer homes on South Island,which is situated 6 miles to the east of our rice plantations, in full view of theocean. Curious to say, we have never seen this flight during the day. Duringthe nights of August 21, 22, 23, and 24, millions of these birds make their appear-ance and settle in the rice fields. From the 21st of August to the 25th of Septemberour every effort is to save the crop. Men, boys, and women, with guns andammunition, are posted on every 4 or 5 acres, and shoot daily an average of about1 quart of powder to the gun. This firing commences at first dawn of day and iskept up until sunset. After all this expense and trouble our loss of rice per acreseldom falls under 5 bushels, and if from any cause there is a check to the cropduring its growth which prevents the grain from being hard, but in milky con-dition, the destruction of such fields is complete, it not paying to cut and bringthe rice out of the field. * * *Fall.?As soon as the young are on the wing, in July, and the maleshave ceased to sing, the bobolinks, old and young, disappear fromtheir nesting grounds and retire to more secluded haunts in the marshesand along the banks of sluggish streams, where they feed on the seedsof wild rice, wild oats, and various weeds, and become quite incon-spicuous during the molting season. Migration from the northernpart of the bird's range begins in July, and by August it is in fullswing all through the United States. The fall flight is mainly if notwholly by night; we often hear the distinctive clink note coming to usout of the darkness, as the scattered flocks pass over us. They stopto feed during the day, but probably do not move on every night, forthey are known to roost in enormous numbers in the ricefields.Where food is plentiful and attractive, they probably stop over for anight or two and become excessively fat.The fall migration of the bobolink, a long one and a remarkable one,in the main is a reversal of the spring route, but more concentrated.From the far western extension of the breeding range the birds retracethe steps by which they extended their range westward, flying almosteast to the Atlantic coast. Only a scattering few take the shorterroute southward through the Western States and Central America,and a comparatively few migrate through the Mississippi Valley,mostly east of the river. As Dr. Wetmore (1926) puts it: "Whensouthward flight begins, it comes with a rush that distributes theflocks far southward, so that on the east coast the birds arrive atsuitable points in the region from Maryland south to Georgia andFlorida almost simultaneously at some date between the middle ofAugust and the first of September." Meantime, the heavy flightfrom the eastern Provinces and States has poured down along theAtlantic coast, to join the western birds, where the main stream ofmigrants converges into a narrow funnel on the southeastern coast andoverflows the whole peninsula of Florida. From there, three routes
BOBOLINK. 47
are available: the least popular of these, over which comparativelyfew birds travel, is the eastern route through Puerto Rico and theAntilles to British Guiana; the main trunkline, followed by a majorityof the species, is an overseas route to Cuba and Jamaica and a longflight across the Caribbean Sea to South America; the third route,also well patronized, leads to Yucatan and thence along the east coastof Central America. After reaching South America, its route to itswinter quarters is not as well known, but Chapman (1890) has thisto say about it: "Salvin gives the bird from British Guiana and this,with the Cayenne record, seems to form the eastern limit of its range,there being, as far as I know, no records for eastern Brazil or the lowerAmazon, while Darwin's record, already referred to, of a specimentaken in October, 1835, on James Island in the Galapagoes, is the onlyone with which I am familiar from west of the Andes. Indeed ourbird's further wanderings seem now to be largely confined to theeastern slope of this range of mountains and the head waters of theAmazon, until it reaches what may be its true winter quarters insouthern or southwestern Brazil."Skutch tells me that "the bobolink appears only exceptionally tomigrate through Central America. On October 12, 1930, I saw a fewbirds which I took to be bobolinks in winter plumage among theswamp grasses around the Toloa Lagoon in northern Honduras."But Todd and Carriker (1922) record it in Colombia as "a commonvisitor in September and October in the lowlands, from Santa Martaaround to Fundacion and all along the shores of the Cienaga Grande."Examining the migration in more detail, a few published remarks areworth quoting. In Manitoba, according to Seton (1891), they gatherinto large flocks toward the end of July, and "then leave the prairieand attack the oat fields, doing, with the assistance of the Gracklesand Redwing Blackbirds, an immense amount of mischief. After theoats are cut they resort to the marshes, feeding on wild rice, etc.,until the cool nights inform them it is time to leave."Milton B. Trautman (1940) describes an unusually heavy migrationin Ohio as follows:While in a boat near Sellars Point, between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on September3, 1931, I heard flight notes of Bobolinks, and looking into the cloudless sky I saw aflock of approximately 50 flying in a southerly direction. The roughly rectangularflock was about one-fourth as deep as long and was advancing with the long sidein front. At approximately 200-yard intervals behind this group came 31 othersuch flocks. No flock in this long irregular column contained less than 35 indi-viduals nor more than 75, and the distance between each was remarkably constant.The birds appeared to be about 200 feet above the water, and could barely be seenwith the naked eye. This migration was unusual because of its large size and itsregularity and uniformity.
48 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Of the normal flight, he says: "In the southward migration between100 and 500 individuals could usually be seen daily as they migratedoverhead or fed in marshes and fallow fields. Upon a few occasionsfrom 600 to 2,000 were observed in a day."After converging in Florida, the migrating hosts make two long,oversea flights, to Cuba and then to Jamaica. In Jamaica, the nowoverfat bobolink is called the "butter-bird" and is shot in largenumber for food. Gosse (1847) writes: "In ordinary seasons thiswell-known bird arrived in vast numbers from the United States, inthe month of October, and scattering over the lowland plans, andslopes of the seaside hills, assembles in the guinea-grass fields, inflocks amounting to five hundred or more. The seed is then ripe,and the black throngs settle down upon it, so densely, that numbersmay be killed at a random discharge. * * * Early in November theydepart for the southern continent, but during their brief stay they arein great request for the table."A long flight from Jamaica across the Caribbean Sea lands thebirds on the northern coast of Venezuela. Dr. Wetmore (1939) says:
"Shortly after sunrise on October 16 as our ship entered the harborat La Guaira a flock of about 75 small birds swept in along the shorein close formation and rose to pass over the docks. At a casual glanceI took them for sandpipers, but as I obtained a better look I saw thatthey were bobolinks. I supposed that they had just arrived inmigration and were making a landfall as there was no place here forthem to feed. At Ocumare de la Costa before seven on the morning ofOctober 28, one flew with a low call from a large sea-grape tree on thebeach and went uncertainly toward the marsh beyond. It seemed to benewly arrived. The following day I flushed half a dozen from rushesgrowing in the lagoon."Winter.?Although there are a few scattering late fall and earlywinter records for even the northern States, practically all the bobo-links have left the United States before November, and nearly allhave reached their winter home in central South America. Dr.Wetmore (1926) says: "During winter it continues to frequentswamps and grass-grown marshes, and seems to have its centre ofabundance in the Chaco, a vast area of poorly drained, swampy land,with broad grass-grown savannas, that extends west of the Paranaand Paraguay rivers, from northern Santa Fe in north central Argen-tina, north into Bolivia and Brazil." Although the bobolink has hada safe haven here for many years, he remarks that the country is beingsettled, rice is being cultivated, and the birds are being killed for foodby the foreign settlers. This prospect does not look favorable for thebobolink, which is also popular as a cage bird there.
BOBOLINK 49DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Canada to Argentina.Breeding range.?The bobolink breeds from central-southern andsoutheastern British Columbia (Vernon, Waldo), southern Alberta,southern Saskatchewan (Eastend, Quill Lake), southern Manitoba(Brandon, Winnipeg), central and southern Ontario (north sporadi-cally to Chapleau and Bigwood), southwestern and central-southernQuebec (Blue Sea Lake, Newport), New Brunswick, Prince EdwardIsland, and northern Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island) ; south througheastern Washington (rarely) and eastern Oregon (Blue Moun tarns) tonortheastern California (Eagleville), northern Nevada (Ruby Valley),northern Utah (Springville), central and southeastern Colorado(Gunnison, Fort Lyon), central Nebraska (North Platte), north-eastern Kansas (Manhattan), northern Missouri, central Illinois(Peoria, Urbana), south-central Indiana (Worthington, Columbus),southwestern and central-eastern Ohio (Hillsboro, Scio), northernWest Virginia (south in the mountains to Greenbrier County),western Maryland (Red House), Pennsylvania, and central NewJersey. There are summer records from southwestern British Co-lumbia (Chilliwack), central Alberta (Glenevis, Edmonton, Camrose),central Saskatchewan (Ladder Lake), western and northern Ontario(Emo, Missanabie, Strickland), the north shore of the St. LawrenceRiver in Quebec (Godbout), central Nevada (Toyabe Mountains),central-eastern Arizona (Showlow), central-northern New Mexico(between Park View and Chama), and north-central Kansas (RooksCounty).Winter range.?Winters in eastern Bolivia, central-southernBrazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, migrating from NorthAmerica mainly through the Mississippi Basin, the Atlantic coastalStates, Florida, and across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea;casually through eastern Mexico and Central America, south toEcuador, the Galapagos Islands, and Peru; east to the Bahamas,Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, FrenchGuiana, and southeastern Brasil.Casual records.?Casual in western Arizona (Wikieup). Acci-dental in Greenland (Godthaab, Arsuck), Labrador (Gready Island),southeastern Quebec (Bradore Bay), and northern Ontario (MooseFactory).Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Cuba?Havana,March 29. Bahamas?Cay Sal, March 28. Florida?St. Marks,April 9. Alabama?Dadeville, April 15. Georgia?Milledgeville,April 3; Athens, April 14. South Carolina?Charleston, April 7.North Carolina?Chapel Hill, April 13; Raleigh, April 19 (average
50 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
of 24 years, May 2). Virginia?Naruna, April 18. West Virginia
?
White Sulphur Springs, April 27. District of Columbia?April 25(average of 33 years, May 3). Maryland?Baltimore County, April16. Delaware?Delaware City to Rehoboth, April 13. Pennsyl-vania?Berwyn, April 25; Philadelphia, average of 12 years, May 4.New Jersey?Cape May, April 21. New York?Rochester andBronx County, April 19; Ithaca, May 4. Connecticut?Glastonbury,April 24. Rhode Island?Jerusalem, April 21. MassachusettsNorwich, April 19; Bernardston and East Longmeadow/April 22.Vermont?St. Johnsbury, April 26; Wells River, average, May 12.New Hampshire?Charlestown, April 30. Maine?Bar Harbor, April27; Saco, May 2. Quebec?Montreal, May 7; Kamouraska, May 8.New Brunswick?Scotch Lake and St. Andrews, May 12. NovaScotia?Bridgetown, May 7. Prince Edward Island?North River,May- 23. Louisiana?Grand Isle, April 1. Mississippi?Oak Vale,April 24. Arkansas?Rogers, April 15. Tennessee?Nashville, April19 (average of 12 years, April 27). Kentucky?Bardstown, April 22.Missouri?Bolton and Corning, April 15. Illinois?Murphysboro,April 19; Freeport, April 20; Chicago region, April 25 (average, May5). Indiana?Brookville and Gary, April 6. Ohio?Bowling Greenand Oberlin, April 8 (average of 19 years at Oberlin, April 27).Michigan?Ann Arbor, April 19; Blaney Park, May 2. OntarioHamilton, April 15; Ottawa, May 3 (average of 31 years, May 16).Iowa?Hudson, April 25. Wisconsin?Madison and Oshkosh, April25 (average of 15 years in Dane County, April 30). MinnesotaMinneapolis, April 23 (average of 7 years, May 7) ; Duluth, April 26(average of 23 years for northern Minnesota, May 8). TexasHouston, April 24. Oklahoma?Tulsa County, May 2. KansasClearwater, April 17. Nebraska?Whitman, April 28. South Da-kota?Faulkton, April 29 ; Sioux Falls, 4-year average, May 9. NorthDakota?Marstonmoor, May 1; Cass County, average, May 12.Manitoba?Margaret, April 28 ; Treesbank, average of 22 years, May15. Saskatchewan?McLean, May 7. Colorado?Weidona, April28. Utah?San Juan River, May 19. Wyoming?Wheatland, May1 ; Laramie, average of 9 years, May 20. Idaho?Meridian, May 18.Montana?Jackson, May 7. Oregon?Harney County, May 18.British Columbia?Vaseaux Lake, May 24.Late dates of spring departure are: Brasil?Marabitanas, April 13.Venezuela?Aruba Island, April 25. Honduras?Northern Two Cays,May 18. Yucatan?Celesta, May 12. Cayman Islands?GrandCayman, May 1. Haiti?Tortue Island, May 16. Cuba?Remedios,June 1 ; Isle of Pines, May 29. Bahamas?New Providence, May 12.Florida?St. Augustine, June 7 ; Franklin County, June 5 ; Key West,May 30. Alabama?Birmingham, June 1. Georgia?Athens. June
BOBOLINK 5110. South Carolina?South Carolina coast, June 5. North Caro-lina?Raleigh, May 27 (average of 5 years, May 23). Virginia
?
Rosslyn and Charlottesville, May 30. West Virginia?CranberryGlades, May 27. District of Columbia?June 6 (average of 21 years,May 22). Maryland?Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, June12. Pennsylvania?Butler, Limerick, and Jeffersonville, June 10.New Jersey?South Orange, June 9. New York?Bronx County,June 9. Louisiana?Grand Isle, June 16; New Orleans, May 29.Mississippi?Vicksburg, May 19. Arkansas?Monticello, May 28.Tennessee?Clarksville, June 9. Kentucky?Bardstown, May 27.Missouri?Corning, June 2. Illinois?Chicago, May 31 (average of16 years, May 20). Texas?Dallas County, June 8; Cove, May 26.Oklahoma?Oklahoma City, May 29. Nebraska?Omaha and Lin-coln, May 24.Early dates of fall arrival are: Kansas?Cimarron, August 15.Oklahoma?Payne County, August 2. Texas?Edinburg, August 25.Illinois?Chicago, August 10 (average of 6 years, August 14). Ken-tucky?Eubank, August 15. Tennessee?Elizabethton, August 17.Louisiana?Kaplan, July 13; Abbeville, August 4. Rhode IslandSouth Auburn, July 23. Connecticut?Hartford, August 2. NewJersey?Camden, July 8. Pennsylvania?Philadelphia, July 18.Delaware?Odessa, July 19. Maryland?Laurel, July 18. Districtof Columbia, July 26 (average of 23 years, August 17). VirginiaWarwick, July 24. North Carolina?Raleigh, August 15 (average of1 1 years, August 29) . South Carolina?Frogmore, July 13. GeorgiaSavannah, July 27. Florida?Pensacola, July 10; Key West, August4. Bahamas?Cay Lobos Light, September 1. Cuba?Trinidad,September 1. Jamaica?September 25. Dominican Republic?SanJuan, September 21. Panama?Obaldia, September 30. ColombiaSanta Marta region, September 11. Venezuela?Merida, September20. Bolivia?Alto Paraguay, October 15. Paraguay?Trinidad,November 9. Argentina?Ocampo, November.Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?OkanaganLanding, August 27. Oregon?Harney County, September 18. Ne-vada?Montello, September 20. Montana?Fortine, September 28.Wyoming?Fort Laramie, October 2. Colorado?Boulder County,September 9. Saskatchewan?Indian Head, September 20. Mani-toba?Treesbank, September 22 (average of 11 years, September 14).North Dakota?Cass County, September 22 (average, September 12).South Dakota?Sioux Falls, October 9 (average of 5 years, September12). Kansas?Osawatomie, October 13. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City,November 27. Texas?Comanche County, November 28. Min-nesota?St. Paul, October 15; Bradford, October 12. WisconsinBurlington and Prairie du Sac, October 16. Iowa?National, October
52 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 21118. Ontario?Point Pelee, October 3; Ottawa, September 29 (averageof 11 years, September 10). Michigan?Vicksburg, September 25.Ohio?Buckeye Lake, October 27 (median, October 12). Indiana
?
Bicknell, October 17. Illinois?Chicago region, October 9 (average,September 10). Missouri?Bolivar, October 1. Kentucky?Bards-town, September 28. Tennessee?Knoxville, October 7. MississippiBiloxi, October 8. Louisiana?Diamond, September 27. NovaScotia?Yarmouth, September 5. New Brunswick?Scotch Lake,September 25. Quebec?Kamouraska, September 25; Montreal,September 16. Maine?Jefferson, October 10. New HampshireTilton, September 19. Vermont?Rutland, October 1. Massachu-setts?Northampton, November 8; Scituate, October 23. Rhode Is-land?Quonochontaug, October 9. Connecticut?Portland, October15. New York?Flushing, November 2; Guilderland Center, October16. New Jersey?Newark, October 22. Pennsylvania?Renovo,November 1 ; Shermansville, October 10. Maryland?Patapsco River,November 8. District of Columbia?October 21 (average of 14 years,September 29) . West Virginia?Morgantown, October 9. VirginiaNaruna, October 5. North Carolina?Dare County, October 24;Raleigh, October 7 (average of 7 years, September 29). South Caro-lina?Dillon County, December 6; Mount Pleasant, November 26.Georgia?Savannah, October 21. Alabama?Dauphin Island, Sep-tember 21. Florida?Alligator Reef Light, November 28; DefuniakSprings, November 15. Bahamas?Watlings Island, October 12.Cuba?Havana, October 5. Jamaica?Spanish Town, October 10.Dominican Republic?San Juan, September 28. Barbados?October26. Nicaragua?Rio Escondido, October 10. Panamti?Perm6, Oc-tober 18. Colombia?Santa Marta region, October 14. VenezuelaOcumare de la Costa, October 28.Egg dates.?Connecticut: 12 records, May 27 to June 4.Illinois: 25 records, May 25 to July 11 ; 15 records, May 25 to May31.Massachusetts: 25 records, June 1 to June 25; 20 records, June 1 toJune 9.Minnesota: 7 records, June 2 to June 15.New York: 24 records, May 18 to June 11; 12 records, May 29 toJune 4 (Harris).
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 53STURNELLA MAGNA MAGNA (Linnaeus)Eastern MeadowlarkPlates 3 and 4Contributed by Alfred O. GrossHABITSThe meadowlark is the outstanding and the most characteristicbird of the American farm. It is revered by the farmer not onlybecause of its charming simplicity and its cheerful, spirited song, butalso for its usefulness as a destroyer of harmful insects and the seedsof obnoxious weeds. The coming of the meadowlark in the earlyspring, while the fields are still brown, is a thrilling event. Hisarrival is made known by his plaintive but not complaining or melan-choly song as he stands mounted atop some tall tree in a grassymeadow, with his bright yellow breast surmounted by a black crescentgleaming in the morning sun.The meadowlark has the build and the walk, as well as the flight,of the quail; and since it frequents the marshes, especially in itswinter quarters, it has sometimes been called the marsh quail. Thisname has probably lead many a hunter to think of it as a game bird.Fortunately in recent years fewer meadowlarks are killed for food,and this may be at least one factor responsible for the increasingnumbers as well as the extension of its nesting range.When I first came to Maine 35 years ago the meadowlark was acomparatively rare bird in the southern part of the State. Sincethat time it has steadily increased in numbers, until today almostevery suitable meadow and grass field has its quota of meadowlarks.Similar increases in the number of meadowlarks have been reportedfrom other sections of its range. Milton B. Trautman states in aletter that he counted 400 pairs of meadowlarks while walking throughsuitable fields, during the course of a few days in the Buckeye Lakeregion, Ohio. He estimated the amazing number of 1,400 pahs asnesting in the area, an average of 1 meadowlark for every 7 acres, orabout 91 to the square mile.In 1906-1908 I conducted the fieldwork of a statistical survey ofthe birds of Illinois for the Illinois Natural History Survey. Inmaking the census counts, I walked many times through fields andwoods over the length and breadth of the State. An assistanttraveled at 30 yards distant and parallel to my line of march andwas responsible for measuring the distance of each field traversed interms of paces, which later were translated into feet. The speciesand the numbers of birds flushed in a strip 50 yards in width, including
54 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211those flying across the strip within a hundred yards to our front,were recorded. Thus we covered all types of crops and vegetationduring all conditions of weather and at all seasons of the year toobtain a comparative sample of the birdlife. During the summermonths alone an area equivalent to 7,793 acres was covered, on which85 species of birds were recorded. The meadowlark proved to bethe most abundant of the native Illinois buds, being represented by1,025 individuals, or 13.2 percent, of the total bud population. Therewas an average of 85 meadowlarks to the square mile for the wholearea traversed. As the birds were unequally distributed, neveroccurring, for example, in woodlands or among shrubbery, theirnumbers rose to 266 to the square mile in stubble, 205 in meadows,160 on untilled lands, 143 in pastures, and 131 on wastelands, butfell to 10 per square mile in fields of corn.The meadowlark population varied in numbers from the northernto the southern part of the State, 100 in northern Illinois being repre-sented by 175 in the central and by 215 in the southern part. Thecenter of density of the summer meadowlark population at that timewas in the southern section, and during the winter months the con-centration of meadowlarks in southern Illinois reached an average of373 per square mile. Many of the birds which nest further northwinter in that section of the State.From various reports I have recently received from the MiddleWest, it is probable that if the census were repeated today the averagemeadowlark population would exceed the average of 85 to the squaremile obtained during the summer months of 40 years ago.Spring.?The migration of the meadowlark is a comparativelylimited movement, and the bird retires completely from only themost northern sections of its breeding range. It is a regular winterresident as far north as Maine, southern Ontario, and Michigan; andthe southern summer residents do not go beyond the Carolinas,Alabama, Louisiana, and southeastern Texas. In spring the migrantsreach Missouri and southern Illinois by the middle of March, arrivingin the north central States during the first weeks of April, and inMinnesota and the Dakotas usually during the latter part of themonth. The first arrivals in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Albertaappear in the last of April or the first week of May. The vanguardof the migrants reaches southern New England about the middle ofMarch, and a marked movement extends well into April.According to William Brewster (1886b), the meadowlarks areamong the birds which migrate exclusively by night. He states:
"Species which migrate exclusively by night habitually feed in ornear the shelter of trees, bushes, rank herbage or grass, and whennot migrating are birds of limited powers of flight and sedentary
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 55habits, restricting their daily excursions to the immediate vicinity oftheir chosen haunts. As a rule they are timid, or at least retiringdisposition, and when alarmed or pursued seek safety in concealmentrather than extended flights."Meadowlarks migrate by night because they are either afraid toventure on long exposed journeys by daylight, or unable to continuethese journeys day after day without losing much time in stoppingto search for food. By taking the nights for traveling they can devotethe days entirely to feeding and resting in their favorite haunts.Milton B. Trautman (1940) in his observations at Buckeye Lake,Ohio, differs from the conclusions reached by Brewster. He writes:Few Eastern meadowlarks were seen or heard migrating in very late eveningsand early mornings, but many more were observed in the daylight hours. Inlate March and April individuals and loose flocks of as many as 60 flew northwardat a low elevation across the lake. Loose flocks of 5 to 100 birds were oftenobserved flying during spring and fall. The flocks generally flew a short distanceand began to feed. Presently, those in the rear rose into the air and, flying overthe flock, alighted in front to feed again. This maneuver was many timesrepeated. When the flock reached an obstruction, such as woods, cattail swamp,or lake, it flew over in a long loose column. The flocks traveled in this leisurelymanner 2 to 6 miles an hour. Sometimes the flocks stopped feeding and flew 1to 3 miles at a low elevation before dropping to the earth to feed again.At Ithaca, N. Y., G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56) has found thatthe first meadowlarks to be seen early in the j^ear are males. Asearly as January young birds which may be classed as vagrants arereported. Upon the advent of warmer weather more vagrants whichhave wintered only a short distance to the south wander in, feedingin manured fields and about farm buildings. Stormy weather oftencovers the fields with snow and sends them into barnyards where theymay pick their food along with domesticated animals. Not infre-quently many of these early meadowlarks perish in the long blizzardswhich put an end to their food supply.Later, usually about the middle of March, the first migrants appear.These are old males, few in number and quiet in manner, which havewintered far to the south. By the end of March the migrant malesbecome abundant. Song is less common among these early flocks ofmigrants than among the first resident males, which come a week orso later. When these arrive in the latter part of March they are activein the mornings and late afternoon, but during midday they oftenretire to a common feeding ground which the birds from differentterritones share without any apparent hostility. Their early song,although sweet and full of spirit, is not of the brilliance which char-acterizes it in April when the first resident females arrive.Groups of migrants and resident males continue to arrive untilthe latter part of April. The last resident males establish themselves380928?57 5
56 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211in areas left by the first wave of migrants, or carve their territoriesfrom the domains of earlier males unable to defend their originalholdings. The migrants remaining in flocks resume their journeynorthward.The vanguard of migrant females arrives 2 weeks or more after thefirst resident males and are followed closely by the first residentfemales. The coming of the resident females stimulates the first songpeak of the males, whose songs become longer and more brilliant andanimated. They engage in territorial combats over females, indefense displays and sexual flights, as well as posturing and sexualdisplays for the benefit of the female. The female is at a muchlower sexual pitch at this time and responds only by preliminarystages of posturing such as the erection of the body to a verticalposition, pointing her bill upward and twitching her wings. Late inApril she reaches the necessary sexual level and begins building thenest and laying the eggs.Other migrant and resident females, which are young birds, con-tinue to come in April and May and even in June and July. Thesebirds, which are late in maturing, become mates of polygamous orlate arriving males, or remain unmated.The following accounts of territory and courtship are based pri-marily on an exhaustive treatment of the subject contained in anunpublished thesis, submitted at Cornell University in 1932 byGeorge Bradford Saunders ("A Taxonomic Revision of the Meadow-larks of the Genus Stumella Vieiilot and the Natural Histoiy of theEastern Meadowlark Stumella Magna Magna Linnaeus").Territory.?Soon after his arrival during the latter part of March,the resident male leaves his companions and selects a territory,preferably a grassland or meadow, because of the great abundance offood as well as his decided liking for this type of habitat. The sizeand shape of the territory depend chiefly on the area of suitable landavailable, the local abundance and strength of competing males, therelative concentration of food supply, and certain barriers and indi-vidual range requirements of the male. The size of the territorymay be increased as a result of polygamous relations, particularlyif the females choose widely separated nesting sites, but the averagesize of 15 territories at Ithaca, N. Y., was found to be 7 acres. Thereis a decided difference between the total area of the territory and thatwhich is regularly used. The more concentrated the food supplythe less need there is for foraging, and the smaller the area fre-quented. Of two territories studied by G. B. Saunders (MS., seeabove) throughout the breeding season of 1931, one contained 9and the other 20 acres; but due to the abundance of food in a meadowseparating the two families, one monogamous and the other with
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 57three females, this common feeding ground was shared. In eachterritory, however, the area of land used regularly was the same, 6acres.Important to the male are the various commanding perches fromwhich he can survey his territory. Telephone wires or electric powerlines with unobstructed views often furnish favorite song and lookoutposts. Mounds of earth, farm implements, and fence posts provideperches near the ground. During the first few days of his occupancyhe visits them from time to time and selects one for his primary head-quarters. Here he sings and watches during the day, usually roostingnearby at night. This territorial center is frequented faithfully duringthe entire season, unless his routine is changed by polygamy, in whichcase secondary headquarters are often established nearer his mates.As he may have as many as three females, each having two broods, thechief center of interest in the territory may change as each femalereaches the peak of sexual responsiveness.By intimidating songs and alarms, displays and disputes, the malemeadowlark defends his domain against the encroachment of covetousrivals. It is clear that from the beginning of his tenure the male has adefinite conception of his territorial acreage and chases all residentmales of his species beyond these boundaries. The competitors maycome to blows, but it is usually a matter of vehement displays or com-petitive singing, ending when the vanquished bud takes wing. Theloser may be pursued rapidly as far as the boundary line; the victoriousmale then returns to the sentinel station, singing a spirited flight songas he flies. G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56) describes a territorialflight he observed on March 25, 1929 : "My attention was drawn to twobirds fighting savagely in the grass. From a distance I could see theflashing white rectrices and was able to identify them as meadowlarks.One male was on top of the other jabbing him fiercely with his longbill. Then they rolled about for a moment wrestling and stabbingwith their feet locked together. Instead of taking wing they hoppedat each other, grappled, and again fell on their sides. Wings wereheld loosely and white tail feathers flashed repeatedly as their tailsopened and closed spasmodically. After more than a minute of jab-bing, one bird arose and flew, pursued hotly by the victorious contest-ant who gave a jubilant flight song during the chase."Courtship.?The arrival of the females on the breeding territorystimulates the resident males, who by this time are well prepared foran animated and lively courtship, to a frenzied rivalry that oftenbecomes furious. Two rival males have been seen tumbling about onthe ground on their backs with their feet firmly locked together,striking at each other with their bills in mortal combat.The courtship is featured by elaborate displays, spectacular flights,
58 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211and intensive singing. G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56) describes aperformance he observed from a blind on April 16, 1931: "Todayinstead of witnessing the usual routine I observed the first residentfemale seen since the preceding fall serve as the center of attractionfor three competing males. As I reached the blind all four birds tookwing and began a most exciting and spectacular chase in which theyzig-zagged back and forth, describing circles 200 yards in diameterand maintaining for the most part a steady flight, but occasionallysailing on set wings or giving pulsating strokes. Throughout most ofthe exhibition the female was pursued by all the males, but now andthen two of the latter would engage in a private chase after each other(rarely striking in midair) only to return quickly to the magneticfemale. Finally all four came down to the spot from which they hadflown. The female began walking about, feeding in the short grass;occasionally she paused to give a conversational chatter that impressedme as being softer, finer, and more modulated than the alarm chatter.The males vied in following her, first one then another arching his body,pointing his bill up, and flying jerkily toward her at an elevation offrom 3 to 6 feet. At times they would walk near her with quick, shortsteps, their bodies held vertically, bills pointed to the zenith, wingstwitching so rapidly that the remiges (particularly the tertiaries)described a blurred arc above their backs, and tails convulsively spread-ing and flashing the white areas. Then they would spring into theair, fanning their wings powerfully but jerkily for six or eight strokes.This 'jump flight' apparently serves two purposes, that of displayingto the female, and of observing and intimidating other males.
"In this way the four birds proceeded for some 50 yards, the femalefor the most part apparently uninterested but occasionally pointingher bill, twitching her wings and tail, and revealing her excitement.The males at such times would attempt to intimidate each other withviolent displays. The female would chatter her approval. After sev-eral minutes all four birds flew out of sight, but very soon one malereturned followed by the female. Now and then a new note whichsounded like the beert of the nighthawk was given. She resumed herfeeding, while he continued to post himself nearby. Instead of makinghimself tall and slim however, he fluffed out his body feathers until theyellow breast he presented to her gaze was a broad, flat golden shieldset with a shining black gorget. He continued to make advances,pointed his bill upward now and then, flirted his wings, etc. Shechattered or gave the weet, weet, weet call in answer to almost everysong. It is noteworthy that while he alone was displaying, he did notsing. Then, resuming his perch at headquarters, he sang brilliantlyfor 19 minutes, averaging 11 songs per minute. During the next 4days he continued to spend much of his time near her, frequently dis-
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 59playing and posturing, but she seldom displayed, usually continuingto feed quietly near him."The usual courtship display of the male is summarized by Saundersas follows: "Taking a direct stance near the female he raises his bodyto its full height, stretches his neck to its full length, and points hisbill to the zenith. The tail is fanned, showing all the white, and isalso jerked up and down; the wings are flirted rapidly over the back,either simultaneously or alternately; and the breast feathers are fluffedout to form a lovely shield of contrasting yellow and black. Thebeert note may be given. He may spring from the ground as has beendescribed, even flashing his tail in midair."The female's reaction to this performance is to raise her body toits full height, stretch her neck, and point her bill ; flashing her wingsand tail in answer to his song and chattering or giving a beert."Throughout this period they spend much of their time together.When he is aloft singing she is usually feeding or perching nearby.As a rule, however, she frequents an elevated perch much less oftenthan the male and seems less sure of herself while doing it. If he issinging, she often answers each song with soft conversational chatter,
" dzert-tet-tet-tet-tet." They seem to enjoy their companionship verymuch, remaining together in long flights across the territory to feedinggrounds and maintaining this proximity while feeding; and occasion-ally indulging in a sexual flight, the male singing a beautiful flight song.After such a flight he often repeats his sexual advances in a more orless obvious manner, but she responds either weakly or not at all.While feeding, they pass hours in which little if any show of sexualinterest is witnessed."Nesting.?The meadowlark is primarily a bird of the grasslands,meadows, and pastures; and it is in such places that we usually findits nest. I have also found them in corn, alfalfa, and clover fieldsand weedy orchards, as well as in grassed islands among plowed fields.The nest is made of dried grasses lined with finer materials. InIllinois I have found nests lined with small amounts of horsehair; inMaine, wiry grasses and even pine needles are sometimes employed forthis purpose. Most of the nests have a dome-shaped roof constructedof grass more or less interwoven with the attached and growing partsof the clump of grass or weeds against which it is built. The interiorof the nest is open to view from only one side, and this opening may bemore or less obscured by overhanging grasses. Sometimes there is acovered passageway to the nest especially to those built in a fieldwhere the tall grass was not cut during the previous season. Some ofthe nests are so well hidden that they are difficult to find, and arediscovered only when the bud is flushed by the accidental encroach-ment of someone walking through the field. The colors and markings
60 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
of the plumage blend so perfectly with the surroundings that if anesting bird could restrain its fear, a person might pass within inchesof a nest and never be aware of its presence. Most nests that I havefound were those I nearly trampled under my feet. Most nests arebuilt in a small depression of the ground, the depth of which may beaugmented by some excavation by the bird until it is about 1 to 2%inches deep. Skutch writes of a nest he found in an alfalfa field nearIthaca, N. Y., on May 26, 1931; it was a sparse structure of grassesonly half covered over and set in a depression of the ground so that theupper side of the five eggs were about level with the surface of the field.The nest varies in size and bulk according to the situation in whichit is found. Of five nests measured, the average total height was 7inches, the outside diameter 6% inches and the inside measurements ofthe nesting cavity approximately 4 by 5 inches. The average openingis 3% inches wide and 4 inches high.A. C. Bent found an unusual nest containing three eggs in anunusual site at Sea Isle City, N. J., on June 23, 1928. Located inshort grass on Black Rail Marsh, it was made of dried coarse grasses,completely arched over with a thick, dense canopy of coarse drygrasses and weeds, and was much like the nest of the black rail inappearance. He found another nest containing four eggs among thebeach grass at Chatham, Mass., on May 28, 1904, sunk into the sandjust back of the crest of the beach.F. W. Rapp reports a meadowlark's nest, containing four eggs,which was located within 9 feet of the track of the Grand TrunkWestern Railroad. Trains running at a high rate of speed, makingmuch noise and jarring the ground, apparently did not disturb thebirds. The nest, in short grass, was completely covered over withdried grasses and the entrance was away from the tracks.Robert L. Denig (1913) reports unusual conditions under whicha meadowlark nested at Wakefield, Mass., where the U. S. MarineCorps conducted rifle practice during the summer of 1909. Moundsof earth about 3 feet high were built to elevate the firing points at100-yard intervals. The meadowlark built its nest on the far sideof the 400-yard mound directly in line with the target, so that themuzzle of the rifle of the man lying on the mound was directly overthe nest and not more than 2 feet above it. At first when the firingskirmish line was about 400 yards distant, the birds would fly away;but as the practice continued they became more and more accustomedto the noise; they would allow the men to approach nearer and nearerbefore leaving the nest and would return at once when the firing ceasedat that point. As the time came for the eggs to hatch, one of thebirds would remain on the nest throughout the firing, even when thegun was being discharged directly over its head, not more than 2 feet
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 61
away. Finally, the eggs hatched, and the young birds were broughtup, so to speak, "under fire."G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56) provides the following notes onnest building: At Ithaca, N. Y., the meadowlark begins nesting in lateApril or early MajT . The time required for building the nest variesfrom 3 to 18 days. One pair began carrying nesting material on April20 and completed the nest on May 8, another began building on April21 and finished on May 8. Still another began carrying grass on June 3and finished her nest and laid her first egg on June 6. In every caseexcept the last one mentioned, several nests were started and workedupon. Usually the first beakfulls of nesting materials are depositedat different places and at first there seems to be no concentration onany particular location. During these first days copulation with themale takes place. When the female is responsive to the advances ofthe male she crouches close to the ground, shortens her neck, and pointsher bill upward at an angle. She flutters and flirts her wings and liftsand spreads her tail. The male displays a few feet distant, and thecopulatory act is finally achieved with no sounds being uttered byeither bird.Trips with nesting material are most frequent early and late in theday, but may sometimes continue during midday as well. Thedetails of nest building are presented in the following typical case.On May 12, 1931, a nest which Saunders had under observation wasscarcely begun, but both cup and roof had been started. A naturaldepression 2 inches deep had been slightly modified by the female,who used her bill for the retouching. Into this cavity a thin layer oflast year's gross blades had been laid. Much of the tuft of grasssurrounding the cup had been arched over it and woven together,being secured by a few long dry grass stems woven among the growingblades. In half a morning's work she had both the cup and roof wellstarted. The male gave no assistance in the enterprise and offerednone later.On May 13 as well as on the two following days, the female maderegular trips with material every 5 to 10 minutes. She usuallyremained at the nest from 35 seconds to 2 minutes placing the materialthat she had brought. On this day the nest was half completed; thelining of the bowl was much deeper but was still flimsy. On May 15the nest was complete except for occasional additions of material.The first egg was laid on May 17. Occasionally the building continuesfor several days after egg laying is begun.Saunders' observation of the nest-building process is thus sum-marized:Following the choice of a nesting site, the customary first step is to prepare theearthen foundation for its cup of withered grass. There may be a natural depres-
62 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
sion, a hoofprint or similar hollow already present, in which case the femaleremodels it by using her bill as a combination pick and forceps tool. In some soilthe marks of her beak remain after the young have departed. The use of the billfor digging the soil is not surprising, for the habit is often shown in feeding, whenthe meadowlark employs it to probe for insects and grain and to dislodge clodsof earth.Once the hollow is satisfactory, the adjacent grasses or other growing plants arepulled over the pit and interlaced, or secured by the addition of long stems orblades of dead grass until they form a more or less complete dome which laterconceals the eggs from view and protects them from the sun and rain. Othernests are not below the general surface level but are built entirely above it, therebeing a front step as a result of this variation in architecture.The cup and nest lining are usually fashioned while the dome is in the processof construction, first one part and then another receiving the attention of thefemale. Many more than a hundred loads of dried grass going to the making ofthe finished home. Although many authors credit both sexes of the easternmeadowlark with the job of building, I have never observed a male sharing inthis activity. Perhaps he does, but such a male would be an exceptional individual,and a far more helpful mate than any of the dozen males which had their intimatelives scrutinized daily during my study at Ithaca, N. Y.G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56), the first to discover the commonpractice of polygamy among meadowlarks, reports that the secretivenature of the females and the inconspicuousness of their nests are twoof the principal reasons why the eastern meadowlarks have been ableto keep their polygamous habits a secret for so long. Althoughmeadowlarks breed in every one of the 48 States and are abundant inmost of them, no mention has appeared in the voluminous literatureon Sturnella regarding the frequent bigamy of the males of this sub-species. His intensive field work in more than 20 territories atIthaca, N. Y., in 1931 revealed that about 50 percent of the maleswere polygamous. One of them was found to have three females, allof which were nesting at the same time. He adds that among theseveral reasons why polygamy is common among meadowlarks is thefact that the females are not hostile to one another as they are inmany other species; they feed together, associate with the maletogether, and often nest within 50 feet of each other. Another is thatthe males are repeatedly attracted by desirable females.Eggs.?The number of eggs of a set of the meadowlark varies fromthree to seven, but sets of five eggs are most common. Sets of fourare more usual in the second brood nests of the season. Birds breedingin the southern part of the nesting range on the average lay smallersets.According to Bendire (1895):The eggs of the Meadowlark vary considerably both in shape and size; themajority are ovate, while others are short, elliptical, and elongate ovate. Theshell is strong, closely granulated, and moderately glossy. The ground color isusually pure white; this is occasionally covered with a pale pinkish suffusion, andit is very rarely pale greenish white. The eggs are more or less profusely spotted,
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 63blotched, and speckled over the entire surface with different shades of brown,ferruginous, pale heliotrope purple, and lavender; these markings generally pre-dominate about the larger end of the egg, and are rarely heavy enough to hidethe ground color.In some sets the markings consist mainly of a profusion of fine dots; in othersthe spots are well rounded and fewer in number; and again they occur in the shapeof irregular and coarse blotches, mixed and finer specks and dots; in fact, there isan endless variation in the style of markings.The average measurement of a series of two hundred and one specimens in theUnited States National Museum collection is 27.75 by 20.35 millimeters, or1.09 by 0.80 inches. The largest egg measures 30.78 by 22.61 millimeters, or1.21 by 0.89 inches; the smallest, 21.59 by 18.29 millimeters, or 0.85 by 0.72 inch.Ninety-five eggs weighed by G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56) hadan average weight of 6.6 grams, a minimum weight of 5.4 grams, anda maximum weight of 7.7 grams. Eggs of any one clutch are usuallysimilar in size, coloration, and weight. He found that of 85 eggs in20 nests found at Ithaca, N. Y., 14 eggs, or 15.5 percent, were sterile.Incubation.?When an average clutch of five eggs is laid, incu-bation may begin with the deposition of the third, the fourth, or thefifth egg, but more frequently begins with the laying of the fourth egg.The incubation period is usually 14 days, but under certain unusualconditions it may be only 13 or as many as 15 days.Although the male has been credited with a share in incubation,Saunders (MS., see p. 56) has never witnessed any such cooperationin the many nests that he has closely observed. Once incubation hasbegun the female remains on the eggs most of the day, leaving onlylong enough to feed. The nest is never left at night unless she isfrightened by an intruder. During 12 hours and 40 minutes of day-light, one female spent 9 hours and 40 minutes, or 76 percent of thetime, on the nest. The longest absences from the eggs were during themiddle of the day when the temperature was highest. On cool orrainy days less time is spent away from the nest.While incubating, the female is continually active. These activitiesinclude listening to songs and sounds of approaching danger, "hum-ming" when the male sings, turning the eggs, feeding on insects whichcome within reach of the nest, probing in the nest, rearranging nestmaterials, preening, etc. The female on the nest often responds to theflight song of the male by voicing low, sweet chuckling notes that areunlike any others uttered by the meadowlarks. The softness of thesesounds precludes their detection by man at distances greater than 15or 20 feet. The eggs are turned many times during the day, and inthe course of 1 hour in the late afternoon a female was observed toturn them five times. The eggs do not hatch in the order that theyare laid; for example, the fourth egg may hatch several hours in ad-vance of the third. Individual variation in development causesdifferences of several hours or even a day in the hatching time.
64 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Young.?The young at the time of hatching, according to G. B.Saunders (MS., see p. 56) have a smooth orange-red skin; the bill andnails are flesh color; and the natal down is pearl gray. The down islongest on the capital and spinal tracts and shorter on the humeraland femoral tracts. When the down is dry it fluffs out and appearsquite abundant, particularly on the spinal tract. On the head thedown is localized chiefly above the eyes and on the occiput. The darksheaths of juvenal feathers are visible on tne dorsal surface of the headand on the spinal and dorsal regions, and less easily discernible in thehumeral, alar, femoral, and crural tracts.Shortly after hatching, the nestling reacts to the food call of thefemale and holds up its mouth in a wobbly and uncertain manner, atthe same time uttering weak notes, see see or seep seep. The femaleduring the first few days spends long hours in the nest brooding thenearly naked young. The young are fed by both the male and femalebut the male feeds them much less often. During the first 2 days theyoung evacuate in the nest, being too weak and lacking the instinct tovoid their droppings outside the doorway. Later, by the third orfourth day, each youngster may be observed to turn about and expelthe mucous-covered sac beyond the rim of the nest. These sacs areremoved by the adults but in the early stages of the development ofthe young they may be eaten. Egg shells are removed to a consider-able distance by the female immediately after the young are hatched.Infertile eggs are usually left in the nest during the entire period ofoccupation.By the third or fourth day a slitlike opening appears in the eyelids,so that the youngster can see whenever it is fed or disturbed. Atother times the eyes remained closed. The position of the young birdsis now more upright and alert, and the wings have grown enough to beuseful as props for maintaining balance. The legs are still almostuseless; there is little muscular coordination and they are well sprawledout at the sides.By the fifth day the eyes are fully opened and the voice is stronger.The nestlings now face the opening of the nest, expectantly waiting forfood. Growth is rapid, and the juvenile plumage is rapidly acquired.When disturbed, the young now exhibit signs of fear. Wing exercisesand stretching of the legs and neck are indulged in frequently.By the eighth d&j the young are very alert and receptive to soundscoming from outside the nest. They may be seen frequently preeningtheir feathers, apparently to facilitate the unsheathing process. Dur-ing the remaining days in the nest the young become so active thenest is wrecked and the roof worn away, exposing the nestlings to viewand to the hot, direct rays of the sun. When thus exposed to the sun
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 65they pant violently in order to control their temperature. Sometimesthey leave the nest, but return after being fed.By the eleventh or twelfth da}r the birds normally take their finalleave of the nest, although if molested they may desert it as early asthe eighth day. Feather growth of the wing tracts has proceededsufficiently by the eleventh day to allow the nestling to fly, in caseflight is necessary. However, the newly departed young meadow-lark seldom takes to its wings during the first few days except to makeshort jumps in the grass. The young are fed by the adults for a periodof at least 2 weeks or longer after they leave the nest. Their foodcall is a loud bisyllabic tseup, tseuj), and it is by these notes that theyare located and fed by the adults. The second nest may be startedwithin 2 or 3 days of the desertion of the first one. While the femaleis building and laying she continues to feed the first brood, but whenthe second incubation is begun the male assumes the major part ofthe work of caring for the young of the first brood, which are about3 weeks old at this time.Gradually they learn to catch insects for themselves and becomemore and more independent. When they are able to shift for them-selves, they are apparently chased out of the territory by the male.They probably do not travel far before September, when they acquiretheir first winter plumage.Four birds taken from a nest when 8 days old were raised in cap-tivity by G. B. Saunders. Since they were given long hours offreedom in their native fields, their development and habits weresimilar to those of wild juveniles. On the fifteenth day they alltook dust baths, fluffing and shaking their plumage as adults would,Following this exertion they drank heartily from a basin of water.On the sixteenth day they began prying into the soil with their bills,which marked the inception of the boring habit which is so typicalof the adults. On the seventeenth day they began to stand highon their legs and to hold bodies erect whenever they heard a soundwhich startled them. On the twentieth day one was observed totake a thorough bath in the water, after which he spent severalminutes in a systematic dressing of his plumage, during which heapparently used his oil gland frequently. On the twentj-second day,two of the four began feeding for themselves; before that Saundershad been feeding each bird about 175 grasshopper nymphs daily.On the same day one of the two that had begun feeding themselvesgave a rolling chatter very similar to that uttered by the adults.Plumages.?Jonathan Dwight, Jr. (1900) gives the followingdescription of the plumages and molts:Juvenal plumage acquired by a complete moult. Above, clove-brown, thefeathers broadly edged with buff pplest on the nape, those of the back having
66 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211double subapical spots of russet. Median crown stripe, and superciliary linecream-buff. Wings sepia-brown, the primaries and secondaries obscurely barredon the outer web with darker brown and edged with pale vinaceous cin-namon shading to white on the first primary, the tertials clove-brown broadlyedged with buff and having a row of partly confluent vinaceous cinnamon spotson either side of their shafts producing a barred effect, * * * the rest of thewing converts obscurely mottled with light and dark browns and edged withbuff, the alulae with white. The three outer pairs of rectrices are white with afaint dusky subapical shaft-streak, the next pair largely white and the othershair-brown confluently barred with clove-brown, and whitish edged. Below, in-cluding "edge of wing" pale canary-yellow, nearly white on the chin, the sidesof the throat, breast, flanks, crissum and tibiae washed with pinkish buff, streakedand spotted with brownish black which forms a pectoral band. Bill and feetpinkish buff, the former becoming slaty, the latter dull clay color.First Winter Plumage acquired by a complete post-juvenal moult beginningabout September first after the juvenal dress has been worn a long time, youngbirds and old becoming practically indistinguishable.Above, similar to the previous plumage, but all the browns even to the wingand tail quills much darker, often black, and distinct barring rather than mot-tling, the rule. The feathers of the back have large single subapical spots ofrich Mar's-brown crossed by two faint dusky bars, and the primary edgings areusually grayer. Below, a rich lemon-yellow (including the chin and supraorbitaldash) veiled with buff edgings and a black pectoral crescent is acquiredcompletely veiled with deep buff and ashy edgings. The streakings below areheavier and darker, many of the feathers with subapical russet spots and thewash on the sides is deeper and pinker.First Nuptial Plumage acquired by wear which is excessive by the end of thebreeding season producing a dingy brown and white appearance above withyellow and black below. The subapical spots of the feathers of the back arealmost entirely lost by abrasion and the same force scallops out the light por-tions of the tertiaries, wing coverts, and tail. Neither the yellow nor the blackbelow fades very appreciably, but the shining denuded shafts of the feathersproject far beyond the abraided barbs. The yellow seems even to be intensifiedby the loss of paler barbules.Adult Winter Plumage acquired by a complete postnuptial moult in September.Usually indistinguishable from first winter dress.Adult Nuptial Plumage acquired by wear as in the young bird.Female.?In natal down and juvenal plumage the sexes are indistinguishable.Later the female differs only in slightly duller colors and a more restricted blackarea on the throat. The moults are exactly the same as in the male.Abnormal plumages involving albinism and melanism are knownto occur in the meadowlark. The majority of the cases of albinismwhich have been reported are actually only partially albinistic; inmost the brown of the upperparts is white or whitish, whereas theyellow of the underparts seems to be retained in varying degrees ofintensity.James Savage (1895) collected an albino meadowlark near Buffalo,N. Y., in which "The usual brown of the upper parts was of a palebuff color with the pattern of the feather markings indistinctly dis-
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 67
cemible, while the yellow on the breast was as pure as in an ordinaryLark."Louis S. Kohler (1915b) gives an account of a partial albino mead-owlark he observed near Bloomfield, N. J.: "On October 7th duringthe afternoon while strolling over the fields I came upon a partlyalbino bird. This bird was of normal plumage except the tail andwings in which parts, more than half the feathers were devoid ofcolor. This bird during its association with others of its kind wascontinually being attacked and presented a very bedraggled appear-ance from their frequent onslaughts and was forced into solitude bythem at close intervals. But in spite of their pugnacity it alwaysreturned to the vicinity of its tormentors and was immediately setupon and driven off."G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 5G) states: "There is an albinoeastern meadowlark in the Cornell University museum which hasupperparts and wings whitish, the bill pale brown, the jugular cres-cent buffy brown, but the yellow imderparts nearly normal." Thereare many other similar cases of partial albinism in the meadowlarkbut I have discovered no report of a pure albino eastern meadowlark.Chas. H. Townsend (1883) describes a melanistic specimen collectedin New Jersey as follows: "The upper plumage is of the normalcolor, while the whole head, neck and under parts are perfectlyblack. There is the faintest possible trace of yellow along the sides,and no white feathers in the tail, which is very dark above and below."Food.?Few birds of the agricultural areas can claim a higher rankin its economic relations to man than does the meadowlark. Duringthe summer months most of its food consists of insects and closelyallied forms. It eats practically all of the principal pests of the fieldsand is particularly destructive to the dreaded cutworms, caterpillars,beetles, and grasshoppers. In the autumn, and especially in winter,when insect life is scarce, it resorts in a large measure to seeds. Itdoes feed on certain grains useful to man, such as corn, wheat, rye,and oats; but most of these are waste left behind at harvesttime. Itseldom disturbs these cereals when growing or before being harvested.I have seen flocks of them in weedy cornfields where apparently theywere feeding exclusively on seeds of smartweeds and ragweeds.Meadowlarks have been known to eat certain fruits such as wildcherries, strawberries, and blackberries; but in general these constitutebut a very small part of their subsistence.An account of the food habits of the meadowlark among the sandhills of North Carolina in winter is given by M. P. Skinner (1928):During the winter the number of Meadowlarks remained quite constant,although there were temporary variations each day. But in February it becamenoticeable that some of the winter birds were leaving. They seem to stand the
68 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
cold weather, but snows cover their usual food and then these birds may be foundin very unusual places, on any little patch of bare ground they can find, and aboutbarns and stock-yards.During the winter in the Sandhills the Meadowlarks depend largely on seedsand waste oats for food, but also catch caterpillars, cutworms, earthworms, and asmany kinds of insects as they can. These foods are secured on the ground and inthe short stubble and grasses. At times these birds seem to give preference toseeds and at other times to feed almost entirely on insects even during the depth ofwinter when insects might be supposed to be scarce. For securing the two differ-ent kinds of food, the Meadowlarks use quite different methods. When afterseeds they hunt through the grass and weeds, stopping occasionally to gatherseeds from the standing or fallen stalks. When they find places where the seedsare numerous on the ground, they both scratch with their feet and dig with theirbills. If there is a wind blowing, they usually fly to the lee side of the field and thenadvance on foot across it and against the wind. This is apt to scatter the flock,especially as one individual often has better luck than another, and the unsuccess-ful ones usually hunt up new places for themselves rather than share the first ones'success. Even when scattered over a large field the flock retains its organization,and when one bird leaves, the others usually follow one by one at short intervalsuntil all have left. When they are feeding on insects the Meadowlarks move morerapidly, and perhaps separate more. Then, they do not search the ground ordig with their bills, but they look very closely at the bases of the bunches of grassas they pass by. At times they appear to find insect-catching very profitable atthe stock-yards and near barns.Occasionally a Meadowlark takes both insects and seeds indiscriminately.Such a bird came walking through the rough at the edge of a golf links; like aFlicker, it thrust its bill into the soil experimentally every step or two. At thefoot of a tuft of grass it dug out two white grubs and ate them, then it walkedover to a spray of dried everlasting, pulled it down and ate several seeds whileholding the stalk down under one foot.In Florida and sections of southern United States more of thefood during the winter months consists of insects, chiefly beetles butalso cutworms, caterpillars, and grasshoppers. Howell (1924) hasfound the meadowlark to be an important enemy of the cotton-bollweevil in the south. Since it feeds regularly upon this insect duringthe winter months, it very materially reduces the number which mightotherwise descend on the cotton crop the following season.Investigations in South Carolina and other Southern States as farwest as Texas, according to Beal, McAtee, and Kalmbach (1927),have substantiated accusations that the meadowlark is guilty ofdestroying sprouting corn.This habit seems to be confined to the migrating or wintering flocks before theyhave broken up for the breeding season and is probably occasioned by a scarcityof other available food. North Carolina seems to be the most northerly State inwhich this objectionable trait of the meadowlark manifests itself. Corn plantedin March is most susceptible to attack and cases may be frequently encounteredwhere whole fields must be replanted, resulting in a delayed and less profitablecrop. In attacking the sprouts the birds usually drill a small conical hole downto the germinated kernel which they eat, leaving the tender sprout exposed tothe withering effect of sun and air.
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 69F. E. L. Beal (1926), in a report of a detailed analysis of the con-tents of 1,514 stomachs of meadow larks, found that 74 percent con-sisted of animal food and 26 percent of vegetable matter. Theanimal food consisted of practically all insects, chiefly "ground"species such as beetles, bugs, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, with a fewflies, wasps, and spiders. Of the various insects eaten, crickets andgrasshoppers are the most important, constituting 26 percent of thefood of the year and 72 percent of the food in August. Of the 1,514stomachs collected at all seasons of the year, 778, or more than half,contained remains of grasshoppers, and one was filled with fragmentsof 37 of these insects. Next to grasshoppers, beetles are the mostimportant food item of the meadowlark, food amounting to about 25percent. Forty-two adult May beetles and numerous white grubs ofthis beetle, a most destructive insect, notably to grasses and grain,were found. Among the weevils the cotton-boll and alfalfa weevilwere the most important economically. Caterpillars, including manycutw-orms, form a constant element of the food and in May constituteover 24 percent of the entire food. Adult moths and butterflies areseldom eaten. The remainder of the insect food is made up of ants,wasps, and spiders, with some bugs, including chinch bugs, and a fewscales.The vegetable food, according to Beal (1926), consists of grainand weed and other hard seeds. Grain was found chiefly in stomachscollected in winter and early spring; hence it represented waste ma-terial. Clover seed was found in only six stomachs and but little ineach. Seeds of ragweed, bare^ard grass, and smartweed are eatenfrom November to April, inclusive, but during the rest of the yearare replaced by insects.As for the food and behavior of meadowlark young, G. B. Saunders(MS., see p. 56) says that within an hour after the meadowlark ishatched it receives its first meal of cutworms, other small insects,and spiders. Young grasshopper nymphs which the female hasmashed between her mandibles may be included in these early meals.When the adult arrives at the nest, insects can be seen projectingfrom her bill, and these she feeds to the young by squatting on hertarsi in front of the entrance and putting morsels well down thethroat of each youngster. When the young are satisfied she resumesher brooding. During brooding, a nestling may get hungry, in whichcase the female raises her breast and reaching down into the nestling'sopen mouth, gives it either some insects which were left over, or ameal of regurgitated food. That she regurgitates is clearly shownby the pumping action of her neck and head. During the first fewdays there is no pronounced change in the routine of tho^female,t for
70 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
she continues to spend long hours in the nest brooding the nearlynaked young.When the young later become stronger, hardier, and somewhatinsulated by feathers, the female spends much less time at the nestand feeds the young no regurgitated food. By the time the youngare about 6 dav? old they are receiving the usual fare of grasshoppersand larvae, plus^round beetles, crickets, and other heavily chitinizedinsects. During later nest life their hunger must be appeased aboutevery 5 to 10 minutes early and late in the day, and at intervals ofabout every 15 minutes during the hotter hours. Most of thesetrips are made by the female, whereas the male makes few visitsand is much less solicitous in his attentions to the young. Thefemale averages nearly a hundred trips a day to the nest duringthe 12 days the young are in the nest. The food daily given eachnestling weighs 8 to 20 grams, a weight equivalent to that of about100 to 300 small grasshopper nymphs. Saunders estimates, on thebasis of various methods of determination, that a 10-days' supplyfor 10 nestlings, when the chief food is grasshoppers, would be 5,000to 7,000 grasshoppers. These figures again emphasize the greateconomic importance of the meadowlark.Voice.?The plaintive and very pleasing whistled notes of themeadowlark, heard on its arrival, stand out among my most delight-ful memories of early spring on an Illinois farm. There, where atall Osage orange tree stood at the edge of a rolling meadow, a meadow-lark came each year to announce his arrival. This song may berendered by the words Ah-tick-seel-yah or Heetar-see-e-oo, but othershave translated it variously such as Spring-o'-the-yeear; Peek-you can'tsee me; Toodle-te, to-on, etc. There is an infinite number of variationsof the territory song, but all have much the same quality. Thissong is not only the first heard from the meadowlark in spring, butis the one repeated from the singing posts throughout the season.The meadowlark is known to alternate the versions of its song.Frances H. Allen (1922) writes of a bird he observed on an Aprilmorning:He had four or more songs in his repertoire. The first, which was repeateda number of times in succession, resembled the opening notes of the white-crowned sparrow's song, but had three high notes on the same pitch, instead oftwo, before the lower one
?
ee-ee-ee-hew . It was a beautiful song and so dif-ferent from anything we commonly hear from the meadowlark that I did notsuspect its author at first. * * * then the bird began to alternate this songwith another which seemed a good musical complement to it. This second songbegan low and ended high. It was something like hew-hew-he-hee, the thirdnote shorter than the others. After a few alternations of these two songs thebird dropped the first and sang only the second a number of times, but droppedthat in turn and finally took up two or three simpler and more normal songs,of which one, at least, was sweeter than most meadowlark songs.
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 71The peak of singing activity, when the most beautiful songs maybe heard, occurs during the first part of the breeding season, priorto incubation. During incubation there is a distinct lull in singingwhich lasts until the return of sexual activities in preparation for thesecond brood. Another lull occurs during the rearing of the secondbrood and lasts until fall, when singing is again renewed. In sectionsof the country where the meadowlark is represented by individualsduring all seasons, its characteristic territory song may be heardthroughout the year, even during the winter months.The versatile meadowlark has also a flight song, a truly ecstaticperformance. Prefacing the flight song with a few notes from aperch, it flies swiftly upward, sometimes spirally into the air. Itvibrates its wings rapidly and utters penetrating and chatteringnotes in rapid concert not unlike that of the bobolink. After flyingmore or less in a circle, it slowly descends to the ground. This songtoo is variable but is very different and not at all suggestive of theordinary song.The songs of the eastern and western meadowlark have frequentlybeen compared. Albert Brand (1938) who has made a study of vibra-tion frequencies of passerine bird song, found that for the easternmeadowlark the highest note had 6,025, the lowest 3,150, and theapproximate mean 4,400 vibrations per second. Those of the westernmeadowlark are much lower in pitch?3,475 for the highest, 1,475for the lowest, and 3,475 for the approximate mean.When the meadowlark is alarmed or excited it nervously flits andtwitches its tail, exposing the white tail feathers. This behavioris accompanied by a sharp nasal call note, which changes to a rollingchatter followed by a plaintive but pleasing wThistle. G. B. Saunders(MS., see p. 56) describes the call notes of the meadowlark in detail,as follows:The day-old nestling first voices his calls for food with a faint tseep, tssep, seep,seep or tsp, tsp. As he gains strength this utternace is a lisping sweet, sweet, sweet.By the seventh or eighth day the note becomes a bysyllabic tscheep, tscheep,tscheep or tschip', tschip'. All of these notes are of the same general type. Whenout of the nest, the juvenile's call is a loud peeping tseup' , tseup' or sweet, sweet,similar to the weet, weet notes of the adults.The adult call notes may be expressed phonetically as weet, weet, weet. Those ofthe female are usually softer and more modulated than those of the male. Thereis an infinite variation in the expression of these notes. Other conversationalcalls of the adults are the low pitched and modified alarm notes dzert, dzert andthe tet-tet-tet-tet notes of the chatter. The female often joins them, i. e., dzert,tet-tet-tet-tet-tet-tet in answering the male's song.The common alarm chatter, dzert-tet-let-tet-tet, seems to be a modification of thecall notes just mentioned. The speeding up due to excitement gives the notesa much harsher quality. The notes dzert-dzert are usually given when a pre-liminary alarm is uttered. Another note fairly common during the breeding380928?57 6
72 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
season, but one not heard except at that time, is the queer beert or "nighthawk"note. It may be given as an alarm when the birds are greatly excited, or it maybe given during sexual displays and competitions. It is uttered by both sexes.Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) has written a very excellent analysisof the song and notes of the meadovvlark: "The song of the Easternmeadowlark is a short series of sweet, clear, very high pitched whistlednotes. It is loud, carries a long distance, and, when one is near thebird, is rather shrill. The notes are few, compared to those of otherbirds, and downward slurs from a high to a lower note are frequent.In spite of the few notes, it is exceedingly variable.
"In pitch and time the song is remarkably like human music. Thenotes are usually on the same eight notes of the octave as in the simplerkinds of human music. The shorter notes are commonly half or athird the length of the longer notes, so that the songs could be recordedon the musical scale, as human music is written, with considerableaccuracy. The different songs are easily and quickly recorded bythe graphic method. My earliest experiments in recording bird songswere with the meadowlark, and although many of the records haveproved to be duplicates, I have at the present time more than a thou-sand different songs of this species on record. The following dataare based on a study of 962 of these records that I have filed andcatalogued, the remaining records being still only in my field notebooks.
"These records show that the songs vary from 2 to 8 notes each,the great majority 3 to 6 notes. There are 4 songs of 2 notes; 65 of3 notes; 352 of 4 notes; 391 of 5 notes; 132 of 6 notes; 15 of 7 notesand 3 or 8 notes. In spite of the great variation, many records proveto be duplicates, and it is a common experience to hear two or threebirds singing the same song, one after the other, and also common torecord songs from widely separated localities that are exact duplicates.While the majority of my records are from southwestern Connecticut,I have a good many from various localities in New York, and scatter-ing records from other States. Songs that are common in Connecticutare often equally common in southwestern New York, approximately400 miles distant. I have also recorded duplicates of Connecticutsongs from the vicinity of Dover, Del."The pitch of songs varies from C" to D#"", a range of \){ tonesmore than an octave, the highest notes being a little higher than thehighest on the piano. The range of individual songs varies from 1tone to an octave; 12 songs have a range of only 1 tone, and only onehas a range of an octave. Nearly half of the records, 446, have arange of 2% tones, and the average of pitch of all of them is 2.7 tones."The duration of meadowlark songs varies from about % second tonearly^ seconds, averaging about 1% seconds. It is difficult to meas-
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 73
lire short songs accurately with a stopwatch. The time factor ofgreater interest is the perfect rhythm of the notes and the great num-ber of variations in time arrangement that, with the variations inpitch, go to make the great number of different songs that this speciespossesses."Not only does the meadowlark, as a species, sing a great varietyof songs, but each individual has many variations. I once recorded53 different songs from one individual in less than an hour, and re-corded altogether 96 different songs of birds singing in that locationin that season.
"Consonant sounds are not prominent in meadowlark songs. Insome songs notes are linked together with a liquid consonant sound,like the letter I that occurs in about 10 percent of the songs I haverecorded. Another consonant sound, which occurs at the beginningof certain notes, most commonly at the beginning of downward slurs,is sibilant and sounds like the letters ts, making a slur sound like
'tseeyah', or something similar. The sound is rather faint however.I have recorded it in less than 5 percent of the songs, but it may becommoner than this indicates, for it is not easily audible from moredistant singers.
"In early spring, usually late March and early April, the meadow-lark frequently sings two different songs in alternation, usually witha pause of about one second between them. I have eight records ofthese alternated songs, all different. In most of them one song endson a high-pitched note and thejDthereon a low pitch, so that theysound something like a question and an answer, and form a pleasingmusical combination. All my records but one, recorded at CrossLake, N. Y., in July, are dated between March 7 and April 11.
"In addition to this form of song, the meadowlark has a flight song,ver}^ different in character, that is rather rarely heard. In a goodmany years I have not heard it at all, whereas in others I have heardit several times, most commonly in late April. The performancebegins from a perch, the bird calling at intervals on a rather harsh,nasal, downward slurred note. After several of these notes the birdrises into the air and flies across the meadow singing a song made upof groups of 4 or 5 notes, separated by short pauses. These notes arefricative and not especially musical, nor are they so loud as thecommon song. Such a song takes 10 to 12 seconds from the beginningnotes on the perch until the bird is silent.
"I have heard songs of the meadowlark in every month of the year.The regular period of singing, however, begins in March and lastsuntil late August. Songs in January are rare, and in 32 years ofrecords I have heard the song in that month only 4 times. In Febru-ary there is often quite a bit of singing, and in 16 of these years the first
74 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
song of the year was heard in February, the average date of the firstsong being February 19. Regular singing, however, does not beginuntil March, and in 6 years it did not begin until April. The averagedate of its beginning is March 26.
"I have less full data on the cessation of song, as I have frequentlybeen in places where I could not hear it at the proper season. Fiveyears in Cattaraugus County, N. Y., give an average of August 11for the last song, whereas 5 years in Connecticut average August 18."The song is revived in September or October, and is to be heardquite frequently through the fall until November. In Connecticut20 years of observations give an average of September 30 for thebeginning and November 13 for the end of the fall singing, but suchsinging is much more erratic than spring singing. Songs in Decemberare rare, though more frequent than in January."Enemies.?In most sections of its lange the eastern meadowlark isnot commonly imposed upon by the cowbird. I have never found anest in New England that contained an egg of the cowbird, andG. B. Saunders (MS., p. 56) states that of over 50 nests studied inOklahoma and New York, none contained other than meadowlarkeggs. However, during the course of a statistical survey of the birdsof Illinois in 1906-1908 I found four cases of cowbird parasitism: Onenest in northern Illinois near Rockford contained three eggs of themeadowlark and one cowbird's egg; of two nests in ChampaignCounty, central Illinois, one contained two meadowlark and threecowbird eggs and the other, three meadowlark and two cowbird eggs,with a broken meadowlark's egg outside of the nest; and a nest nearBenton, Franklin County, in southern Illinois, contained two eggs ofthe meadowlark and two young, one of which, judging from its sizeand appearance, was a freshly hatched cowbird.G. Eifrig (1915, 1919) writing on the birds of the Chicago areastates that he has repeatedly found nests of the meadowlark with oneor more eggs of the cowbird. He also states that one or more or allthe eggs of the rightful owner were apparently rolled out. It wouldseem that the meadowlark is a common victim of the cowbird in theState of Illinois. Milton B. Trautman (1940) found two nests of themeadowlark containing cowbirds eggs at Buckeye Lake, Ohio. Ben-dire (1895) reports an instance where a second nest was built over onecontaining the parasitic egg. This is a common habit of certain birdssuch as the warblers but presumably it is rare in the case of themeadowlark. Herbert Friedmann (1929) has obtained records ofcowbird parasitism of the eastern meadowlark from New England,New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa, but statesthat the meadowlark is not a common host.
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 75It is of passing interest to note that eggs of the bob-white quail andbobolink have been found in the nests of meadowlarks, although theseinstances are not to be classed as parasitism but merely unusualaccidents. J. B. Lackey (1913) reports finding eggs of the bob-whitein two meadowlark's nests near Clinton, Miss., and Edward R. Fordof Chicago found a meadowlark's nest with four eggs of the meadow-lark, one of the cowbird, and one egg of the bobolink.G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56) in an examination of 45 adultmeadowlarks found 8 contained internal parasites. The tapewormAnonchotaenia sp. was found in 3 and the parasite Mediorhynchusgrandis in 6 birds. The roundworm Diplotriaenoides sp. was foundin both Oklahoma and New York birds. Of 5 young in a nest atIthaca, N. Y., 3 were found to have dipterous larvae, probably of thegenus Chrysomyia, in their nasal passages. The meadowlark likemost other birds is host to a number of external parasites includinglice, ticks, and mites, among which Harold S. Peters (1936) has foundthe three lice Degeeriella picturala (Osborn), Menacanthus chrysopha-eum (Kellogg) and Philopterus subflavescens (Geof.), the three ticksHaemaphysalis leporis-palustris Packard, Ixodes sp., and Amblyommatuberculatum Marx; and the mite Trombicula hominis Ewing. Occa-sionally nests of the meadowlark are heavily infested with mites,and G. B. Saunders cites one case where a nest was deserted becauseof an unusually heavy infestation.Because the eastern meadowlark has two broods of four or fiveyoung during each season, we need not be alarmed at the large numberof enemies and of its great mortality. Man, directly or indirectly,is responsible for the loss of a great many meadowlarks and probablyhe is the most important factor in the control of the species and thuspreventing overpopulation. Perhaps the most disastrous but un-witting acts of man is the mowing of alfalfa, clover, and timothy fieldsin which the meadowlarks nest. In Illinois, while traversing thevarious sections of the State on foot for hundreds of miles in con-nection with the statistical bird survey in 1906-1908, the loss I notedfrom this source was appalling. In June and July I saw nest afternest that had been destroyed by mowing machines and it is probablysafe to state that more meadowlarks are destroyed by this means,which is repeated year after year, than by any other.In autumn, when meadowlarks congregated in large flocks in south-ern Illinois, it was a common experience to see groups of a dozen ormore gunners out killing meadowlarks in large numbers, to be carriedhome for food for themselves and their neighbors. Such practiceshave been common in some of the Southern States in the past, but Iam convinced that in recent years there has been less of this kind ofdestruction because of the more rigid enforcement of protective laws
76 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211aDd the general education of the public to the economic value of thisbird.Automobiles, which constitute a menace to certain of our birds, arenot such a menace to the meadowlark; however, when the birds fre-quent dirt roads in autumn to dust their plumage and possibly to pickup stray bits of food, such as grasshoppers, a considerable number havebeen reported killed.Since the meadowlark nests on the ground, predatory mammals andbirds and probably snakes are responsible for a number of deaths.The domestic cat ranks high as a destroyer of meadowlarks, especiallythose that nest in fields adjacent to farm homes. Farm dogs, whichalso roam the fields and which are able to locate the nesting birdsthrough the sense of smell, probably destroy a number of nests.Saunders (MS., see p. 56) states that he has seen Bonaparte's weaselattack juvenile meadowlarks.The examination of the stomach contents of owls and hawks hasrevealed that the horned and snowy owls, the goshawk, duck hawk,sparrow hawk, red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk, and Cooper'shawk have taken meadowlarks, chiefly during the winter months.Since the meadowlark is one of the earliest spring migrants, snow-storms frequently cut off its food supply and, the accompanying cold,cause the death of many of the birds. Frederick C. Lincoln (1939)states that during the early part of June 1927 a hailstorm of exceptionalviolence in and around Denver, Colo., killed a large number of meadow-larks and other birds. The ground was strewn with dead birds andmany lay dead in their nests where they were incubating eggs or brood-ing young when the storm broke.Fall and winter.?In fall the meadowlarks leave their nestinggrounds in Quebec and Ontario during September and October, andby the middle of October the bulk of them have departed. A fewindividuals may linger on until well into November. Since themeadowlark normally winters in northern United States, the time ofdeparture of migrants is difficult to ascertain.In southern Illinois during the month of October I have seenimmense flocks made up of hundreds of individuals concentrated hothe lowlands above Cairo, at the junction of the Mississippi and OhioRivers. These flocks were made up largely of birds that had migratedfrom points farther north. Also, in going through cornfields and stub-blelands of this part of the State, I frequently saw smaller companiesof them waddling about the clustered stalks. As they paused to in-spect me they would hold their bodies in a vertical position with theirbills pointed skyward. At the same time they would flick their tailsdisplaying the conspicuous white markings as they opened and closedthe fan of feathers.
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 77On the New Jersey coast the meadowlarks start flocking about themiddle of August, when it is common to see parties of 20 to 25 indi-viduals. In October the birds band together in large flocks of 200 to300. Many of these birds pass on farther south, but flocks of 50 to75 are to be seen throughout the winter. They become much tamer h)winter, especially when food is scarce and it is then that they frequentthe habitations of man and even enter the towns, where they may beseen in vacant lots feeding in company with English sparrows and star-lings. They have also been reported as seen feeding on garbage inalley ways during times of severe blizzards. During the winter monthsmeadowlarks have been flushed from the tall grass of marshes, wherethe great accumulation of droppings indicated that they had roostedduring the night. j? Meadowlarks have also been known to accompanygrackles to their roosts in trees, but this is not common practice.In recent years meadowlarks have been wintering in increasingnumbers in the salt marshes of southeastern Maine in the region ofScarboro, Pine Point, and southward. During October and Novemberas many as 100 to 200 meadowlarks may be started from a singlemarsh. These birds are probably individuals which had nested in theinterior of the State and concentrated on the coast in the autumn.Fred S. Walker (1910) reports that he has seen meadowlarks atPine Point throughout the winter. A flock of 30 to 40 were frequentlyseen in the adjacent marshes.In very cold weather, when the grasses and weeds of the marsh were buriedbeneath the snow, they would venture up to the railway station and pick up grainwhich had fallen from freight cars. * * * In February, when the marsh wasdeeply covered with snow, I frequently walked out near the river, scraped offsnow from small patches of grass and fed the larks with grain?cracked corn, oats,and barley. They evidently relished this, for it was eagerly devoured. On warmdays in January and February they often alighted on the telegraph wires and sang.In South Carolina the meadowlarks arrive in large numbers inOctober to take up then winter residence in stubble, corn and cottonfields, and in old fields grown up in weeds and brown sedge. Thesebirds, like those that winter along the Maine and New Jersey coasts,spend the nights in the salt marshes. In various parts of the Statethey swarm about the rice plantations, where they are often killedby hunters who know the meadowlark as the "marsh quail."At Buckeye Lake, Ohio, M. B. Trautman (1940) writes of winteringmeadowlarks as follows: "In an average winter 10 to 30 birds couldbe found during a day's field trip, but when the species was mostnumerous as many as 210 were seen in a day. The wintering birdswere found in fields and meadows whenever these were largely free ofsnow. When there was deep snow the birds congregated about manurepiles, straw stacks, and in barnyards and adjacent fields where stockwas fed."
78 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEXJM BULLETIN 211DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Central United States and eastern Canada to the Gulfcoast.Breeding range.?The eastern meadowlark breeds from south-western South Dakota (Martin), northwestern Iowa (Sioux City,Ashton), central-northern and northeastern Minnesota (ItascaCounty, Two Harbors), northern Wisconsin (Lake Owen), northernMichigan (Baraga, Whitefish Point), southeastern Ontario (Sault Ste.Marie, North Bay), southwestern and central-southern Quebec (BlueSea Lake, Kamouraska) and, rarely, southern New Brunswick (Sussex,Grand Manan), and central Nova Scotia; south to southern Nebraska(Stapleton, Hastings), through east-central Kansas and central Okla-homa (Woods County, Stillwater) to central Texas (Hamilton, Waco),northwestern Arkansas, central-eastern Missouri (St. Louis), centralIllinois, southern Indiana (Wheatland), northern and eastern Ken-tucky (Corydon, Monticello), northeastern Tennessee (Shady Valley),central-northern North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and southeasternVirginia (Cobbs Island).Winter range.?Winters rarely north to Nebraska, central Wis-consin, central Michigan, southeastern Ontario, central Vermont,southern Maine and central Nova Scotia; south to eastern Texas,southern Louisiana, central Alabama, northwestern Florida, centralGeorgia, central South Carolina, and northeastern North Carolina.Casual records.?Rare in northwestern Minnesota (eastern RedRiver Valley), and east-central Ontario (Englehart). Casual in north-eastern Colorado (Wray). Accidental in northwestern Quebec (eastMaine), and Newfoundland (St. Shotts).Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole. Earlydates of spring arrival are: South Carolina?Greenwood, February 15.North Carolina?Asheville, February 17. West Virginia?Wheeling,February 20. District of Columbia?February 21. Maryland
?
Laurel, February 28. Pennsylvania?State College, February 13(average, February 27). New Jersey?Elizabeth, February 12. NewYork?Rochester, February 21 ; Watertown, March 2. ConnecticutMeriden, February 24. Rhode Island?Westerly, March 1. Massa-chusetts?Groton, February 15. Vermont?Bennington, March 5.New Hampshire?Sanbornton, March 3. Maine?Cumberland County.March 5. Quebec?Montreal, March 5. New Brunswick?KentIsland and Woodstock, March 26. Arkansas?Helena, February 16.Tennessee?Knoxville, February 16. Kentucky?Versailles andCarrollton, February 17. Missouri?Kansas City, Columbia, and St.Louis, February 17. Illinois?Urbana, February 14 (median of 20years, February 26); Chicago, February 26 (average of 16 years,
EASTERN MEADOWLARK 79March 10). Indiana?DcKalb County, February 12. Ohio?BuckeyeLake, February 9 (median, February 23). Michigan?Newberry,February 17; Blaney Park, March 15. Ontario?Port Dover, Feb-ruary 24; Ottowa, average of 34 years, April 2. Iowa?DelawareCounty, February 19. Wisconsin?Dane Count}'", February 19.Minnesota?Fairbault, February 26 (average of 21 years in south-eastern Minnesota, March 12); St. Louis County, April 1. Okla-homa?Oklahoma City, February 6. Kansas?Topeka, February 12.Nebraska?Red Cloud, February 16.Late dates of spring departure are: South Carolina?Spartanburg,April 24. North Carolina?Raleigh, April 29 (average of 7 years,April 20). Maryland?Laurel, April 29. Louisiana?Avery Island,March 16. Mississippi?Cat Island, March 21. Illinois?Chicago,June 1 (average of 16 years, May 17). Ohio?Lucas County, April 25;Buckeye Lake, median, April 15. Texas?Dallas, March 31.Early dates of fall arrival are: Texas?Dallas, September 15.Michigan?Charity Islands, September 26. Ohio?Bucke3^e Lake,median, September 1. Illinois?Chicago, September 19 (average of11 years, October 7). Arkansas?-Delight, September 29. Mis-sissippi?Deer Island, October 21. Louisiana?Slidell, October 28.Maryland?Laurel, September 16. North Carolina?Raleigh, Sep-tember 28 (average of 10 years, October 7). South Carolina
?
Frogmore, September 17.Egg dates.?Connecticut: 8 records, May 10 to Aug. 6; 4 records,May 18 to June 6.Illinois: 91 records, April 6 to July 1 ; 47 records, May 10 to May 22.Massachusetts: 50 records, May 5 to July 4, 26 records, May 28 toJune 10.Ontario: 2 records, June 3 and July 6.Florida: 13 records, April 11 to May 27; 7 records, May 1 to May 12.Louisiana: 5 records, May 3 to June 4.Arizona: 1 record, April 27.Texas: 6 records, April 10 to May 29, 4 records, May 3 to May 17.Mexico: 3 records, April 13 to May 13 (Harris).Late dates of fall departure are: Nebraska?Badger, November 24.Kansas?Onaga, November 30. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City,November 14. Minnesota?Hutchinson, November 29; Minneapolis,October 31 (average of 20 years in southeastern Minnesota, October18). Wisconsin?Greenbush, November 13. Iowa?BuchananCounty, December 4; Sioux City, November 30. Ontario?Welling-ton Count}'-, December 3; Ottawa, November 13 (average of 22 years,October 15). Michigan?Detroit, December 17; Mackinac County,November 9. Ohio?Lucas County, December 19; Buckeye Lake,December 15 (median, November 14). Indiana?North Manchester,
80 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211November 29; Hobart, November 21. Illinois?Deerfield, December3; Chicago, November 20 (average of 11 years, October 25). Mis-souri?Columbia, December 8. Kentucky?Danville, November 25.Arkansas?-Helena, November 23. New Brunswick?Grand Manan,October 23. Quebec?Hatley, November 14. Maine?Portland,November 10. New Hampshire?West Littleton, November 15.Vermont?Rutland, December 5. Massachusetts, Essex County,November 26. Connecticut?Fairfield, November 28. New York
?
New York City, November 27; Watertown, November 18. NewJersey?Kirkwood, December 5. Pennsylvania?Erie, November 29.Maryland?Laurel, November 27. West Virginia?Bluefield, Decem-ber 2. STURNELLA MAGNA ARGUTULA (Bangs)Southern MeadowlarkPlate 5HABITSIn naming and describing this southern race, Outram Bangs (1899)gives it the following subspecific characters: "Size much less than intrue S. magna, though the proportions remain about the same;yellow of under parts more intense; upper parts much darker in color,the dark central areas of the feathers being much greater in extent andthe light edges much less; tail and wings darker, the barring on middlerectrices, and on secondaries, tertials and wing coverts, much widerand more pronounced. The general effects produced by thesedifferences are, in S. magna magna, a large bird with paler yellowunder parts and a lighter brown back; in S. magna argutula a smallbird with deeper yellow under parts and a very dark brown back."He says that its range, "though reaching its extreme differentiationin peninsular Florida, extends along the Gulf coast to Louisiana, andthence up the Mississippi Valley to Indiana and Illinois." TheA. O. U. Check-List extends its range to South Carolina and to north-eastern Oklahoma and northern Arkansas.The southern meadowlark is widely distributed and fairly commonthroughout Florida in all suitable localities, the prairies, the grassyplains, and the more open places in the flat pine woods, where theground is not covered with saw palmettos. A few miles west fromMelbourne, in 1902, we drove through a fine stand of tall pines,widely scattered, with large areas of open grasslands between themand an occasional slough or shallow pond. Here, and on the broadexpanse of open prairie which extended for miles toward the St.Johns marshes, we found the meadowlarks really abundant.
SOUTHERN MElADOWLARK 81Nesting.?The nesting habits of the southern meadowlark do notdiffer materially from those of its northern relative. The only nestI have ever seen was found on Merritt's Island, Fla., on April 26,1902. While tramping across a broad grassy plain, I flushed a mead-ovdark from her nest almost at my feet. The nest was sunken intothe ground between two small tussocks of short grass in a ratheropen place; it was made of dry grass and weed stems, and arched overwith dead and green grass; it was rather poorly hidden.Maynard (1896), referring to certain plains in southern Florida,says: "The growth of grass on the margins of these plains is low,seldom exceeding 6 inches in height, and consequently forms the homesof countless Meadow Larks, for these birds always exhibit a decidedpreference for low herbage." Howell (1932), on the other hand, saysthat the nests "are well concealed in thick grass."Donald J. Nicholson (1929) states that this meadowlark is verysensitive to any examination of its nest, and will usually desert it if itis discovered before the set is complete; he tells of a pair that builtthree nests before they felt safe in laying their eggs in the third, thefirst two having been examined before the eggs were laid.Eggs.?The set for the southern meadowlark usually consists ofthree or four eggs, very rarely five. These are practically indistin-guishable from those of the northern bird. The measurements of 40eggs average 27.5 by 20.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the fourextremes measure 30.5 by 21.3, and 23.8 by 17.5 millimeters.In the inhabited regions of Florida, especially near towns andvillages, where the birds are sometimes hunted as game, the south-ern meadowlark is as wild and shy as is its relative in the north.But, in the more remote, unsettled regions, it is often very tame andunsuspicious of man.Mayuard (1896) says that, in such a wilderness in 1871
?
The birds which occurred there were seldom if ever disturbed so that I foundthem exceedingly tame; in fact they would start up at my feet, fly a few yards,and either settle down again in the grass or alight on a low limb of a pine, wherethey would quietly gaze at me, even allowing me to pass directly beneath themwithout attempting to move. Then as if satisfied that I intended doing themno harm, would sound a loud, strange note which was so utterly at variance withthe song of the same species in New England, that when I first heard it couldscarcely believe it was a Meadow Lark. This lay even in the North has a pecu-liar intonation which is quite suggestive of freedom, but that given by the birdswhich inhabit the trackless piney woods and widespread plains of Florida is,although very melodious and pleasing, so wild, clear and ringing, that it is inperfect harmony with surroundings where Nature reigns supreme.Others have noticed a difference between the songs of the northernand southern birds. I wrote in my journal in 1902, when my hear-ing was good, that it was similar to the song of the eastern meadow-
82 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211lark, "but rather more musical and richer in tone, slightly suggestiveof the song of the western meadow lark."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The southern meadowlark is resident from central south-ern and northeastern Oklahoma (Love County, Vinita), northernArkansas, (Fort Smith), southeastern Missouri (Portageville), south-ern Illinois (Wabash, Richland, and Lawrence Counties), south-western Indiana (Knox County), southwestern Kentucky (FultonCounty, Rockport), Tennessee (except northeastern), Georgia (exceptextreme northern), South Carolina and central southern and north-eastern North Carolina (Rockingham, South Mills); south to south-eastern Texas (Pierce, Galveston), the Gulf Coast and southernFlorida, south to Cape Sable.Casual records.?Casual in winter to southern Texas (CorpusChristi, Cameron County).STURNELLA MAGNA HOOPESI StoneRio Grande MeadowlarkHABITSThe name Rio Grande meadowlark was formerly applied to themeadowlarks of this species that live along our southern borders,from Brownsville, Tex., to southern Arizona. But when Oberholser(1930) described $. to. lilianae, the name S. to. hoopesi was restrictedto the birds of central-southern Texas. This meadowlark was de-scribed and named by Dr. Witmer Stone (1897) from a specimen inthe collection of Josiah Hoopes, from Brownsville, Tex. He gives asits characters: "Color below as in magna, but rather lighter and lessbuff on the sides and under tail coverts; upper surface much grayerand generally lighter. The brown tints of magna are very largelyreplaced by gray, especially on the wings. Sides of the face whiterthan in magna; tail bars almost always distinct, i. e., not confluentalong the shaft of the feather.
"This bird is the lightest of all the Meadow Larks, averaging alittle lighter than neglecta, the tail bars are also more distinct thanin any of the other races."I can find nothing recorded on its habits to indicate that they arein any way different from those of the other southern races.
ARIZONA MEADOWLARK 83DISTRIBUTIONThe Rio Grande meadowlark is resident from southeastern Texas(Eagle Pass, Port Lavaca) to northern Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, andnorthern Tamaulipas.STURNELLA MAGNA LILIANAE OberholserArizona MeadowlarkHABITSIn naming this western subspecies, Dr. Oberholser (1930) saj^s thatit is "similar to Sturnella magna hoopesi, of central southern Texas,but wing longer; other dimensions smaller, particularly the feet;upper parts much paler, more grayish; the dark bars on wings andtail still narrower, and even more disconnected; under parts averagingstill more deeply golden yellow."He gives as its range, "central western Texas and southern NewMexico, west to central and southern Arizona, and south to Sonoraand Chihuahua."And adds that "this new bird is most closely allied to Sturnellamagna hoopesi, described from Brownsville, Tex., and, in fact, is itswestern representative.
"It is strikingly similar to Sturnella neglecta, more so, indeed, thanis any of the other subspecies of Sturnella magna. Meadowlarks fromArizona and New Mexico have commonly been referred to Sturnellamagna hoopesi, but comparison of a series shows at once that theyare different."The race was named in honor of Mrs. Lillian Hanna Baldwin(Mrs. S. Prentiss Baldwin), who presented the Cleveland Museumwith a collection of birds, including the type of this subspecies.We found meadowlarks fairly common on the grassy plains andlow foothills of the mountains in southeastern Arizona, but found nonests. They could easily be distinguished from the western meadow-larks by their songs, and were undoubtedly of this race. Nothingpeculiar was noted as to their haunts and habits, which apparentlyresembled those of the other southern races.DISTRIBUTIONThe Rio Grande meadowlark breeds from northwestern and cen-tral Arizona (Juniper Mountains, Springerville) east to southern NewMexico (Gila River, Hachita), and western Texas (El Paso, ChisosMountains), and south to northeastern Sonora and northern Chi-huahua. It winters north^to central Arizona.
84 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211STURNELLA NEGLECTA NEGLECTA AudubonWestern MeadowlarkHABITSI shall never forget the day I first heard the glorious song of thewestern meadowlark; the impression of it is still clear in my mind,though it was May 30, 1901! It was my first day in North Dakota,and we were driving from Lakota to Stump Lake when we heard thesong. I could hardly believe it was a meadowlark singing, so differ-ent were the notes from those we were accustomed to in the east,until I saw the plump bird perched on a telegraph pole, facing thesun, his yellow breast and black cravat gleaming in the clear prairiesunlight. His sweet voice fairly thrilled us and seemed to combinethe flutelike quality of the wood thrush with the rich melody of theBaltimore oriole. I have heard it man3^ times since but have neverceased to marvel at it. It seems to be the very spirit of the boundlessprairie.Audubon (1844) gave this bird the above scientific name, but calledit the Missouri meadowlark. He says of its discovery:Although the existence of this species was known to the celebrated explorersof the west, Lewis and Clark, during their memorable journey across the RockyMountains and to the Pacific; no one has since taken the least notice of it. * * *We found this species quite abundant on our voyage up the Missouri, aboveFort Croghan, and its curious notes were first noticed by Mr. J. G. Bell, withoutwhich in all probability it would have been mistaken for our common species(Sturnella Ludoviciana) . When I first saw them, they were among a number ofYellow-headed Troupials, and their notes so much resembled the cries of thesebirds, that I took them for the notes of the Troupial, and paid no further attentionto them, until I found some of them by themselves, when I was struck with thedifference actually existing between the two nearly allied species.During the latter part of the last century considerable discussionarose among leading ornithologists as to its status as a full species,a subject fully covered by Widmann (1907). As a result, this birdin the first two editions of the A. O. U. Check-List stood as a subspeciesof S. magna, and it was not until the third edition (1910) that it wasrestored to full specific status. There is a striking resemblance inthe general appearance of the two species; intergradation has beenclaimed, but probably no more than might be accounted for by hy-bridizing. But the songs of the two are strikingly different; and,where the ranges of the two come together and even overlap, typicalbirds, with typical songs are sometimes found breeding in the sameregion, a condition not supposed to occur with subspecies.The western meadowlark is widely distributed in all suitable regionsthroughout western North America, from southern Canada to northern
WESTERN MEADOWLARK 85Mexico and from the eastern borders of the prairies and plains tothe Pacific. There is some evidence to suggest that it may be ex-tending its range eastward.The favorite haunts of this meadowlark are the prairies and thegrassy plains and valleys, but it also ranges well up into the mountainparks and foothills, as high as 5,600 feet even in Washington, fromsea level to 7,000 in California, 8,000 feet in Utah, 10,000 feet inArizona, and 12,000 feet in the mountains of Colorado. Dawsonand Bowles (1909) say of its haunts in Washington: "It is found notonly on all grassy lowlands and in cultivated sections but in the opensage as well and upon the half-open pine-clad foothills up to analtitude of four thousand feet." In other parts of the west, where itis common, it is likely to be seen wherever there is a thick growthof weeds and grasses, along country roads and even in vacant lotsin the thinly settled parts of towns and villages.The specific characters of the western meadowlark do not appearto be very conspicuous to the casual observer. Ridgway (1902)says that it is "similar to S. magna hoox>esi, but different in proportions,the wing averaging longer, the tail, tarsi, and toes shorter; colorationmuch grayer and more 'broken' above, the broad lateral crownstripes never uniform black, but always (except in excessively wornplumage) more or less conspicuously streaked with pale grayishbrown; malar region always largely yellow, usually including bothanterior and extreme posterior portions; blackish streaks on sidesand flanks varied with spots of pale grayish brown, the ground colorof these parts paler buffy (often white, scarcely if at all tinged withbuff); black jugular crescent averaging decidedly narrower."Territory.?Kendeigh (1941), in his study of the birds of aprairie community, has this to say:Territorial behavior is well established in this species, although only the maledefends the territory. At least two variations of song were given from singingposts, and a song was given occasionally while flying. Flight songs were not sofrequent as one might expect. Possibly they were given more often during theearlier mating season. Most of the singing was from fence or telephone poles orfrom tall weeds or small trees. The song served as an advertisement to othermales that the area was occupied. When another meadowlark encroached onthe area or simply flew high over it, the male met the challenge and gave chaseuntil the intruder passed the limits of the owner's jurisdiction. The females,on the other hand, were at no time observed to be concerned about territorialboundaries. * * *In computing the bird population only three pairs of meadowlarks were countedfor the area although four territories were represented. Three of the four terri-tories extended well outside the area under study. The male at nest No. 1 had thesmallest territory of approximately 10 acres. The male at nest No. 2 at varioustimes maintained right over about 24 acres. The other two territories were about21 and 32 acres, respectively, as near as could be estimated.
86 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Courtship.?I can find no published account of the courtship ofthe western meadowlark. It probably consists of song and plumagedisplay. I have some interesting notes, sent to me by J. W. Slipp,who watched a bird that displayed before its reflected image in the
"shiny chromium hub caps of three parked cars," on the campus ofa college at Tacoma, Wash., on May 8, 1940. "Visiting seven ofthese hub caps in succession, it spent an average of about a minute,at each, apparently fascinated by its own reflected image. Walkingup to the first wheel the bird stretched itself nearly erect, then beganto strut excitedly back and forth, turning first one side and then theother to the mirroring of the hub cap, and repeatedly flirting itswings and tail in such a way as to flash the white outer rectrices.All this was accompanied by frequent short ejaculatory notes, inter-spersed occasionally with full-throated snatches of the beautiful songcharacteristic of the species." On another occasion a similar perform-ance was given on the running board of a Plymouth sedan, with hisimage reflected in the lustrous surface of the car. This all may havebeen only "shadow-boxing," but it suggests what the courtshipdisplay might be like.Nesting.?The nesting habits of the western meadowlark are notvery different from those of other meadowlarks, due allowance beingmade for any difference in environment. Samuel F. Rathbun tells methat in western Washington this bird begins nesting as early as thefirst week in April; he describes in his notes a very fine nest: "Thisnest was beautifully built, and placed in a growth of low grass, a smalltuft, on rather rocky land. It was finely arched over with strips offine, dry, fibrous bark taken from a nearby small dead tree. Thebody of the nest was made of dry, fine grasses, it being lined with veryfine, dry grass. It was placed in a shallow depression of the ground.This nest, if removed from the ground would be nearly round, with anentrance on the side." The site was on the shore of a lake in easternWashington, in a nesting colony of about 150 pans of ring-billed gulls.A nest that I found on the shore of Many Island Lake, in Alberta, wassimilarly located, but well concealed in long grass.E. S. Cameron (1907) says that, in Montana, "Meadowlarks maketheir nests entirely of grass under the sage-brush or in tussocks ofgrass, and roof them over with the same material. * * * On June 30,1906, I noticed a bird sitting in a flowering cactus patch which was theprettiest nest I have seen."Jean M. Linsdale (1938) describes a nest found in Smoky Valley,Nev., as follows: "The nest was hi an open part of a meadow, and wasbuilt in a depression in the ground, fully 3 inches deep and 8 inches indiameter. It was well covered with a dome-shaped roof composed offibers of bark and plant stems woven in with the growing vegetation.
WESTERN MEADOWLARK 87The top of the roof was about 5 inches above the surface of the ground.The inside of the nest was globular and 4% or 5 inches in diameter.The round entrance on the south side was 2% inches in diameter. Thelower margin of the entrance was about an inch below the surface ofthe ground. The lining was of small grass stems."Kendeigh (1941) mentions two Iowa nests: "The first nest with sixeggs was well concealed in Poa pratensis under a clump of Solidagorigida. * * * The second nest was under a tuft of Andropogon andhad a tunnel a foot long, slightly curved, leading to it."John G. Tyler (1913), of Fresno, Calif., writes:Other nests have been seen in alfalfa fields and among thick growths of weeds;but what I consider the most unusual site was located April 23, 1908 when aMeadowlark was plainly seen sitting on her nest while I was yet over one hundredfeet distant. The nest was found near a berry patch, the ground having beenplowed earty in the winter, later a sparse, stunted growth of oats springing up.At the time the nest was found the oats were not over six inches in height, and sothin and scattering as to afford almost no protection or concealment. In a slighthollow, not over three-quarters of an inch in depth, were four eggs resting on thebare, damp ground, without a semblance of nesting material either over, under, oraround them.Bendire (1895) mentions a nest "placed in a hole in the ground fully8 inches deep." Dr. Harold C. Bryant (1914) found that, in Cali-fornia, "a preference for pasture land for nesting sites was shown, atleast eighty per cent of the nests found being so situated. * * * Acanopy of dry grass stems usually arches the top of the nest and arunway two to five feet long leads to the nest. Ofttimes this runwayis the only clue to the location of the nest."Eggs.?From three to seven eggs constitute the set for the westernmeadowlark, five being the commonest number. They are practicallyindistinguishable from those of the eastern bird. According to Bendire(1895), "the average measurement of 206 specimens in the UnitedStates National Museum collection is 28.33 by 20.60 millimeters, orabout 1.12 by 0.81 inches. The largest egg in the series measures 30.78by 21.84 millimeters, or 1.21 by 0.86 inches; the smallest, 25.65 by20.07 millimeters, or 1.01 by 0.79 inches."Young.?Bendire (1895) wiites: "Both sexes assist in the con-struction of the nest and also in incubation, which lasts about 15 days.An egg is deposited daily until the set is completed. The young leavethe nest before they are able to fly, depending for safety on hidingthemselves in the grass, and they are cared for by the parents untilthey can provide for themselves. When they are able to do this theygather into small companies and roam over the surrounding country.I do not believe that any of the young of the year remain in ourNorthwestern States through the winter; they probably move slowlysouthward in the late fall."380928?57 7
88 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock (1904) says that incubation
?
Lasts thirteen days, and the young remain in the nursery twelve days longer,leaving it before they are able either to fly or to perch. Yet so protective is theircoloring and so jealously does the long grass guard its secret that, search as youmay within a circle where you know they are hidden, you will not find one of them.For two weeks longer they remain with their parents, learning to hunt grass-hoppers, beetles, and crickets, to hide in the shadow of a green tuft, to bathe in theshallows at the brook's edge, and last of all, to perch in low bushes at night withothers of their kind. As soon as they have mastered these things, they are able toprovide for themselves and are abandoned by the parents.Several observers have reported that two broods are raised in aseason, even in the more northern parts of the bird's range. Thisseems likely, for the nesting season begins early and continues well intothe summer. Dawson and Bowles (1909) say that in Washington,
"one brood is usually brought off by May 1st and another by the middleof June"; they add that the young are "very precocious and scatterfrom the nest four or five days after hatching, even before they areable to fairly stand erect." Bryant (1914) says that, in California,
"the first nesting usually occurs in April and May and the second inJuly and August." His figures show the rapid increase in the weightsof young birds; the egg ready to hatch weighed 0.135 ounce, the young1-day-old 0.25, the 8-day-old 2.50, and an adult 4.00 ounces.Plumages.?The molts and plumages of the western meadow-lark are the same as those of the eastern bird, which are fully explainedunder that species and need not be repeated here.Food.?A great mass of information has been published on the foodof the western meadowlark, mainly from investigations made in Cali-fornia. The most concise account, though based on the study of com-paratively few specimens, is given by F. E. L. Beal (1910). In anexamination of 91 stomachs, distributed throughout the year, hereported that "the food consists of 70 percent of animal matter to30 of vegetable. Broadly speaking, the animal matter is made up ofinsects and the vegetable of seeds." Beetles constitute the largestitem in the animal matter; the amount for the year is almost 27 per-cent, practically half of which consists of predatory ground beetles,an argument against the meadowlark, as the beetles prey on otherinsects.Lepidoptera, largely caterpillars, amount to about 15 percent, waspsand ants nearly 6 percent, bugs (Hemiptera) a little more than 4 per-cent, and grasshoppers only 12 percent for the whole year, but 42percent in August. Other items included crickets, craneflies, spiders,sowbugs, and a few snails. Of the vegetable food, only one stomachcontained anything "doubtfully identified as fruit pulp." And only2 percent of the yearly food was weed seeds, a surprisingly smallamount for a ground-feeding bird. The remainder consisted of grain,
WESTERN MEADOWLARK 89the average monthly consumption amounting to 27.5 percent; thisconsisted of oats, wheat, barley, and a little corn eaten in variousamounts at different seasons.A much more elaborate report, based on the examination of nearly2,000 stomachs, is made by Bryant (1914), from which only a fewextracts can be included here. "Stomach examination has shown thatsixty-three and three-tenths percent of the total volume of food of thewestern meadowlark for the year is made up of animal matter andthirty-six and seven-tenths percent of vegetable matter. The animalmatter is made up mostly of ground beetles, grasshoppers, crickets,cutworms, caterpillars, wireworms, stink-bugs, and ants, insects mostof which are injurious to crops. The vegetable matter is made upof grain and seeds. Grain as food reaches a maximum in November,December, and January, insects in the spring and summer months,and weed seeds in September and October." These foods break downinto the following percentages for the year: Grain 30.8 percent, weedseeds 5.3, miscellaneous vegetable food 0.6, Coleoptera 21.3, Orthop-tera 20.3, Lepidoptera 12.2, Hemiptera 1.7, Hymenoptera 5.6, Dip-tera 0.1, Arachnida 0.2, and miscellaneous insects 1.9 percent. Ofthe food of the nestlings, he says:Stomachs of nestling western meadowlarks examined contained as high as twograms of insect food. Maxima of seven large cutworms, of twelve grasshoppers(three-quarters of an inch in length), and of eight beetles have been found inthe stomachs of nestlings. One stomach contained twenty-four ants and partsof a ground beetle. * * *A nestling western meadowlark after obtaining no food for three hours wasfed twenty-eight small grasshoppers (one-half inch in length) equal in volume toabout three cubic centimeters. Another one was fed four grasshoppers (one inchin length), twelve small grasshoppers (one-half inch in length), one robberfly,one beetle, and five ants. A third one was fed thirty grains of wheat inside often minutes."Bendire (1895) mentions seeing meadowlarks probing in theground, probably for locust eggs deposited just below the surface ofthe ground. The alfalfa weevil, which does so much damage to thecrop in Utah and other Western States, it's largely eaten by the westernmeadowlark where these insects are abundant. E. R. Kalmbach(1914) says: "In April, 27 of these birds were collected, and the weevil,which was found to comprise one-sixth of their food, was present inall but seven. The insects taken were adults, and the average was14.4 weevils per bird. One bird had taken 75 of these insects, another60, and three others 51, 48, and 33, respectively."Ira La Rivers (1941) writes: "This species is by far the ablest avianpredator of the Mormon cricket, for it specializes upon the eggs ofthe pest. Meadowlarks have been reported at various times as destroy-ing entire, vast cricket egg-beds, and I have, on many occasions, seen
90 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211them hard at work in such egg-beds, digging industriously for thepalatable eggs, which are generally laid in clusters from a few toover fifty."Behavior.?In a general way the habits of the western meadow-lark are very similar to those of the well-known eastern species.Ridgway (1877), however, noted the following differences in its man-ners: "It is a much more familiar bird than its eastern relative, andwe observed that the manner of its flight differed in an importantrespect, the bird flitting along with a comparatively steady, thoughtrembling, flutter, instead of propelling itself by occasional spasmodicbeatings of the wings, then extending them horizontally during theintervals between these beats, as is the well-known manner of flightof the eastern species."In his notes from western Iowa, Dr. J. A. Allen (1868) writes: "Atthe little village of Denison, where I first noticed it in song, it wasparticularly common, and half domestic in its habits, preferring ap-parently the streets and grassy lanes, and the immediate vicinity ofthe village, to the remoter prairie. Here, wholly unmolested and un-suspicious, it collected its food ; and the males, from their accustomedperches on the house-tops, daily warbled their wild songs for hourstogether."Grinnell and Storer (1924) say: "In spring and early summer mead-owlarks are seen chiefly in pairs; but throughout the fall andwinter theyforage in flocks numbering anywhere from 10 to 75 individuals. Theflock organization is loose; in fleeing from danger each bird takes itsown course, remaining with or leaving the flock at will. It usuallyhappens that certain individual birds fail to take wing when a flock isfirst flushed, and these belated birds subsequently rise one after anotheras their field is invaded, to straggle off independently."Kendeigh (1941), speaking of some birds he had under observation,states: "Through July, six to a dozen or more meadowlarks wereseen frequently in the evenings as they went to roost in the grasswithin the former territory of the male of nest No. 1 or in otherparts of the area. Male No. 1 was not a member of this group; histail had been clipped for recognition purposes. These birds do notroost on any perch above the grass cover. Although they could notbe observed at very close range, it appeared that they passed thenight on the ground under some clump of grass, where they wererelatively well protected."Voice.?Much has been written in praise of the western meadow-lark's sweetly beautiful song, but only a few of the many referencesto it in the literature can be quoted. Its song is the bird's greatestcharm, which is bound to attract attention to it. My first impressionsof it are mentioned at the beginning of this story. Aretas A. Saunders
WESTERN MEADOWLARK 91
sends me his impressions of it as follows: "Probably all bird loverswho know the songs of both eastern and western meadowlarks willagree that the song of the western is far superior to that of the eastern.While I have no records of the western bird's songs, and cannot givedetailed statistics, I have heard it many times and can compare thetwo songs in some of their details. The western meadowlark's songprobably averages about the same in length, but contains more notes,and the notes are shorter and more rapidly repeated. The pitch islower than that of the eastern species. Consonant sounds, bothliquids like I and explosives like k or t are much more frequent, occur-ring in practically every note of the song. Individual birds sing agreat number of variations, and it is probable that the variation inthis species is as great as in the eastern bird. Finally, the quality ofthe song is richer and fuller, resembling that of thrushes or the Balti-more oriole. This matter of richer quality is what makes the songsuperior to our ears. It is undoubtedly due to the lower pitch.Physicists tell us that quality of musical sounds is caused by overtones,and a lower-pitched note will have more overtones that are audible tothe human ear."The western meadowlark sings a flight song that is quite unlikethe commoner song and very similar to the flight song of the easternbird. The introductory notes, however, are not harsh or nasal, butclear and thrushlike, while the rest of the song is far inferior in qualityto the commoner song."A. D. Du Bois, who has heard the song in both Montana and Min-nesota, says in his notes: "It seems to me this westerner is somethingof a yodeler. * * * To my ear, its song has a very pleasing altoquality which makes the eastern bird's song seem a rather thin falsettoby comparison. In the vicinity of my home in Minnesota we haveboth species; but in this locality I do not hear quite the same songsof the westerner that I heard in Montana."Impressions of two of the earlier travelers in the west are worthquoting. J. A. Allen (1868) did not at first recognize it as the song ofa meadowlark, saying: "It differs from that of the Meadow Lark inthe Eastern States, in the notes being louder and wilder, and at thesame time more liquid, mellower, and far sweeter. They have apensiveness and a general character remarkably in harmony with thehalf-dreary wildness of the primitive prairie, as though the bird hadreceived from its surroundings then- peculiar impress; while if less loudtheir songs would hardly reach their mates above the strong windsthat almost constantly sweep over the prairies in the hot months.It differs, too, in the less frequency of the harsh complaining chatterso conspicuous in the Eastern birds, so much so that at first I suspectedthis to be wholly wanting."
92 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211And Robert Ridgway (1877) writes:We know of no two congeneric species, of any family of birds, more radicallydistinct in all their utterances than the eastern and western Meadow Larks,2 years of almost daily association with the latter, and a much longer familiaritywith the former, having thoroughly convinced us of this fact; indeed, as has beenthe experience of every naturalist whose remarks on the subject we have read orheard, we never even so much as suspected, upon hearing the song of the WesternLark for the first time, that the author of the clear, loud, ringing notes were [sic]those of a bird at all related to the Eastern Lark, whose song, though equallysweet, is far more subdued?half-timid?and altogether less powerful and varied.As to strength of voice, no eastern bird can be compared to this, while its notespossess a metallic resonance equalled only by those of the Wood Thrush. Themodulation of the song of the Western Lark we noted on several occasions, andfound it to be most frequently nearly as expressed by the following syllables:Tung-tung-tung ah, tillah'-tillah' , tung?the first three notes deliberate, full, andresonant, the next two finer and in a higher key, the final one like the first inaccent and tone. Sometimes this song is varied by a metallic trill, which rendersit still more pleasing. The ordinary note is a deep-toned tuck, much like thechuck of the Blackbirds (Quiscalus), but considerably louder and more metallic;another note is a prolonged rolling chatter, somewhat similar to that of theBaltimore Oriole (Icterus baltimore), but correspondingly louder, while the anxiouscall-note is a liquid tyur, which in its tone and expression calls to mind the spring-call (not the warble) of the Eastern Blue-bird (Sialia sialis), or the exceedinglysimilar complaining note of the Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). In fact, all thenotes of the Western Lark clearly indicate its position in the family Icteridae,which is conspicuously not the case in the eastern bird."Charles N. Allen (1881), evidently an accomplished musician, haspublished an excellent study of the song of the western meadowlark,to which the reader is referred, as it is too long to quote from satis-factorily. Twenty-seven distinct songs are illustrated in musicalnotation, in which the bird apparently sings from 120 to 200 notesper minute. Referring to the quality of the song, he says: "I knowof no musical instrument whose quality of tone
?
timbre?is like thatof Sturnella neglecta. I have thought that a combination of the tonesof the Boehm flute and a good, glass dulcimer might represent itpretty accurately. It has qualities heard in the notes of the Bobolink,and of the Baltimore Oriole." He says that he cannot apply thesyllables, quoted above from Ridgway, to any of the songs he hasstudied; and adds that, while the songs of many birds may be wellrepresented in syllables, he has "as yet heard nothing of the kind inany of the songs of the bird under consideration."While Allen's musical notations may convey some impressions to atrained musician, they are of no help to the average layman; nor, inmy opinion, do the many attempts, which I have seen in print, toexpress the songs in syllables, give any adequate idea of them. Whileattempts to express the songs in human words are entirely inadequateto show their quality, they at least indicate the rhythm and serve to
WESTERN MEADOWLARK 93
recall the songs to one who has heard them. One of the best of theseis written by Dawson and Bowles (1909): "One boisterous spirit inChelan I shall never forget for he insisted on shouting, hour after hour,and day after day, 'Hip! Hip! Hurrah! boys; three cheers'!." AndFred J. Pierce (1921) describes what he calls a one-sided imaginaryconversation: "We see the Meadowlark standing on a post repeating,
'Oh, yes, I am a pretty-little-bird' (the 'pretty-little-bird' winds up witha trill). In a moment he saj^s, 'I'm going to-eat pretty-soon.' Then,suiting the action to the word, he drops out of sight into the grass,and presently we hear him say, '/ cut 'im clean off, I cut 'im clean of(this is often followed by 'Yup'). He flies back to his perch with abug in his bill, and when he has deliberately eaten it, he?in a fast,sing-song and unmusical voice?says, 'It makes me feel very good.' "Fanciful as these renderings are, they do suggest the song.Claude T. Barnes writes to me from Utah that, on April 10, 1925,he "heard a meadowlark give the song 'Tra la la traleek'; the 'traleek'was a jumble of sounds, short, emphatic. Rising into the air, it sang,while a-wing, a song quite like that of the bobolink, then alighted ona post and uttered occasionally the first song. After a while, it sangthe common 'U-tah's a pretty place'." He has heard the bird singingat midnight, and others have said that it sings at all hours of the dayand night, though mainly in the early morning. Weather makes verylittle difference; it sings in sunshine, rain, wind or snow. It is also avery persistent singer. Linsdale (1938), writing of the birds of theGreat Basin, says:The songs of nieadowlarks were conspicuous among the sounds in the inhabitedareas. Usually they were given from some rather high perch. One, on themorning of May 25, 1932, sang 22 times in 3 minutes: 8, 7, and 7 times each minute.It then uttered 3 single whistles and moved about 75 yards to another perchwhere it resumed singing. Another on June 6, 1933, sang 10 times in 1J4 minutes;7 times the first minute.One type of song was given regularly in flight. The singing bird would risegradually in a straight line and then drop abruptly. One that was watched flewup 75 to 100 feet, at a 45? angle, singing on rapidly beating wings, and wentdown 50 to 75 yards away.Albert R. Brand (1938) in his study of vibration frequencies ofbirds' songs gives the western meadowlark a low-pitch rating; herecorded an approximate mean of 2,500 vibrations per second for thisbird, and only 3,475 for the highest note and 1,475 for the lowest;this latter figure is lower than for any other passerine bird tested,except the catbird, crow, starling, yellow-breasted chat, and easternred-wing, and twice as low as for the eastern meadowlark.Field marks.?This species can be easily recognized as a meadow-lark by its three well-known characters, white lateral tail feathers,yellow breast, and black crescent, but there is no visible character by
94 V. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
which it can be distinguished from the eastern meadowlark. Its songis the most easily distinguished character, being very conspicuous andquite diagnostic. The differences in behavior referred to above arevery slight and not very constant.Enemies.?Cameron (1907) writes from Montana:Meadowlarks have many enemies, more especially Golden Eagles, PrairieFalcons, Marsh Hawks, and Red-tailed Hawks. A pair of the latter, whichnested for several years, close to my ranch in Custer County, fed their youngalmost entirely upon these birds. Whereas heaps of Meadowlark feathers layon a log near the tree, other remains were scarcely ever found, although the hawksdid occasionally procure snakes and cotton-tail rabbits. * * *On June 15, 1898, I surprised the female hawk just after she had seized a newlyflown Meadowlark which was immediately dropped. Mr. M. M. Archdale hasseen a female Marsh Hawk standing by a Meadowlark's nest and devouring theyoung birds. I have several times found Meadowlarks impaled, or hanging, ona barbed wire fence, and a few perish from the buffeting of spring storms.Dawson and Bowles (1909) say: "The Meadowlark is an assiduousnester. This is not because of any unusual amativeness but becauseyoung Meadowlarks are the morceaux delicieux of all the powers thatprey, skunks, weasels, mink, raccoons, coyotes, snakes, magpies,crows. Hawks and owls otherwise blameless in the bird-world errhere?the game is too easy." Even the little sparrow hawk will stoopfor a young meadowlark. Only the fecundity of the meadowlark andits skill in concealing its nest serve to perpetuate the species.Some nests are probably trodden upon by cattle or sheep grazingin the nesting fields. Many meadowlarks die from eating grainpoisoned with thallium and spread on the ground to kill rodents;they eat this grain readily.The cowbirds sometimes find the nests and lay one or more eggs inthem, but Dr. Friedmann (1929) knew of only five definite records;it is doubtful if a young cowbird could compete with the larger youngof the meadowlark.Economic status.?A study of the food of the western meadow-lark, as outlined under that heading, above, will prove it a veryuseful and beneficial bird. The small amount of sprouting or maturegrain it eats is of little consequence when compared with the enormousnumber of injurious insects it destroys, while the number of usefulinsects it eats is too small to have much effect on the balance in itsfavor. For an exhaustive study of the subject, the reader is referredto two of Bryant's important papers (1912 and 1914). The followingparagraph from the latter paper is significant: "As a destroyer ofcutworms, caterpillars, and grasshoppers, three of the worst insectpests in the State of California, the western meadowlark is probablyunequaled by any other bird. The stomachs of meadowlarks ex-amined have averaged as high as 6 cutworms and caterpillars and 16
WESTERN MEADOWLARK 95grasshoppers apiece. Maximum numbers of 66 cutworms and of 32grasshoppers have been taken from a single stomach. As the timeof digestion is about four hours, three times the average must beconsumed daily."Fall.?After the last brood of young are strong on the wing, oldand young gather into groups or larger flocks and begin their latesummer wanderings, both regional and altitudinal. Fred M. Packard(1946), writing of such movements in Colorado, says that "in latesummer, they increase in numbers through the mountain parks andmay even be found then above timberline. They leave the mountainsin September and early October."John G. Tyler (1913) witnessed a heavy concentration of these birdsin the Fresno district of California: "October 10, 1905, just at sundownI witnessed a flight of Meadowlarks unlike anything I had ever seen.A very large flock of these birds, estimated at about one hundred andtwenty-five, came sweeping in from a half-section of stubble, andsettled for just a moment in an adjoining vineyard; then the wholemass arose again and in a compact body flew back to the stubble.In every movement this flight was suggestive of ducks and the flightresembled a flock of Sprigs coming in from some irrigated wheatfield, settling for an instant on a pond and then again taking wing."The fall migration of the western meadowlark is not greatly ex-tended or very conspicuous, for the bird is mainly resident over mostof its breeding range. It amounts to a gradual withdrawal from themore northern summer haunts, or from regions where its feedinggrounds are covered with snow. Even in California, according toGrinnell (1915), in the "highest localities, which are subject to snow-fall, there is evidently an exodus of meadowlarks for the winter, andin complementary fashion many birds winter on suitable portions ofthe Colorado and Mohave deserts, where the species in unknown insummer."Winter.?Even as far north as Montana, according to Cameron(1907), the western meadowlark sometimes stays for the whole winter,"During the last winter, 1906-1907, no less than seven Meadowlarksremained on Mr. Al. Johnson's property situated on the outskirtsof Miles City."Referring to Oregon, Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) say: "Duringthe winter the birds withdraw somewhat from the State and thoseremaining gather into small wintering bands that seek the shelteredvalleys during the worst weather. In late February or early March,they increase in numbers as the migrants move north."The Point Lobos Reserve, on the coast of Monterey County,Calif., seems to be a favorite winter resort for this species. Grinnelland Linsdale (1936) write: "In the open portions of Point Lobos the
96 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
western meadowlark was the most numerous kind of bird and the mostpersistently conspicuous one throughout the whole year. Repeatedcounts and estimates fixed the highest number present at one time, inwinter, as around two hundred. The meadowlarks in winter werebanded into two or three flocks varying from forty to one hundredindividuals, with additional scattered individuals always present inthe neighborhood. * * * Possibly not more than 50 pfirs remainedto nest." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western North America from British Columbia andOntario south to Mexico.Breeding range.?The western meadowlark breeds from south-eastern British Columbia, central Alberta, central Saskatchewan(Manitoba Lake, Hudson Bay Junction), southern Manitoba (Dau-phin, Shoal Lake), western Ontario (Emo, Fort William), northeasternMinnesota, northern Wisconsin (Superior), northern Michigan(Marquette), southern Ontario (Sault Ste. Marie; rarely Hamilton),northwestern Ohio (casually) ; south through western Montana, east-ern Idaho, Nevada, and southeastern California to northwesternBaja California (San Quintin), northwestern Sonora, central andsoutheastern Arizona (Chandler, SafFord, rarely Tucson), easternSonora, Sinaloa, Jalisco, northwestern Durango, Guanajuato, south-eastern Coahuila, central Texas (Eagle Pass, Austin), northwesternLouisiana (Gilliam), northwestern Arkansas, central-eastern Mis-souri, southwestern Tennessee (Memphis), southern Illinois, southernMichigan, and (casually) central Ohio.Winter range.?Winters north to southern Alberta, southernSaskatchewan, southern Manitoba, and southern Wisconsin (Racine)
;
south to southern Baja California, Michoacan, Mexico, Nuevo Leon,Tamaulipas, southern Texas (Brownsville, Cove), Louisiana, andsouthern Mississippi.Casual records.?Casual in Alaska (Craig), northern British Co-lumbia (Ispatseeza River), Mackenzie (30 miles below Fort Simpson),northern Alberta (Fort Chipewyan), and Kentucky (Louisville,Bowling Green). Accidental in northern Ontario (Moose Factory),New York (Rochester), and Georgia (St. Marys).Migration.?Early dates of spring ai rival are: Missouri?St.Louis and St. Joseph, March 21. Illinois?Port Byron, March 6.Indiana?Posey County, February 11; Newton County, March 31.Ohio?Salem, March 13. Michigan?Three Rivers, March 10.Iowa?Indianola, February 24. Wisconsin?Hammond, March 5;Superior, March 15. Minnesota?Red Wing, March 1 (average forsouthern Minnesota, March 12); Wilkins County, March 9 (average
WESTERN MEADOWLARK 97
of 18 years in northern Minnesota, March 25). Texas?Dallas,February 12. Oklahoma?Skiatook, February 27. Kansas?John-son County, February 23. Nebraska?Red Cloud, January 18(average of 23 years, February 20). South Dakota?Yankton,February 20. North Dakota?Fargo, March 8 (average for CassCounty, March 19). Manitoba?Rosser, March 4. Saskatchewan
?
Qu'Appelle, March 18. Colorado?Weldona, February 24. UtahOgden, February 18. Wyoming?Barnum, March 2 (average of 10years, March 15); Yellowstone National Park, March 18. IdahoRupert, March 3. Montana?Kirby, February 20 ; Fortine, March 2
;
average of 18 years in Custer County, March 30. Alberta?Camrose,March 8. California?Tule Lake, February 26; Twentynine Palms,March 7. Nevada?Carson City, February 23. Oregon?Corvallis,February 28. Washington?Pullman, February 25; Richardson andBellingham, February 27. British Columbia?Okanagan Landing,February 28.Late dates of spring departure are: Sonora?Oposura, April 4.Baja California?Guadalupe Island, March 22. Alabama?FortMorgan, March 19. Georgia?St. Marys, March 16. MississippiBolivar County, April 26. Illinois?Port Byron, May 17. TexasAtascosa County, April 15. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City, May 5.Kansas?Douglas County, May 7. California?Death Valley, April29.Early dates of fall arrival are: Washington?Blaine, September 3.Oregon?Prospect, September 28. Nevada?Charleston Mountains,September 11. Oklahoma?Norman and Oklahoma City, October 8.Texas?Atascosa County, October 8. Mississippi?Deer Island,October 13. Baja California?San Jose* del Cabo, October 14.Sonora?Hermosillo, October 20.Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?OkanaganLanding, November 30. Washington?Westport, December 5.Oregon?Weston, November 23. Nevada?Clark County, No-vember 27. California?Twentynine Palms, November 27. AlbertaMorrin, November 16. Montana?Charlo, November 10. IdahoLewiston, November 2. Wyoming?Sundance, November 10; Lar-amie, November 7 (average of 9 years, October 29). Utah?Ogden,November 18. Colorado?Yuma, November 18. SaskatchewanEastend, November 15; Indian Head, November 14. ManitobaTreesbank and Brandon, November 17. North Dakota?StutsmanCounty, November 27; Cass County, November 24 (average, October26). South Dakota?Sioux Falls, December 3 (average of 7 years,October 30). Nebraska?Lincoln, November 30. Kansas?DouglasCounty, November 12. Texas?Denison, November 30. Minne-sota?Hutchinson, November 19 (average for southern Minnesota,
98 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211October 18); Sherburne County, November 1 (average of 10 years innorthern Minnesota, October 17). Wisconsin?Dunn County, No-vember 19. Iowa?Newton and Emmetsburg, November 17. Mich-igan?McMillan, October 21. Illinois?Port Byron, October 17.Arkansas?Hot Springs National Park, November 13.Egg dates.?Alberta: 2 records, June 15 and June 20.Arizona: 2 records, April 22 and April 30.California: 100 records, February 11 to July 2; 50 records, Apr. 20to May 30.North Dakota: 20 records, May 2 to June 10; 12 records, June 2to June 6.Utah: 6 records, April 20 to May 25; 3 records, May 7 to May 17(Harris)
.
STURNELLA NEGLECTA CONFLUENTA RathbunPacific Western MeadowlarkHABITSThe Pacific western meadowlark was described and named byS. F. Rathbun (1917) from a specimen taken at Seattle, Wash. Hegives as its characters: "Similar to Sturnella neglecta neglecta, butthe bars on tail and tertials broader and much more confluent; upperparts darker throughout, and their black areas more extensive;yellow of under parts averaging darker; spots and streaks on the sidesof breast, body, and flanks larger and more conspicuous." Its rangeis the Pacific coast region of southwestern British Columbia andnorthwestern Washington, south to northwestern Oregon and east tothe Cascade Mountains.I can find nothing recorded on its habits to indicate that theyare in any way different from those of the interior race.In Washington it is both a migrant and a summer resident, also,especially in southwestern Washington, it is an irregular permanentresident. The breeding season near Seattle and Tacoma extends fromApril 21 to June 5. DISTRIBUTIONRange.?British Columbia to Oregon, west of the Cascade Moun-tains.Breeding range.?The Pacific western meadowlark breeds fromsouthwestern and central British Columbia south through Washing-ton, western Idaho (Payette), and Oregon to southern California,intergrading with the western meadowlark in central Idaho, DeathValley, and San Diego County, California.
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 99Winter range.?Winters from Vancouver Island and the adjacentmainland southward, casually north to southern British Columbia.Migrant, in part, in the northeastern portion of its range.XANTHOCEPHALUS XANTHOCEPHALUS (Bonaparte)Yellow-headed BlackbirdPlates 6, 7, and 8HABITSMany years ago I wrote (Bent, 1903) of my first impressions of theshowy yellow-headed blackbird in North Dakota:Seated in a comfortable buckboard, with two congenial companions, and drawnby a lively pair of unshod bronchos, we had driven for many a mile across thewild, rolling wastes of the boundless prairies, with nothing to guide us but thenarrow wagon ruts which marked the section lines and served as the only highways.It was a bright, warm day in June, and way off on the horizon we could see spreadout before us what appeared to be a great, marshy lake; it seemed to fade stillfarther away as we drove on, and our guide explained to us that it was only amirage, which is of common occurrence there, and that we should not see theslough we were heading for until we were right upon it.We came at last to a depression in the prairie, marked by a steep embankment,and there, ten feet below the level of the prairie, lay the great slough spread outbefore us. Flocks of Ducks, Mallards, Pintails, and Shovellers, rose from thesurface when we appeared, and in the open water in the center of the slough,we could, with the aid of a glass, identify Redheads, Canvasbacks and RuddyDucks, swimming about in scattered flocks, the white backs of the Canvasbacksglistening in the sunlight, and the sprightly upturned tails of the Ruddies servingto mark them well. A cloud of Blackbirds, Yellowheads and Redwings, arosefrom the reedy edges of the slough, hundreds of Coots were scurrying in and outamong the reeds, a few Ring-billed Gulls and a lot of Black Terns were hoveringoverhead, and around the shores were numerous Killdeers, Wilson's Phalaropesand other shore birds. The scene was full of life and animation. * * *But by far the most abundant birds in the slough were the Yellow-headedBlackbirds, the characteristic bird of every North Dakota slough; they fairlyswarmed everywhere, and the constant din of their voices became almost tiresome.The old male birds are strikingly handsome with their bright yellow heads andjet black plumage, offset by the pure white patches in their wings, the dullercolors of the females and young males making a pleasing variety. * * * Thesong most constantly heard, suggests the syllables Oka w6e wee, the first a gutturalcroak, and the last two notes loud, clear whistles, falling off in tone and pitch, thewhole song being given with a decided emphasis and swing.Although it was some 50 years ago that I heard it, the rhythmic swingof that impressive chorus still seems to ring in my ears whenever Ithink of a North Dakota slough and its yellow-headed blackbirds.Throughout its wide range in western North America, from Canadato Mexico and from the eastern border of the prairie regions to thePacific slope, small or very large colonies of yellow-headed blackbirds
100 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211may be found wherever there are lakes bordered with suitable aquaticvegetation, or marshes or sloughs with permanent water of sufficientdepth. Damp marshes are not suitable for them, neither are theshallow-water sloughs; they prefer to nest over water that is fromtwo to four feet deep, or even much deeper.Deep water serves to protect the nests and young from prowlingpredators, and a thick growth of tall vegetation, tules, reeds (Scirpusor Phragmites), or cattails (Typhus), serves to shield them from birdsof prey.In the Rocky Mountain region, the breeding range extends tosomewhat higher levels. Fred M. Packard (1946) says that, inColorado, these birds "nest commonly from the plains to about 5,500feet in the foothills, rarely as high as 6,000 feet." There is some evi-dence that the bird is extending its range somewhat farther east thanformerly. And Gordon W. Gullion writes to me (in 1948) that thisblackbird is becoming widely distributed as a breeding bird in theWillamette Valley, in western Oregon.Spring.?The yellow-headed blackbird winters as far north assome of the Southwestern States, not far north of the southern limitsof its breeding range. The northward movement starts about themiddle of March, continues through April and reaches the breedinggrounds before the middle of May. Thomas S. Roberts (1932) writes:In the northward spring movement the vanguard of the Yellowheads that areto breed in Minnesota arrives during the first half of April, the males precedingthe females by a few days. Stragglers may enter the southern part of the stateduring the very first days of that month, but it is not until toward the last ofApril or early in May that they become numerous. While the females are busybuilding their nests in the sloughs, the males assemble in little parties and feedon the adjoining uplands. Should they select a grassy plot where dandelionsare in full bloom, the bright yellow of the blossoms and the heads of the birdsmatch so well that they are almost indistinguishable.Arthur C. Twomey (1942) noticed the first migrants in Utah onMay 2, when "from forty to two hundred males could be seen flyingin compact flocks, but no females were in evidence. It was notuntil May 15 that females were noticed, and they likewise were insegregated flocks. * * * By May 20 there were females among theflocks of males, and soon after this the nesting season commenced."At a colony studied by George A. Ammann, in northwestern Iowa,the adult males were first seen on April 8 and were numerous on April23; the adult females came on May 2, but were not common untilMay 12; the first-year males arrived on May 11, and were numerouson May 22, the young females coming about the same time. Thesedates are taken from a manuscript copy of his thesis (submitted tothe University of Michigan), which he has very kindly loaned me. I
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 101
shall quote freely from parts of this excellent and extensive monographon the yellow-headed blackbird.Courtship.?While exploring in a canoe, on May 31, 1913, theextensive marshes surrounding Lake Winnipegosis, we found theyellow-heads fairly swarming in the tall bulrushes (Scirpus), growingin water 3 or 4 feet deep and extending higher than a man's headabove the water along both sides of the Waterhen River. Courtshipwas in full swing. The males were chasing the females all over themarshes; the female usually returned to the place from which shestarted, after which the male alighted near her, as this was probablythe chosen territory for the pair. Grasping a tall, upright cane, orperhaps two in a straddling attitude, he displayed his fine plumageby spreading his black tail and half opening his wings to show thewhite patches; he leaned forward, pointing his bright yellow headdownward until it was almost parallel with his tail and poured outhis grotesque love notes. The female seemed indifferent.We must admit that the courtship is more spectacular than beauti-ful, but we should hardly condemn it in the following words of W. L.Dawson (1923) : "Grasping a reed firmly in both fists, he leans forward,and, after premonitory gulps and gasps, he succeeds in pressing out awail of despairing agony which would do credit to a dying catamount.When you have recovered from the first shock, you strain the eyes inastonishment that a mere bird, and a bird in love at that, shouldgive rise to such a cataclysmic sound."Alexander Wetmore (1920) gives the following account of thecourtship of the yellow-headed blackbird, as observed at Lake Bur-ford, N. Mex.:The adult males were settled in large part on their breeding grounds on myarrival, though many of them were not yet mated. Each selected a stand in thetules at the border of the lake, and, unless away feeding, were certain to be foundin the immediate vicinity constantly from that time on. * * * At this seasonthe male seems fully conscious of his handsome coloring and in his displays makesevery effort to attract attention. In the most common display the male startedtowards the female from a distance of 30 or 40 feet with a loud rattling of hiswings as a preliminary. The head was bent down, the feet lowered and the taildropped while he flew slowly toward his mate. The wings were brought downwith a slow swinging motion and were not closed at all so that the white markingson the coverts were fully displayed, the whole performance being reminiscent of asimilar wing display of the Mocking-bird. In flying from one perch to anothermales often dangled their feet, frequently breaking through small clumps of deadtules with considerable racket. Or they clambered stiffly along, hobbling overmasses of bent-over rushes, with heads bent down, tails dropping and backhumped, appearing like veritable clowns.Jean M. Linsdale (1938) noticed a form of display which wasapparently made in defense of territory. Two males which ownedadjoining territories "were seen on the ground halfway between their
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
respective singing posts which were in separate cattail patches about20 feet apart. For 3 or 4 minutes they kept close to each other,walking back and forth along the boundary with fluffed feathers andarched necks. In turn, they made short flights, getting scarcely morethan a foot above the ground and moving, altogether, only 3 or 4feet. Once one went as far as 10 feet. In these flights the wingswere flapped violently, but the bird moved slowly, and the body washeld with the bill pointing upward 80? above the horizontal. Finally,each bird returned to its own singing post, having had no actualcombat."On another occasion he noticed severe fighting for about 30 seconds,one holding the other down and pecking at it. Referring to the ter-ritorial behavior, he says in part:Judging from continued watching at this pond through the greater parts of2 nesting seasons, territory for these yellow-headed blackbirds was a definitelyrecognized area for males only. Moreover, this area was a remarkably smallone, when the size of the birds is considered. Each male established itself in1 small patch of cattails or a portion of a patch. * * *From the first establishment of the territories one of the chief concerns ofeach male was to keep other male yellow-headed blackbirds off his area. Theenmity seemed aroused in inverse proportion to familiarity with the trespassingindividual. When 2 males owned portions of the same cattail patch, they weremuch more tolerant of each other than of males from another part of the pond.Newly arrived, strange males arouse a quicker response than ones already settledin the same pond. * * *Besides their vigorous defense against intrusion by other male yellow-headedblackbirds the males were especially active in driving red-winged blackbirds fromtheir territories. The pursuit, however, was usually a short one. In observedinstances male red-wings were pursued for only about 30 feet, or just to thelimits of the yellow-head territory. If, in leaving, a red-wing crossed the terri-tory of a second yellow-head, the latter would take up the chase and the firstjrellow-head would turn back.Of the actual mating, he says:Males were noticed flying to females especially when the latter uttered a cer-tain type of screeching note. Sometimes these notes were given on the pursuitflight. The notes along with the posturing of the female seemed to be the signalthat the female was near the mating stage.Mating of yellow-headed blackbirds was noticed in late afternoon on May 26,1932. In territory III a female flew to the top of a currant bush where it pos-tured, and then male III flew there from the cattail patch and they copulated.The union lasted about 2 seconds during which the male flapped his wings rapidly.After perching a few inches away for a short time, the whole procedure wasrepeated until it had taken place 9 times in quick succession. Then the maleflew back to the cattails where it perched on a dead stem and shook its plumage.The female may have been the same one noted earlier in territory II. Posturing,with bill and tail pointed upward, had been noticed there, but male II had madeno response. The circumstances seemed to indicate that male III was the oDlyone ready for mating, and the female hunted it out.
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 103The behavior described above suggests promiscuity between thesexes. He noted that there were many more females than malesengaged in nesting. No females were noticed that were not nesting,but man}T males less brightly colored and with less perfect songswere seen day after day half a mile or more away from the breedingcolonies. He inferred from this that females mature and are readyto breed when 1 year old, but that the males require 2 years to mature,and that the less brightly colored males, seen away from the breedingcolonies, were yearlings and would not breed until the following year.Ammann (MS.) says: "these young males, with their distinctiveplumage, were not welcome when they invaded the breeding grounds.Wherever they went they were immediately driven away by the adultmales and thus became nomads by necessity. Breeding females didnot resent their intrusion, however; once a female was seen to takea receptive position in front of a first-year male (thus evidently rec-ognizing him as a male, in this plumage so similar to her own) towhich he did not respond."He gives a full account of the actual mating, as follows: "Thefemale stops in the midst of nest building and selects a more or lesssolid stand low in the bulrush clump or on a mass of floating debrisand assumes the mating posture, at the same time giving the low,soft mating call. If the male is anywhere in the vicinity, he respondsimmediately; it seems almost incredible sometimes how far distanthe may be and yet hear this call."He proceeds toward the female in one or more short, jerky flights
?
thus causing the wings to beat very loudly, with bill pointing almoststraight up. Then he draws in his head, erects the feathers of breastand back, droops his tail and approaches the female indirectly byshort hops through the rushes or over floating debris, sometimes com-pleting a half circle before reaching her. Then he may strut, twist,or turn in a foolish manner and rarely give vent to the buzzing songbefore mounting. Meanwhile, the female remains in the mating pos-ture?body tilted slightly forward, tail spread and pointing straightup, bill raised high in the air. As the male comes closer, she watcheshim attentively with open bill and alternately quivering wings, andmay repeat the mating call. She turns her head as he walks aroundher, or he may stop directly in front of her and both remain motion-less, except for the quivering of her wings, for 15 or 20 seconds. Thenthe male mounts the female, placing first one foot on her back, thenthe other; at the same time he flaps his wings vigorously high abovehim and brings the bill close to his breast so that the neck is quitearched; his tail is pressed down between the two central tail feathersof the female, allowing the cloacae to come in contact. While the3S0928?57 8
104 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211male is on her, probably a great deal of the weight is supported bythe material on which her breast is resting. The male does not main-tain his balance in this position for more than a second, and prob-ably the first attempt at copulation has been unsuccessful. He jumpsoff, takes two or three short hops, and mounts the female again.This may be repeated five or six times until finally it appears thata successful copulation has taken place, because of the slightly longertime (about 1% seconds) the male remains on the back of the female.As many as 16 consecutive attempts at copulation have been counted
?
all in rhythmical succession. The female remains in the same positionduring the whole performance."Nesting.?Yellow-headed blackbirds nest in colonies, often ofvery large size. The colonies are not as densely packed with nestsas are those of the tricolored redwings in parts of California, thoughin the most thickly populated colonies as many as 25 or 30 nests maybe found in a space 15 feet square. The colonies are not always con-tinous, and may be scattered in separate groups along the shores ofa lake or slough where the vegetation is most suitable for nest con-struction. Red-winged blackbirds are usually more or less looselyassociated with the yellow-heads on their breeding grounds, but gen-erally the two species occupy different portions of the marsh. Thenests of the yellow-heads are invariably built over water, preferablyfrom 2 to 4 feet deep and rarely much deeper. Should the waterrecede during the process of nest building, unfinished nests found tobe over dry land are likely to be abandoned.The nest is built entirely by the female, without any help from themale. In his study of a nesting colony in Minnesota, Roberts (1909)gives the following good description of the construction of the nest:The body of the nest was invariably constructed of water soaked dead grassblades picked out of the water of the marsh. This sort of material being soft andpliable was easily woven and wound around the reed stems to the smooth sur-face of which it closely adhered; and when the structure, which was at first verywet, soggy and dark colored, dried in the sun and wind, it contracted and drewthe included reed stems nearer together thus forming a compact, firm, and securelyattached basket-like nest. The lining consisted of pieces of broad, dr}', reedleaves and the rim of the nest was well finished off with fine branches of theplume-like fruiting tops of the reeds. Occasionally the lining was not placed fora day or two until the nest had dried somewhat, but usually the coarse lining wasadded, in part at least, to the bottom and around the walls while the body of thenest was still in course of construction and soft and wet. The finishing touchesto the nest consisted in adding the fine material about the upper walls and rimwhich, in the more perfect nests, partially closed and formed a sort of canopyover the entrance.These nests were all built in quill-reeds (Phragmites) , and wereplaced from 2 to 3 feet above the water. Of the 62 nests started inthe colony, 28 were abandoned before completion, "due to faulty
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 105workmanship or poor judgment in selecting a site. * * * In oneinstance it was positively determined that the same bird built fourimperfect nests before being able to construct one that was habitable.* * * A skillful, industrious bird would build one of these largebeautifully woven and lined nests, all complete, in from two to fourdays. Of twent}r well built nests, nine were finished in two days,nine in three days, and two in four days. * * * From one to fivedays was allowed to elapse after the completion of the nest before egg-laying began. Eggs were invariably deposited one each day."In the North Dakota slough, referred to at the beginning of thisstory, red-winged blackbirds were nesting commonly around the edgesof the marsh in the shorter vegetation growing in the shallow water,but all through the deeper parts of the slough, in the tall reeds (Scirpus)and flags [Typhus), the yellow-headed blackbirds fairly swarmed, withnests often close together.The nests were firmly attached to the reeds or flags at height rang-ing from 6 inches to 3 feet above the water of varying depths. Fourof these nests are now before me. They were evidently built, afterthe manner described above b}^ Roberts, of wet, dead material pickedup from the water, which dried and shrunk enough to hold the nestfirmly to its support. This material consists of strips of dead leavesof flags, coarse grasses, items of dead reeds, roots of water plants,and general swamp rubbish. My nests are not decorated around therim with the fruiting tops of the quill-reeds for the simple reason thatthere were no Phragmites growing in the vicinity. All the nests thatI saw were neatly and smoothly lined with narrow strips of drygrass blades of a dull orange color, evidently carefully selected andprobably brought from dry land; these formed a very distinct featurein all the nests.The nests are all bulky and very firmly woven; all but one of themwere somewhat crushed in packing, but one that is apparently in itsoriginal shape measures 5 by 6 inches in outside diameter, fully 4inches in depth, and the inner cup is about 3 inches in diameter and2}i inches deep. A nest figured by Roberts (1909) measured 11inches from the rim of the nest to the long extension between the reedsbelow it; it was also partially canopied at the top.In southwestern Saskatchewan, where Bear Creek enters CraneLake, that wonderful bird paradise more fully described in my accountof the western grebe (Bent, 1919), we found yellow-headed blackbirds'nests in abundance. The nests were firmly attached to the tall,waving bulrushes, from 10 to 30 inches above the water, which wasin many places more than waist deep. They were much like thosedescribed above, but instead of the distinctive lining seen in theNorth Dakota nests they were lined with fine strips of dead flags or
106 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
with fine grasses, and they were not decorated like those describedby Roberts.We noticed that many nests were abandoned because of unfortunatelocation in growing tules; the nests had been attached to severalstalks which had grown unevenly, overturning the nests and renderingthem useless.In Nevada, Linsdale (1938) found these blackbirds nesting inwillows. "In the early summer of 1932 water from streams in theToyabe Mountains flooded parts of Smoky Valley. Within theflooded area was a patch of willows 5 to 7 feet high and approximately100 by 50 yards in diameter. At this place the water was 1 to 1%feet in depth. Yellow-headed blackbirds took over the willow patchand nested there." On June 3, he counted 30 nests there, all but 3of which contained eggs or young.Ammann (MS.) gives a very lull account of the process of buildingthe nest: "Once a nest is begun the female works feverishly, pickingup long wet strands from the surface of the water and bringing severalat a time, in her bill, to the nest site. These are suspended betweenconveniently arranged stems of vegetation several inches apart-?some-times as much as six inches. They are probably wound around thesupporting stems singly or a few at a time and the loose ends attachedto other supports.
"Soon a number of nearby stems are connected by a loose networkof these coarse, wet fibers. At first 4 or 5 supporting stems are usedbat as the structure grows, more are included?sometimes as maxiy as25 or 30?if the nest is built in bulrushes or quill-reeds. * * *This frail network is reenforced by more fibers until a strong saucer-shaped base with a rather angular outline is formed. * * * Assoon as this structure can support her body, the female begins addingmaterial around the margin for the outer wall, the next stage in con-struction. It is that part of the nest which envelops the supports andforms its main bulk. After gathering suitable material in her billfrom the surface of the water, the female flies straight to the edge ofthe nest, jumps into the cavity, drops her load on the edge, andimmediately begins to arrange it. With quick, deft movements ofher head, she snatches individual strands and winds them around thenest supports that have already been included in the construction ofthe base. Usually the strands are given a half twist around eachsupport as follows: an end is pushed beyond the rim adjacent to thesupport, then the female reaches around and snatches this end fromthe other side, pulls it down and anchors it with a thrust of the bill tothe inside of the nest. The other free end may likewise be anchored.
"Often the strands are given a complete turn around each of severalnest supports in a row, or may be placed along the rim and woven in
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 107and out among the upright supports. Of course, there is great varia-tion in placing each individual shred, but the resultant nieshwork offibers forms a wonderfully strong and compact basket. When thefemale has disposed of all the loose material on the rim, she tugs atany loose ends in sight, especially on the outside of the nest. Shereaches far over the edge and pulls such strands over the rim, ifpossible, and thrusts tbem into the inside of the wall."For shaping the inside of the nest, she "supports herself by her headand tail on the rim and stamps her feet alternately in rapid successionon the bottom and sides of the cup. The nest is usually so wet thatthe stamping can be beard several meters away. After a few secondsshe rises and settles down at a slightly different angle and duplicatesthe performance. This procedure may be repeated a number of timesin quick succession. * * *
"After the outer wall is high enough the female adds material to theinner side of the wall and in the bottom in order to make the cavity theright size and shape. This may be called the inner cup. She doesnot loop the strands around the supports but drops each load directlyin front of her as she enters the nest. Her breast is then applied tothis newly brought material while she stamps her feet in the manneralready described, thus making the nest compact, and the insidesmooth, round, and of the correct diameter. The general appearanceof the inner wall when finished is different from the outer wall. Thedirection of nearly every strand is in an arc, parallel to the circum-ference, and the brim is generally smooth and on a horizontal plane."A final stage of construction that is by no means universal is theaddition of some fine, dry grasses which serve as a lining. Whenpresent they are usually confined to the wall and often only imme-diately below the rim on the inside, thus constricting the opening."Ira N. Gabriclson (1914), writing of a Nebraska swamp, says:"The Yellow-headed Blackbirds were by far the most abundant breed-ing form of the swamp. In the part examined there were probablyseveral hundred nests; in the remaining half of the swamp the numberis only a matter of conjecture. The nests which we examined werepractically identical in location, being built in the wild rice growingsome distance from the shore. They were woven in basket shapeabout three or more stems from eighteen inches to two and one-halffeet above the water. The water in the region of the nests was abouthip deep and they seemed to be confined to a belt of this depth aroundthe part of the swamp studied."Eggs.?The yellow-headed blackbird lays from three to five eggsto a full set, most commonly four, and only very rarely five. Of 504nests examined by Amraann (MS.), only 8 contained 5 eggs, while282 held 4, and 110 sets consisted of 3 eggs.
108 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Major Bendire (1895) writes:The eggs of the Yellow-headed Blackbird vary in shape from ovate to ellipticaland elongate ovate; the shell is finely granulated, strong, and rather glossy. Theground color varies from grayish white to pale greenish white, and this is pro-fusely and pretty evenly blotched and speckled over the entire surface withdifferent shades of browns, cinnamon rufous, ecru drab, and pearl gray. Themarkings are usually heaviest about the larger end of the egg, and sometimes aspecimen is met with which shows a few fine, hair-like tracings, like those foundon the eggs of the Orioles.The average measurement of 134 eggs in the United States National Museumcollection is 25.83 by 17.92 millimetres, or about 1.02 by 0.71 inches. The largestegg in the series measures 28.96 by 19.81 millimetres, or i.14 by 0.78 inches; thesmallest, 23.11 by 17.53 millimetres, or 0.91 by 0.69 inch.Incubation.?Incubation is performed entirely by the female withno help from the male, except that he sometimes feeds her on the nest.The period of incubation has been reported by different observerswithin rather wide limits.Roberts (1909) says that in "seventeen nests the period of incuba-tion, inclusive of the day on which the last egg was laid, to the day onwhich the first egg hatched, was nine days in one instance, ten days intwelve, eleven days in three, and twelve days in one. Thus ten daysmay be considered the usual period of incubation. The nine-dayperiod was in the case of the only set of five eggs that hatched." Theeggs hatched irregularly, though in three nests all hatched on thesame day, and in three others one hatched each day.Reed W. Fautin (1941b), who made some very extensive studies ofthe nesting of the yellow-headed blackbird in Utah, writes:The females were not assisted by the males in any way in the incubation of theeggs, 56.6 percent of them beginning incubation at the time the second egg waslaid, with a tendency for the beginning of incubation to be delayed longer thelarger the clutch. The length of the incubation period varied from 12 to 13 days,74.6 percent of the eggs hatching in 12 days.The attentive periods during incubation ranged in length from 1 to 41 minutes,with an average of 9.1 minutes. These periods were longest during mid-daywhen the females were seemingly protecting the eggs from the sun. During83 hours of observation the females spent an average of 63.9 percent of their timeon the nest, with a range from 53.1 to 69 percent.The inattentive periods ranged in length from 1 to 18 minutes, with an averageof 5.4 minutes. These periods tended to be longest during the morning andevening hours when feeding was most intensive.The hatching success of the larger Provo River colony amounted to 75.7percent, while that of the smaller Lakeview colony was only 60.6 percent, gi\ ingan average of 70.9 percent for the two. Wind and predation were responsiblefor the destruction of 90 (20.3 percent) of the eggs before the time of hatching,and 39 (8.8 percent) failed to hatch because of being addled or infertile.Eighty-three females nested in the Provo River colony and 40 in theLakeview colony. There were about 35 males in the former colonyand only 12 in the latter, suggesting promiscuity or polygamy. There
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 109were no yearling males in either colony, but plenty of them were seenin the surrounding regions.Young.?In another excellent paper, Fautin deals with the devel-opment of young yellow-headed blackbirds. Both studies wereconducted in the same two colonies, near Provo, Utah, during thespring and summer of 1937, from April to September, some 128 nestsbeing kept under observation. He (1914a) found that: "The averageweight of the nestlings at the time of hatching was 3.3 grams and at10 days of age was 51 grams; the greatest percentage of increase inweight occurred during the first day after hatching, while the greatestactual increase in body weight occurred between the fifth and sixthdays, amounting to 6 grams at that time." He noticed that nestlingsof the same age varied as much as 15 to 20 grams in weight at thetime of leaving the nest, though the smaller ones were as well featheredand as active as the larger ones; inasmuch as adult males are muchlarger than females, averaging about 35 grams heavier, it is likelythat the larger nestlings were males.Feather development began soon after hatching; the sheaths of the primariesappeared the second day. At eight to nine days of age the contour feathers weresufficiently developed to cover all the apteria except possibly the one on theabdomen.The males aid very little in caring for the nestlings. Only two males wereobserved to make any attempt to feed the young. One of these fed the youngeight times during a period of eight hours and six minutes while the female fedthem 102 times during the same interval. The other male fed another brood ofnestlings eight times while the female fed them 92 times during the same period.* * *Food of the nestlings consisted principally of insects and spiders. The spidersand smaller insects constituted the greater part of the diet during the first fewdays after hatching, while larger insects such as dragonfiies and grasshopperstogether with some vegetable matter formed the bulk of the food as the youngbecame older. * * * For the first day or two after the young are hatched theyare fed either by regurgitation or else on food materials so small that they escapednotice, for during that time the females were seldom seeu carrying food in theirmouths although the young were visited six to seven times per hour. Probablythey were fed by regurgitation during that time. * * *The nestlings left the nests wThen nine to twelve days of age and remainedamong the dense vegetation of the nesting area until they were able to fly. * * *The young are unable to fly at the time they leave the nest but they are very adeptat making their way through the vegetation. After abandoning the nest theynever return to it but are to be found among the vegetation down near the surfaceof the water, sometimes sitting on the dead floating vegetation. * * * For thefirst four or five days they move about by hopping from one stem or leaf to anotherwith remarkable agility. Following this hopping stage they make short flightsof about two to four feet and thus gradually develop their ability to fly. By thetime they are three weeks old they are frequently seen to make short flights ofabout 25 yards. From this stage on, their ability to fly develops very rapidlyand they are soon seen pursuing their parents, coaxing noisily for food."
110 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Mortality among the nestlings was very high, due largely to a heavyrainstorm accompanied by high wind which destroyed the nests,eggs, and young. Many eggs and young birds were devoured bypredators, largely unknown but probably snakes, small mammals,and perhaps birds of prey or crows. "Out of 314 nestlings, hatchedfrom 443 eggs, 215 were destroyed before they were old enough toleave the nest. This gives a percentage of success (i.e., young fledgedfrom the total number of eggs laid) of 22.4." In the Minnesota colonj^studied by Roberts (1909), all the young disappeared, 100 percentloss, from some unknown cause.Fautin (1941a) says that: "A partial post-juvenal molt occurredabout the last of July when the plumage of the fledgling was changedto that typical of the first-year birds. During this time the birdsleft the nesting areas and remained in seclusion in the dense cattailmarshes. After most birds had completed their autumn molt theywandered about the fields in large flocks during the day, and returnedto the marshes at night."Gabrielson (1914) made two interesting observations:The method by which the young left the nest was interesting. At 5:38 a. m.one of the young clambered to the edge of the nest, seized one of the supportingreeds with each foot and climbed up them a short distance above the nest, ad-vancing each foot alternately. After going about eighteen inches, the bendingof the stalks under his weight brought them in contact with others onto whichhe went. After travelling in the tops for a little wajr , he commenced to worktoward the water, and reaching a broken reed rested a while. In a few momentshe proceeded along this reed to another and was soon out of sight. * * *I had one glimpse of some of the dangers to which the young Yellowheadsare exposed. One of the young from a neighboring nest was sitting on a reedabout two inches above the water when the jaws of a hungry pickerel rose fromthe water and the nestling disappeared. It was done so quickly that if I had notbeen looking directly at the bird it would never have attracted my attention.Roberts (1909) says of the food of the nestlings: "Grasshoppers,various insects and a large black larva of some sort which the birdsobtained from among the decayed vegetation in the shallow wateralong the edges of the slough formed the chief food supply. Theselarvae were ugly and formidable objects and were thrust down thethroats of the young buds with considerable difficulty. On oneoccasion a female was seen carrying a large flat object, squirming andcurling about her bill, which was evidently a leech."Mrs. Wheelock (1905) writes: "The young are fed by regurgitationfor two days, afterwards by both methods for two days, then entirelyby fresh food. Examination of the crops of the broods reared in lateJune showed, on the first day, snails, waterslugs and larvae all par-tially digested. On the second day, insects denuded of wings, legs,and all hard parts, and thoroughly crushed as well as predigested,
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 111
were found mixed with occasional water moss. The third day showedlittle change in the menu, but the food was less digested and, on thisday, occasional meals of fresh food began to supplant the regurgi-tated."The nesting success in the 504 nests studied by Ammann (MS.)was not so good as that reported by Fautin (1941b). The 504 Iowanests contained 1,565 eggs, an average of 3.1 eggs per nest. "Of the173 successful nests, 40 were completely and 133 partially successful,an average of 2.5 young were raised. Eggs hatched in 44.2 percentof the nests and young were fledged in 34.3 percent. Of all the eggslaid, 53.6 percent hatched and 27.5 percent became successfullyfledged young. In comparing the nesting success of this species withothers it is found to be much lower in every respect. The percentageof eggs hatched and 3roung fledged of 481 nests of six other speciesof passerine birds is 61.4 and 43.0, respectively."Fred G. Evenden, Jr., writes to me that he found a yellow-headedblackbird's nest in a swamp near Corvallis, Oreg., that had beenthoroughly torn up by northwestern redwings that nested in abund-ance in the swamp, and says that "the yellow-heads were not toler-ated by the redwings, being chased and attacked whenever they werein the swamp area."Plumages.?The small nestlings are only thinly covered withbuffy down on the feather tracts of the head and back, but the firstplumage soon begins to appear, pushing the down out on the tips ofthe feathers, where it persists longest on the top of the head. Chap-man (1921a) gives the best description of the juvenal plumage of the3^ellow-headed blackbird as follows: "The whole head and breast arewarm buff, giving the effect of a brown-headed bird; the abdominalregion whitish; the back blackish, both more or less fringed with buff;the tail and wings black, the wing-coverts tipped with white. At thepost-juvenal molt the tail and wing-quills are retained, while the restof the plumage is exchanged for a costume which resembles that ofthe female, but is usually without streaks on the breast, or if streaksare present, they are yellow." I think this description must refer to ayoung male, for the female has no white in the wings.Fautin (1941a) says: "The first-winter plumage of the young isacquired b}T a partial post-juvenal molt as a result of which the buffyfeathers of the head, neck, and breast regions of the fledglings arereplaced in the males by yellowish feathers tipped with brownish onthe sides of the head, throat, and breast, with a collar sometimesextending around the back of the neck. The feathers of the backnape, crown and wings are a deep brown while those of the underparts and especially those of the belly and crural regions are somewhat
112 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211paler around the edges. The autumn plumage acquired by thejuvenal females is much the same as that of the adult females."Ridgway (1902) describes the immature male in first-winter plumageas "similar to the winter female, but larger; general color darker(nearly black on pileum, auriculars, and orbital region) ; superciliarystripe deeper ocher yellow; malar region, chin, and throat chromeyellow, and chest dull cadmium yellow or orange-ochraceous ; no whitestreaks on breast; primary coverts narrowly tipped with white."This plumage is worn without much change until the first post-nuptial molt the following summer. Apparently, young males donot breed in this plumage.Young females in first winter plumage are much like the adults,but colors and more veiled; the breasts are streaked with dull whitish;they evidently breed the following spring, when less than a year old.The prenuptial molt of adults and young, is apparently verylimited, confined mainly to the region of the head and neck, thenuptial plumage being produced chiefly by the wearing away of thedusky tips of the autumn plumage. A complete molt occurs in latesummer, at which the fully adult plumages are acquired. In theadult male the bright yellow, or orange, of the head and neck isobscured, sometimes nearly concealed, by dusky tips; and in the adultfemale the colors are duller, less distinct, and the white streaks on thebreast are less clear.The adult male in his nuptial plumage is a handsome bird; Ridgway(1902) describes a high-plumaged male as having "head, neck, andchest yellow or orange (varying from canary yellow to almost cadmiumorange, rarely to saturn red) ; lores, orbital region, anterior portion ofmalar region, and chin black; rest of plumage uniform black, relievedby a white patch on the wing, involving the primary coverts (excepttheir tips and shafts) and portions of the outermost greater coverts;anal region yellow or orange."Food.?Beal (1900) analyzed the contents of 138 stomachs of theYellow-headed blackbird:As indicated by the contents of these stomachs, the food for the seven months[April to October, inclusive] consists of 33.7 percent of animal (insect) matter and66.3 percent of vegetable matter. The animal food is composed chiefly of beetles,caterpillars, and grasshoppers, with a few of other orders, while the vegetablefood is made up almost entirely of grain and seeds of useless plants. Predaceousbeetles (Carabidae) constitute 2.8 percent of the season's food, . . . other beetlesa little more than 5 percent . . .Caterpillars constitute 4.6 percent, but nearly two-thirds of them are taken inJuly, and in that month they form 21.5 percent of the month's food. Remains ofthe army worm (Leucania uniptmcta) were identified in 6 stomachs.Grasshoppers are eaten to the extent of 11.6 percent for the season,but mainly after August. "The remainder of the animal food, 9.7
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 113percent, is made up of other insects, chiefly Hymenoptera (ants,wasps, etc.), with a few dragon-flies and an occasional spider andsnail."Of the vegetable food, grain collectively amounts to 38.9 percent,more than half of the vegetable food and more than one-third of allthe food.Of grain, oats hold first place, as in the food of the redwing, and are probablyeaten in every month when they can be obtained, although none were found inthe 5 stomachs taken in September. The 3 October stomachs contained anaverage of 63 percent, but a greater number of stomachs would in all probabilitygive a smaller average. August, apparently the next month of importance,shows 43.2 percent. Next to oats corn is the favorite grain, and was eaten to theextent of 9.8 percent, nearly all in the months of April, May and June, with amaximum of 48.8 percent in April, when no wheat was eaten. Wheat appearsfrom May to August, inclusive, and is the only vegetable food that reaches itshighest mark in August. The average for the season is 3.5 percent.Beal (1900) found weed seeds to be an important item in the food:
"Beginning with 18 percent in April, it increases to 34 percent inJune, drops to 6.6 in July (to make room for caterpillars and grass-hoppers), rises to 36.1 percent in August and finally to 64.4 percentin September. * * * The weeds found in the stomachs are almostprecisely the same as those eaten by the redwings, and in practicallythe same proportions. Barngrass (Choetochloa) , Panicum, and rag-weed (Ambrosia) are the leading kinds, supplemented by Polygonum,Rumex, and others."The yellow-headed blackbird is mentioned by La Rivers (1941) asone of the birds seen eating the Mormon cricket. Kalmbach (1914)records it as feeding on the alfalfa weevil. "Of 21 stomachs collectedin June, only 4 failed to contain the weevil. The insect formed 43.48percent of the yellow-head's food and was taken at an average of morethan 6 adults and 47 larvae per bird. The largest number taken byany of this species was 190 larvae and 2 adults. Another record was160 larvae and 2 adults. Three adults and 117 larvae were eaten byone bird, while five others had taken more than 170 individualsapiece."Linsdale (1938) says of the feeding habits in the marsh: "Forageplaces varied, but nearly all the marshy parts of the pond were exploredfor food. Both males and females spent much time feeding close tothe water among the plants (cattails, sedges, Hippuris). A favoritefood hunting place was the mud or shallow water close to the shoreline. As soon as the air warmed sufficiently for flying insects, theblackbirds spent much time capturing the insects in the air. Femalesflew into the air after insects as often as or more often than did males."In the spring, these and other blackbirds are often seen followingthe farmer as he plows his fields, to pick up the grubs and insects
114 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211turned up by the plow. W. J. McLaughlin of Centralia, Kans.,writes (Am. Naturalist, vol. 3, p. 493): "During their stay they makethemselves very valuable to the farmers by destroying the swarms ofyoung grasshoppers. On the writer's land the grasshoppers haddeposited their eggs by the million. As they began to hatch, theyellow-heads found them out, and a flock of about two hundredattended about two acres each day, roving over the entire lot as wildpigeons feed, the rear ones flying to the front as the insects weredevoured."Economic status.?The foregoing remarks on food throw con-siderable light on the economic status of this bird, for although theyellow-headed blackbird destroys a few useful predaceous beetles andshows a fondness for dragonflies that help destroy other annoyinginsects, to its credit is the fact that the bulk of its insect food consistsof injurious species. It does, however, along with other blackbirds,cause considerable damage to the grain crops, pulling up the seedlingsto eat the kernels, feeding on ripening grain, attacking grain in shocks,and injuring corn on the ear while it is in milk. But, as the recordsshow that the various grains were eaten throughout most of the springand summer, much of this must have been waste grain of no economicimportance. On the whole, the bird is probably more beneficial thanharmful, except in a few places where it is sufficiently numerous tocause appreciable damage to crops.Behavior.?DuBois (MS.) noticed that at certain nests con-taining young, the parents chirped and hovered over their nests whenapproached, showing much more solicitude than the birds which hadonly eggs; the latter usually sat off at a little distance and looked on,without any demonstration whatever. Fautin (1941b) found thefemales very shy about then nests, leaving very silently as the nestwas approached, but they never hesitated to drive away anotherbird from the immediate vicinity of the nest. "The emitting of analarm call by one of the members of the colony would also causethem to leave their nests and fly to the assistance of the one that hadsounded the alarm. Such cooperative behavior was witnessed onseveral occasions. On one occasion, when an American Bittern(Botaurus lentiginosus) visited the marsh, it was so severely attackedthat it could not escape by flight and crawled down among the deadbulrush stems to avoid the onslaught until the confusion subsidedand part of the Yellow-heads had retired from the scene of theconflict."While I was watching a colony of these blackbirds breeding in aNorth Dakota slough, a marsh hawk which had a nest not far awayhappened to fly over the colony; whereupon the blackbirds, yellow-
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 115heads, and redwings, arose in a cloud all over the marsh and flewabout for a few minutes, cackling and squealing, until the hawkdeparted; this happened several times, whenever the hawk appeared.Others have noticed similar behavior. Linsdale (1938) saw a black-bird fly after a marsh hawk, "but the pursuit was spiritless." Henoted that, when a prairie falcon circled overhead, they gave thealarm and ' 'hurried to the cover offered by a bush." They alsogave alarm and flew at a Swainson's hawk that flew over; they weredisturbed by a nighthawk, but did not attack it; two crows weredriven away. Wetmore (1920) saw them driven to shelter by amarsh hawk.On the ground, the yellowheads walk sedately, seldom hopping,or run rapidly in pursuit of a moving insect. Of their flight, Linsdalesays:"The flight of the yellow-headed blackbirds contrasted markedlywith that of the red-winged blackbirds. It was slow and deliberateand seemed to reflect the whole manner of the species. The dullwhistle made by the wings could be heard distinctly for 50 yardsor farther as the birds flapped heavily from one perch to another."Wetmore (1920) comments on the perching ability of the birds asfollows
:
The feet of the Yellow-head are relatively very large with long, strong toes andthe birds use them to advantage in walking about on floating aquatic vegetationor soft mud. In the rushes they prove themselves expert gymnasts. Often theyalighted near the tips of the tall round-stemmed tules and as they swayed undertheir weight the birds supported themselves by their wings while they slid theirfeet quickly down to a new hold, trying several grips until finally they were lowenough so that the rush supported them. This was done with great quicknessas the birds shifted from grip to grip rapidly. At times instead of sliding downthey reached out and grasped a second stem with one foot, dividing their weightbetween the two and standing suspended with the feet five inches or so apart.On the subject of combativeness, Ammann (MS.) writes: "Judgingfrom the behavior of nesting Yellow-heads toward humans, the maleis more pugnacious and aggressive than the female. On severaldifferent occasions while I was banding four- or five-day-old youngthe male darted at my head and narrowly missed me. Once after Ihad picked up a fledgling the male flew at me quite forcefully, strikingthe side of my head with his bill. On another occasion I was in ablind and saw an adult male molesting a fledging. Much to mysurprise another adult male immediately attacked the intruder anda short combat in mid-air ensued. Both feet and bills were broughtinto action. In a few seconds the assumed father of the fledglinggot the better of the intruder and while holding him down, half sub-merged on some floating vegetation, pecked viciously at the back of
116 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211his head. The blows were delivered slowly, deliberately, and sharplywith the aid of body and neck movements. This lasted fully eightminutes. The subdued male continuously uttered alarm calls, andwhenever he turned his head around to offer resistance hepecked him about the eyes. The one-sided battle ended when someother males were attracted to the scene; they, however, did not joinin the combat. The victim was slightly bloody about the nape, hadlost a number of feathers, and I supposed that he was almost dead,but he got up, shook himself, and flew weakly away. * * * Femaleswere never seen fighting among themselves, nor attacking men."Voice.?My impressions of the striking song of the yellow-headedblackbird, as heard many years ago while my hearing was good, arementioned in the beginning of this story; the oka wee wee, oka wee wee,oka wee wee notes were the dominant sounds in the slough, and I canseem to hear their rhythmic swing even now. But I cannot find inprint any rendering of the song that is quite like what I wrote in mynotes at the time. What Dawson (in Dawson and Bowles, 1909)calls the alarm cry "uttered with exceeding vehemence, klookoloy,klookoloy, klook ooooo," seems to have a similar rhythm and may bea variation of what I heard. Then he adds: "Ok-eh-ah-oh-oo is amusical series of startling brilliancy, comparable in a degree to theyodelling of a street urchin, a succession of sounds of varying pitches,produced as tho by altering the oral capacity. * * * The last noteis especially mellow and pleasing, recalling to some ears the liquidgurgle of the Bobolink." Mrs. Bailey (1928) quotes from somemanuscript notes from Merrill, of Mesilla Park: "While nothing canbe more raucous than the note of a single individual, the unitedvoices of a few hundred * * * produce an effect very pleasing, if notstrictly harmonious." These are all the words I can find of evenfaint praise of the song.Everybody else condemns it as unmusical and unattractive. AretasA. Saunders tells me that, from his memory of it in Montana, "theform and length of the song is quite like that of the red-wing, therebeing several short notes at the beginning and a more prolonged noteat the end. The quality is most unmusical, however, and the lastnote sounds like a ludicrous squawk."The severest condemnation comes from P. A. Taverner (1934):The song of the Yellow-headed?if song it can be called, as it lacks everymusical quality?is like that of no other Canadian bird. Climbing stiff-leggedlyup a reed or tule stalk the male, with wings partly raised, lowers his head as ifto be violently ill, and disgorges a series of rough, angular consonants, jerkilyand iregularly, with many contortions and writhings, as if their sharp cornerscaught in the throat and they were born with pain and travail. They finallyculminate and bring satisfied relief in a long-drawn, descending buzz, like theslipping of an escapement in a clock spring and the consequent rapid unwinding
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 117
and futile running down of the machinery. The general effect of the performancemay be somewhat suggested by the syllables 'Klick-kluck-klee?klo-klu-klel?kriz-kri-zzzzzzz-zeeeeee.'Jean M. Linsdale (1938) describes the song as follows:The number of notes in the song of the males varied; sometimes it was only onedrawn out, harsh call. However, the most usual song was composed of 5 notes.The first one was explosive and loud, the next two lower and shorter, followedby 2 long drawn out notes at slightly higher pitch. When the males were at thepond this song was given at rather regular intervals and from habitually usedsinging perches. These were most often at exposed points where the announcingbird could be seen from, and could see in, many directions. The song appearedto be useful as much to repel invasion by other males as for any other possibleservice. * * *Other types of notes were heard, as follows. A series of high-pitched notes,with a few guttural sounds when heard at close range, was given on the circularflight made when a march hawk came near. When potential danger first appeared,a plaintive whistle much like that of the red-wings was given. In flight the femalesgave single chucks, much like the notes of red-wings. About the nesting sitesthey had a variety of harsh, screeching notes.Wetmore (1920) noted that the song "was subject to much variation,but ordinarily resembled the syllables Klee Klee Klee Ko-Kow-w-w,the last low and much drawn out."Ammann (MS.) recognized two distinct types of song, the buzzingand the accenting. He describes the former as follows: "The buzzingsong is practically the same for all males. It is begun with severalshort, slightly descending, comparatively low-pitched, melodiousintroductory notes (uttered with the bill closed), followed by a loud,very harsh, drawn-out wavering buzz or wail, rather suddenlyincreasing in volume at the first and held to the end. The mostpeculiar contortions of the body accompany both parts of the song.During the introductory notes the head is always turned to the leftso that the bill is pointing at right angles to the front. At thebeginning of the buzz or wail the angle of the bill to the axis of thebody is decreased about half and held thus throughout the rest of thesong; the neck is extended, bill pointed upward, the wings slightlyopened, tail widely spread, and the whole body made to vibrateslightly, the entire procedure giving the general impression that thebird is in great agony."Of the accenting song, he says: "This song is totally different ingeneral character from the buzzing song although it may often includea short buzzing note such as that described for the latter; evensimilar introductory notes are used. The head and neck are nottwisted much and the entire performance is usually shorter and moreprecise, seeming to be delivered with less strain or agony to the bird.It is also harsh and not musical but more pleasing to me than thebuzzing song. The various syllables are nearly always clearly defined
118 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
since they are usually separated by short intervals. At the beginningof the main part, the throat is swelled, tail spread wider than usual,and sometimes the wings are slightly opened; at the final note, thebreast is thrown forward, the neck stretched upward and the headsnapped back, so that the bill is pointing almost straight up."Field marks.?The adult male yellow-headed blackbird is tooconspicuously marked to be mistaken for anything else; the head,neck, and upper breast are bright yellow, in marked contrast to theblack of the rest of the plumage, and the white patch in the wingcoverts shows plainly in flight and slightly when at rest; in fall theyellow of the head is partially obscured by dusky tips. Females andyoung males are dark brown, instead of black, with much dull yellowor yellowish buff on the throat and chest, even in the juvenal plumage.The females are always much smaller than the males, and have nowhite in the wings.Yellowheads can sometimes be recognized at a considerable distancein flight. Their flight is somewhat undulating, like that of redwingsand not like the straight-line flight of grackles; they differ from theredwings in their flock formations, which are long, irregular, looseflocks, like those of the grackles and not like the wide, company-frontflocks of the redwings; they can also be distinguished from the gracklesby their shorter tails.Enemies.?The eggs and young of the yellow-heads are preyedupon by various forms of furred and feathered enemies. Smallmammals that can swim are likely to climb to the nests and rob them.Crows, and perhaps grackles, sometimes steal the eggs or small young,which are found in abundance in the colonies. The defensive responsein the colony to the appearance of a falcon, marsh hawk, or even aharmless nighthawk or bittern, shows that almost any large bird isregarded as a potential enemy, to be driven away by concerted action.The nests are not uncommonly invaded by cowbirds; Friedmann(1929) cites several authentic cases in various parts of the bird'srange, and mentions one case in which six eggs of the cowbird andfour of the blackbird were found in a single nest. It would seem thata young cowbird would have small chance of survival in the nest of aspecies of this size; there seems to be no record of such survival.Dawson (1923) once found a large "blow snake" coiled just below anest full of young blackbirds.According to information given to Ammaiin (MS.) by Paul L.Errington, he names the chief predators on 37oung and adult j^ellow-headed blackbirds, in the probable order of their importance, asmink, great horned owl, marsh hawk, red fox, and muskrat. SaidErrington, "I would judge that the heaviest pressure by mink uponthe blackbirds occurs in late summer and early fall, probably to a
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 119
considerable extent upon immatures at night." Errington reportedthat from the spring of 1933 to July 1935, 280 great horned owl pelletswere collected, many of them taken when no yellowheads werepresent; of these, 27 contained a minimum of 36 yellowheads, ofwhich at least 6 were young. From the gullet collections of theyoung from 12 marsh hawks' nests, during three seasons, 26 specimensof yellowheads were identified, 5 of which were young. Of the othertwo predators, Errington has this to say: "Foxes take a variablenumber of Icteridae other than meadow larks, but I believe that red-wings are more apt to occur in their diet than yellow-heads. * * *The muskrat often has a meat tooth and may very well eat blackbirdsit finds freshly dead or may even kill an occasional cripple or a veryimmature bird that it may find in the water or in some similarlyaccessible place. However, as an active predator upon blackbirds,I would not say that it rates at all."Ammann (MS.) adds: "The three largest of the known destructiveagencies were a rise in water level of the lake, a cold rainstorm, ashort, violent windstorm. They accounted for the loss of 28.7 percentof all nests and 31.7 percent of all eggs and young (using the totalnumber of eggs as a basis for the latter figure). * * * Internal para-sites were found in the alimentary tract of 21.4 percent of the 117specimens examined. Acarina were found in 17 percent and Mallo-phaga of four species on 59 percent of the 122 specimens examined."Fall.?Fautin (1941a) writes:During the molting period which began in July the Yellow-headed Blackbirdsleft the nesting areas and congregated in large flocks in marshes where the growthof cattails, Typha lalifolia, and bulrushes was most dense. Here they remainedvery much in seclusion during the greater part of the day, coming out only in themornings and evenings to feed. Very often the males were found in one part ofthe marsh and the females and juvenals in another. This association of thefemales and juvenals may have been due to the greater attentiveness of thefemales to the young during their nestling period. * * *When the autumn molt was near completion, about August 1, the Yellow-headed Blackbirds, together with other species of blackbirds, came out of hidingand roved about in the fields during the day, returning to the cattail marshes toroost at night.Migration began about September 1. By September 7 only three femalescould be located in the vicinity of the study areas. One week later a singlejuvenal male in a flock of about fifty Brewer's Blackbirds, Euphagus cyanocephaluscyanocephalus, was all that could be found and by September 17 all had left thevicinity of the study area.Mrs. Bailey (1902) says of the fall wanderings: "From their breed-ing grounds in the sloughs and tule marshes the yellow-headedblackbirds scatter out and wander over the whole of the western plainscountry, appearing in flocks with grackles, red-wings, or cowbirds inthe characteristic hordes of the fall migration, or in flocks by them-380928?57 9
120 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
selves in fields and meadows, along the roadsides, often in barnyardsand corrals, and sometimes in city streets, flocks with pompous,yellow-caped males strutting about among the dull-colored femalesand young, talking in harsh, gutteral tones."At this season the handsome adult males are often seen in flocksby themselves, and the females and young in larger separate flocks.P. A. Taverner (1934) writes:The days are spent on the bountiful stubble fields, and the nights in the marshes.A blackbird roost just before sunset is an interesting place indeed. The birdscome in from every direction, talking and croaking loudly, in vast black clouds,looking, on the horizon, like wisps of smoke blowing before the wind. Theypitch into a bed of reeds already occupied by earlier arrivals, until each stalkseems strung with big, black beads. At the onslaught of the incoming contingent,birds are dislodged right and left, there is a babel of protesting voices and afluttering of many wings that whirr loudly in the still air as the surface of the greenmarsh boils with black forms seeking new resting places. The confusion graduallysubsides until the next arriving flock starts the hubbub over again.Thus it goes on as the sun sinks, until all are in, and then the evening windchases waves over the soft green surface of the reed beds, without revealing ahint of the hordes of black bodies beneath that are resting through the stillnessof the night.Winter.?The yellow-headed blackbirds, having withdrawn fromthe northern portions of their breeding range, spend the winter in thesouthern United States and northern Mexico. They are still to befound, however, in some of the extreme southern parts of their summerrange in more or less reduced numbers. In their winter range, theyroam about over the fields and plains in enormous mixed flocks,visiting the ranches, barnyards, and poultry farms, much as they didin the fall. DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western Canada to central Mexico.Breeding range.?The yellow-headed blackbird breeds from cen-tral Washington (Yakima Valley, Bumping River), central BritishColumbia (Vernon, Cranbrook, Tachick Lake), central-western andnortheastern Alberta (Clairmont, Fort McMurray), north-centralSaskatchewan, central and southeastern Manitoba (Grand Rapids,Winnipeg), northern Minnesota, north-central Wisconsin, north-eastern Illinois, and northwestern Ohio (locally) ; south to southernCalifornia (Potholes, San Jacinto Lake), southwestern Arizona (nearYuma, Imperial Dam), northeastern Baja California (Colorado RiverDelta), south-central Nevada (Paliranagat Valley), southwesternUtah (formerly Virgin River Valley), central and central-easternArizona (Mormon Lake, Marsh Lake), southern New Mexico (Mesilla,Carlsbad), northern Texas, Northwestern Oklahoma (CimarronCounty), and northeastern Missouri (Sarcoxie, Clark County), cen-
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 121
tral Illinois (Quiver Lake), and northwestern Indiana (Lake andPorter Counties). There are summer records which may indicatebreeding in western Texas, central-eastern Missouri, southern Illinois,Michigan, and central Ohio.Winter range.?Winters north to central California (SacramentoValley), central Arizona (Clarkdale), southern New Mexico (Socorro,Carlsbad), central and southeastern Texas (Medina, Port Arthur),and southern Louisiana (Calcasieu Parish, Octave Pass) ; south tosouthern Baja California (San Jose del Cabo), Jalisco, Michoacan,Guerrero, Puebla and central Veracruz.Casual records.?Casual in southwestern British Columbia andcentral Mackenzie, and from northern Michigan, southern Ontario,and western Pennsylvania south to southern Louisiana, and alongthe Atlantic seaboard from Maine to northern Florida.Accidental in the Arctic Ocean (100 miles west of Point Hope,Alaska), northern Manitoba (Churchill), central Quebec (RupertHouse, Godbout), Nova Scotia (Sable Island), southern Florida(Royal Palm Hammock, Key West), Cuba (Havana?market speci-men, Guantanamo) Barbados, and Greenland (Sarcllog, Nanortalik).Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Arkansas?Rogers,March 10. Kentucky?Meade County, April 19. Missouri?Chilli-cot he, March 8 (median of 4 years, March 13) ; New Haven, March 11.Illinois?Hinsdale, March 12; Paris, April 2; Chicago region, April 16(average, May 3). Indiana?Goshen, April 17; Kokomo, April 19.Ohio?Sandusky, April 15. Michigan?Schoolcraft County, April 9;Monroe County, April 29. Ontario?Middlesex County, April 29.Iowa?Sioux City, March 10 (median of 21 years, April 23). Wis-consin?Madison, March 23 ; St. Croix County, April 5. Minnesota
?
Hutchinson, March 20 (average of 19 years for southern Minnesota,April 16); Foreston, April 7 (average of 9 years for northern Minne-sota, May 6). Texas?El Paso, March 7; Taylor County, March 26.Oldahoma?Oklahoma City, February 27; Custer County, March 5.Kansas?Bendena, February 18; Harper, March 2. NebraskaHastings, February 24; Red Cloud, March 6 (average of 14 years,April 12). South Dakota?Vermillion, April 1; Sioux Falls, April 2(average of 7 years, April 30). North Dakota? Jamestown, April 14;Cass County, April 21 (average, May 4). Manitoba?Margaret,April 14; Treesbank, April 18 (median of 42 years, May 3). Macken-zie?Fort Chipewyan, May 24. New Mexico?Rincon, February 16.Arizona?Tucson, February 27; Phoenix, March 8. ColoradoDenver, February 15 (median of 23 years, April 23) ; Walden, March 30(median of 11 years, April 14). Utah?Bear River Refuge, BrighamCity, March 30. Wyoming?Wheatland, April 10; Laramie, April 11(average of 8 years, April 25). Idaho?Deer Flat, March 5; Rupert,
122 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211March 29. Montana?Choteau, April 8; Billings, April 15; Fortine,April 23 (median of 7 years, May 3). Saskatchewan?Qu'Appelle,April 6 (median of 14 years, May 4); Wiseton, April 15 (median of20 years, April 27). Alberta?Stony Plain, April 15. California
?
Siskiyou County, March 17; Fresno, March 23. Oregon?KlamathFalls, March 1; Weston, March 15. Washington?Spokane County,March 20. British Columbia?Okanagan Landing, April 22.Late dates of spring departure are: Michoacan?Quiroga, April 29.Sonora?Guirocoba, May 10. Arkansas?Huttig, May 6. Ken-tucky?Guthrie, May 20. Missouri?Palmyra, May 20. IllinoisChicago, May 21. Texas?Corsicana, June 4; Hidalgo, May 24Oklahoma?Cleveland County, May 29; Oklahoma City, May 28.New Mexico?Glenrio, May 18. Arizona?Tucson, May 13. Cali-fornia?Orange County, May 26; Death Valley, May 20.Early dates of fall arrival are: California?Daggett, July 19.Colorado?Yuma, July 14; Weldona, July 15. New Mexico?Claytonand Glenrio, July 14. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City, July 13. TexasSomerset, July 12; Waco, July 16. Michigan?Bruce Crossing,August 24. Indiana?Indianapolis, August 22. Missouri?Concor-dia, July 23.Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska?100 miles west of PointHope, October 12 (only record). British Columbia?Penicton,October 19. Washington?White Bluffs, October 14. OregonHarney County, November 20. Nevada?Indian Springs, October 25.California?Stockton, November 19; San Geronimo, October 17.Alberta?Andrew, September 28. Saskatchewan?Indian Head,October 20; Wiseton, September 28 (median of 6 years, September 25).Montana?Huntley, November 15; Fortine, October 6. IdahoRupert, September 18. Wyoming?Laramie, October 20 (average of5 years, October 7). Utah?Ashley Creek, Unitah County, September30. Colorado?Fort Morgan, November 10 (median of 12 years,September 7) ; Boulder, October 30. Arizona?Tombstone, November21. New Mexico?Clayton, November 22. Manitoba?Winnipeg,October 28; Treesbank, October 20 (median of 14 years, September 10).North Dakota?Rice Lake, September 17. South Dakota?Mellette,October 26; Sioux Falls, October 9 (average of 5 years, September 26).Nebraska?Neligh, November 26; Gage County, November 5.Kansas?Clearwater, October 14; Harper, October 10. Oklahoma-Oklahoma City, October 17. Texas?Houston, November 28; Com-merce, November 24. Minnesota?Hutchinson, November 14(average of 6 years for southern Minnesota, October 6) ; St. Vincent,October 25. Wisconsin?Appleton, October 24 ; LaCrosse, October 1 1
.
Iowa?Elkader, November 3; Northwood, October 23; Sioux City,October 17 (median of 11 years, September 15). Michigan?Detroit,
EASTERN REDWING 123October 12. Ohio?Toledo, October 22. Indiana?East Chicago,October 15. Illinois?Chicago region, October 30 (average, September15); Rantoul, October 23. Missouri?New Haven, November 6.Kentucky?Guthrie, October 18. Arkansas?Rogers, October 11.Maine?Monhegan Island, September 11. Massachusetts?Water-town and Northampton, October 15. New York?Orient, October 4.Pennsylvania?Chester County, September 15. Maryland?Balti-more, October 1.Egg dates.?Alberta: 8 records, June 4 to June 19.California: 98 records, April 21 to June 28; 53 records, June 2 toJune 10.Illinois: 20 records, May 20 to June 21 ; 10 records, May 25 to June 8.Minnesota: 24 records, May 19 to June 12; 14 records, May 27 toMay 31.Nevada: 15 records, May 22 to June 3.Utah: 8 records, May 16 to June 4 (Harris).AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS PHOENICEUS (Linnaeus)Eastern RedwingPlates 9 and 10HABITSEveryone who notices birds at all knows the red-winged blackbird,or redwing as it is now called; at least they recognize it as a blackbird with red on its wings. It is very conspicuous and self-revealingwhenever one approaches its haunts. It could hardly be overlookedby even the most casual observer, as the male flies up to announcehis presence and display his colors.The numerous subspecies of the redwing are widely spread all overthe continent of North America, except in the arid desert, the highermountain ranges, the forested and the Arctic regions, wherever theycan find suitable marshes in which to breed. The presence of water,or at least its proximity, is essential ; and the birds must have certaintypes of dense vegetation in which to conceal their nests. Marshesor sloughs supporting extensive growths of cattails, bulrushes, sedges,reeds, or tules are their favorite breeding haunts; but where similartypes of vegetation, or water-loving bushes or small trees, grow inponds, around the shores of lakes or along the banks of sluggish streams,the redwings find congenial homes. Wherever such conditions existthroughout this continent, from Central America nearly to the ArcticCircle and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, some form of this speciesis likely to be found.
124 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Spring.?The redwings are among our earliest spring migrants;the eastern redwing leaves its winter haunts in the southern Statesbefore the end of February, reaches New England in March (rarelyearlier), and arrives in eastern Canada in April or earlier. In Mas-sachusetts, we look for the first of these harbingers of spring about thesecond week in March. I wrote in my notes for March 22, 1900:"The first interesting sight that met our eyes, as we walked down thecountry road, was a detached flock of some ten robins in an oldstubble field, the first I had seen that year; it was a welcome sightand their bright red breasts seemed to reflect the warmth of comingspring. A flock of about fifteen redwings, adult males, also arosefrom the same field and circled about, wheeling with better precisionthan the best of trained soldiers, their jet black uniforms and scarletepaulets flashing in the sunlight as they turned. All their movementsseemed to be governed by the same impulse, instantly obeyed, asthey swooped down upon a small apple tree and alighted with everyhead pointing toward the wind. Our approach started them offagain toward some swampy woods, where they scattered and alightedamong the tops of the taller trees."William Brewster (1906) says: "For several weeks after their firstappearance in early spring Redwings are usually found in flockscomposed wholly of males. At this season they are seldom seenabout their breeding grounds excepting in the early morning and lateafternoon. At most other hours of the day they frequent open andoften elevated farming country, where they feed chiefly in grainstubbles and weed-grown fields. When disturbed at their repaststhey fly to the nearest deciduous trees and immediately after alightingburst into a medley of tumultuous song, inexpressibly wild andpleasing when heard at a distance, but rather overwhelming if theflock be a large one and close at hand."Chapman (1912) writes attractively of this early spring behavior:"A swiftly moving, compact band of silent birds, passing low throughthe brown orchard, suddenly wheels, and, alighting among the barebranches, with precision of a trained choir breaks into a wild, tinklingglee. It is quite possible that in the summer this rude chorus mightfail to attract enthusiasm, but in the spring it is as welcome andinspiring a promise of the new }^ear as the peeping of frogs or theblooming of the first wild flower."No better life history 1 of the redwing has ever been published thanthat written by Arthur A. Allen (1914), based on an exhaustivestudy of the bird near Ithaca, N. Y. I regret that space will notpermit quoting from it as fully as it deserves. His study throws new
i The reader should also consult the valuable paper by Eobert W. Nero, "A behavior study of the red-winged blackbird," Wilson Bull., vol. 68, pp. 5-37. 129-150 (1956).
EASTERN REDWING 125light on the migratory movements of the species, and suggests thatsimilar studies of other species might be equally enlightening.As a result of his studies at Ithaca in 1911 and 1910, he divides themigratory waves into seven classes as follows: "Vagrants" arrivedfrom February 25 to March 4; migrant adult males from March 13to April 21; resident adult males from March 25 to April 10; migrantfemales and immature males from March 29 to April 24; residentadult females from April 10 to May 1; resident immature males fromMay 6 to June 1 (1910); and resident immature females from May10 to June 11 (1910).The "vagrants" come during the first warm days of spring, al-though the marshes may still be frozen and the ground still coveredwith snow; they are supposed to be birds that have wintered notvery far south; they do not appear every year, but when they do comethey are seen in February; they "are for the most part adult males,but immature males or females may be found among them. Theyare never in large flocks, and often occur singly. The reproductiveorgans are very small. * * * They do not frequent the open marsh."Of the arrival of the migrant males, Allen (1914) says:The first true migrants arriving in the spring are adult males. They appearin flocks, some of which contain a hundred or more birds, and ordinarily arefirst noted in the marsh, although occasionally seen in tree tops or stubble fieldson the uplands. * * * At this season of the year, about 4:30 in the afternoon,let us take a stand at the upper end of the marsh and gaze southward up theInlet Valley. Presently we discern what appears like a puff of smoke in thedistance, drifting in at a considerable height. After a minute or two the smokeis resolved into an aggregation of black specks, and then, as it drops lower andlower, it takes on that irregular form so characteristic of Redwinged Blackbirds.With one last swoop and flutter of wings, they alight on the more prominent ofthe few scraggly trees at the southern end of the marsh. The migration hasbegun. For a few moments they shake out their feathers and give vent to theirfeelings in song. It is but a short time, however, before they start again for thenorth.A few birds drop out of the passing flocks and settle down into themarsh for a while, but they soon rise again and join another migrat-ing flock. Flocks coming in late in the day fly low and settle for thenight in the scanty shelter of the still dormant flags.Every available perch, not so high as to be conspicuous, is filled with birdsdown to the water's surface, but were it not for the unspeakable din that arisesfrom the hundred of throats, one would scarcely be aware of their presence, so incon-spicuous are they against the dark water. If one disturbs them now, there is arush of wings, but they do not fly far. Raillike they drop back into the marsha short distance away, and soon resume their indescribable discord. * * *This period of the migration, which I have termed the arrival of migrant adultmales, continues for about two weeks before the resident birds begin to arrive.Each evening there is a well-defined flight into the marsh; each night the birds
126 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
all roost together; and each morning they all leave for the north. The marsh tothem at this period is a shelter for the night only, and the entire day is spenton the uplands.The birds referred to at the beginning of this chapter by Brewster,Chapman, and the author probably belonged in this class, migratingadult males. Allen (1914) says of the arrival of resident adult males:The arrival of resident males is first made clear by the actions of the birdsthemselves. To one unfamiliar with their habits the exact time of arrival is notapparent. Up to this time the birds, for the most part, have kept in more orless well-defined flocks. They have been difficult to approach, the slightestannoyance starting them off. * * * About the end of March, however, cer-tain birds arrive, in whose actions a difference is noticed. They do not fly awayat one's approach, or, if frightened, soon return to the same spot. These birdsdo not associate with the migrating flocks, and they roost alone. If one is ena-bled to identify an individual bird among them by such characteristics as abnormalfeet or the loss of its tail or a primary feather, as has frequently been done inthis study, one finds that it never changes its station in the marsh after itsarrival. * * * From their first arrival, they assume all rights to the domainin which they have established themselves. Frequently these domains adjoinone another closely, but the birds seldom trespass on one another's rights. Whenthey do so, they seem to recognize the owner's prerogative, so that seriousquarrels never ensue.The resident males have been at their stations only a few daysbefore the first females and immature males appear among themigrating flocks. The last days of March and first of April usuallyusher them in. Says Allen (1914) : "Within a few days, as their num-bers increase, small flocks made up entirely of females are observed.It is about this time?the end of the first week in April?that themales begin to show a slight interest in the presence of the females.The former now spend more of their time in the marsh, and resentintrusion into their domains. By this time their reproductive organsshow considerable increase in size. Among the migrating birds atthis time there is an increasing preponderance of immature males andof females. The latter shun the presence of the males, and wheneverthey do approach one of the residents, they are immediately driven off."During the early part of the third week in April, another grouparrives, the resident adult females. According to Allen (1914):The flocks break up and the single birds scatter over the marsh, as did theresident males upon their first arrival. Usually they select a place near somemale or group of males. They are much more retiring than the latter, however,and keep mostly near the water's surface, where they are inconspicuous. When-ever they appear on the tops of the cat-tails, or more especially, when theyattempt to fly, they are immediately pursued by one or more of the males.Occasionally a male drives a female in great circles over the marsh and even toa considerable height. Eventually, however, he relinquishes the pursuit andreturns to his post. The earlier migrant females, when pursued in this way,immediately leave the marsh. But now, as the male ceases pursuit, the female
EASTERN REDWING 127
checks her flight and is soon again at her station near the male. Such maneuversannounced the arrival of the resident females.About the first week in May, after most of the adult resident birdshave begun to nest, the resident immature males begin to appear innumbers. From the second week in May until the last of the month,these flocks continue to arrive The resident immature females beginto appear with the immature males about the middle of the month.They increase in numbers until the first of June, when they far out-number the males, and by the second week, when the last migratingbirds are recorded, they compose the entire flocks. Says Allen (1914),
"It is doubtless through some of these birds, at a time when unattachedmales are difficult to find, that many of the cases of polygamy arise."Probably the movements of the different classes of migrants arenot always as clearly defined as indicated by Allen. Fred M. Packard(1937), while banding redwings at the Austin Ornithological ResearchStation, at North Eastham, Mass., found "unsuspected variation inthe behavior of the migrating birds on Cape Cod. Some were appar-ently true migrants; they were caught but once, and did not repeat.Others lingered for a few days or even a month, repeating during thatperiod, and then left; these also were migrants. A third group stayedin the vicinity from the time of their arrival through the nestingperiod, as true residents. A large fourth group was composed ofindividuals that were trapped once or twice on arrival, and thendisappeared, exactly like migrants; but these returned after an intervalvarying from 2 months to 2 weeks, some to nest nearby, others todisappear again." Cape Cod is a long, narrow, curving peninsulapointing northward at its terminus and facing a broad expanse ofwater. Perhaps the returning birds of the fourth group preferred toturn back, rather than risk the long flight over the water.Territory.?As indicated above and as noted by all observers, theresident adult male, on his arrival on the breeding grounds or soon afterthat, "stakes out his claim" to the territory that he has decided to estab-lish and to defend. This claim may be large or small, depending on thesize of the marsh and the density of its population ; in a large marsh withfew redwings nesting in it, the territories may be extensive and welloutlined; but in a dense colony, the claims are close together and theboundaries are not so well marked. The male stands his ground anddefends his territory against intruding male redwings and othertrespassing birds; he even drives away female redwings until he isready to mate.Ernst Mayr (1941) writes as follows on territorial behavior:
"Early in the season, when the weather was still cold and the males hadjust recently established themselves in their territories, they spend agood deal of their time sitting on thb top of small bushes or old cat-tail
128 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
stalks and calling softly chuck-chuck, particularly when migratingblackbirds flew overhead. They were rather fluffed up and onlythe yellow margin of their shield showed. As soon as a singing spell
'overcame' one of the birds his whole attitude changed, and he dis-played his red brilliantly?only to fall back into his former lethargiccondition when the singing was ended."Courtship.?While the male redwings are defending their terri-tories and driving away migrating redwings of both sexes, the resi-dent females come, between April 10 and May 1 at Ithaca, accordingto Allen (1914). They select their own territories, where they planto build their nests, and these are usually near the station of someestablished male or group of males. At first the male drives away thenewcomer and chases her about over the marsh, but she returns tothe spot she has selected. Eventually he is ready to select his mateand may be seen following her about. "He never allows her to escapefrom his sight, and as she hunts about near the water's surface, hevaunts himself on the nearest cat-tail. They now may be consideredmated."Probably most redwings are mated in pairs that are true to eachother, but this is a matter that is not easily determined in a largecolony. Allen (1914) says: "Certain pairs have been observedthroughout the season, and found to be mated as steadfastly as aremost birds, while in others the tie seems to bind only so long as themale is watchful and able to exert his lordship in driving away othermales. A female has been observed to receive one male with spreadingwings and quivering feathers, and in the next moment, when this birdhad been driven off, to welcome the victor with the same freedom anddisplay."Females sometimes take a more active part in the courtship per-formance as observed by Thomas Proctor (1897), who says: "Andvery amusing indeed it was to watch these comedians in sober brown,but in extemporized ruffs, puffs and puckers, pirouette, bow andposture, and thus quite out-do in airs and graces their black-coatedgallants. Their shrill whistle, the meantime continually vied with,or replied to, the hoarse challenges of their admirers, while in noisychattering, and in teasing notes, they were excessively voluble."It is generally believed that the redwing is often polygamous, thoughby no means always so. It is often evident that there are morefemales and more occupied nests in a marsh than there are males.In one swamp studied by Mayr (1941), he shows 12 nests in his sketchin what he supposed were 6 territories; he was unable to determinethe exact number of males, but says that "there were not less thanfour and not more than six." In another swamp, two males hadtwo females each and another had only one.
EASTERN REDWING 129Mabel Osgood Wright (1907) writes: "When Redwings live incolonies it is often difficult to estimate the exact relationship betweenthe members, though it is apparent that the sober brown, stripedfemales outnumber the males; but in places where the birds are un-common and only one or two male birds can be found, it is easilyseen that the household of the male consists of from three to fivenests each presided over by a watchful female, and when dangerarises this feathered Mormon shows equal anxiety for each nest, andcircles screaming about the general location."Numerous banding records have indicated the males far out-number the females, but this is probably due to the fact thatthe males enter the traps more readily than the more retiring females,and so are more often recorded. What is probably a more reliableconclusion as to the actual sex ratio was found in the careful studiesof J. Fred Williams (1940). He states in his summary:In a study of nestling Eastern Red-Wings made at Indian Lake, Ohio, from June18 to July 22 it was found that the young could be sexed by dissection at any timeafter hatching.With the age of nestlings known to the nearest day it proved possible to dis-tinguish between the sexes by means of weights after the fifth day, and bymeans of tarsal lengths after the eighth day.The following sex ratios were found:Among 119 young, representing the full egg complements of 35 nests, 57 males:62 females.Among 94 young which were successfully fledged, 47 males: 47 females.Among 21 young which died during the nesting period, 9 males: 12 females.The apparent deviation of the first and third of these ratios from the expected50:50 could easily be due to random variation in sampling.To assume that the even 50 : 50 birth rate, or nearly that, is the rule,does not agree with the well-known fact that the females outnumberthe males on the breeding grounds, unless we also assume that thefemales begin to breed when less than one year old and that the males,at least most of them, do not mate until they are nearly 2 years old.This is true of the yellow-headed blackbird, and probably also of theredwing. With the sexes as unbalanced, as they are in the breedingcolonies, polygamy is likely to be quite prevalent and promiscuity,or even polyandry, may often occur, through the latter is probablyrare.Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1920) gives the following excellentaccount of the courtship display of the male:The courtship of the Red-winged Blackbird centers as distinctly about thedisplay of the scarlet epaulettes as does the courtship of the Peacock about thedisplay of his train. The adult male Red-wing when absorbed in feeding is aplain blackbird with a pale yellow stripe on his shoulder or one with a narrowband of red. The color may even be entirely covered up by the prevailingblackness of his costume. When, however, his love passions are excited he spreads
130 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
his tail, slightly opens his wings, puffs out all his feathers, and sings his quonk-quer-ee, or his still more watery and gurgling song, appropriate to an oozing bog,his ogle-dggle-yer. Now when he puffs out his body feathers he especially puffsout, erects, and otherwise displays to their best advantage the gorgeous scarletepaulettes. These patches become actually dazzling in their effect as he slowlyflies toward the object of his affections, for these beauty spots are most effectivewhen seen from in front.While admiring the gorgeous display of brillant scarlet and goldset in its framework of glossy black, one is apt to overlook the awk-ward posture of the bird; standing on some prominent perch, heleans forward, pointing his bill toward his tail beneath the branch,with his back hunched up, as if he were to become violently nauseated,suggesting the ludicrous performance of the cowbird.Allen (1914) mentions another form of courtship:In addition to the ordinary display and erection of feathers, a method of soaringis now indulged in. In comparison with that of the Lark, it is rather crude, butundoubtedly it is akin to it. Mounting in a rather irregular spiral, the malebird attains a considerable height, where he hovers, oftentimes for long periods,while his wings barely flutter. Song is not generally indulged in. Eventually,with half-closed wings, the bird drops down in a zigzag course to the marsh. Adozen or more birds may frequently be seen in the air at once, as they performthese evolutions. At this time, also, hovering at a much lower height is frequentlyindulged in. With a few quick strokes of his wings, the male vaults from hispost into the air, and with quivering wings and flaming shoulders, gives vent tohis pent-up passion in the "scolding song" described above.Nesting.?Redwings build their nests in a variety of situations,though usually in a marsh, swamp, or wet meadow, where the nestsare placed in cattails (Typhus) dead or living, rushes (Scirpus),sedges (Carex), tussocks of marsh grass, or such water-loving bushesas button bushes (Cephalanthus) , alders (Alnus), or willows (Salix).Such associations in shallow ponds, or along the shores of lakes orthe banks of sluggish streams, afford suitable nesting sites. Althoughthe birds prefer the vicinity of water, their nests are often found ondry uplands, sometimes at a considerable distance from any water,in fields of tall grass, clover, and daisies, where they must be builtclose to or even on the ground. Nests in bushes and trees also havebeen reported by several observers.A. D. Du Bois has sent me the data for 42 nests found in fourNorthern States; 3 of these were in trees or bushes from 8 to 9 feetabove the ground; 2 were in clumps of nettles on the margin of amarsh, 2 feet above the dry ground. Of 24 nests, reported to me byT. E. McMullen, found in New Jersey, 6 were in bayberry bushesnear marshes and among sand dunes near the ocean; one was 9 inchesup in a clump of goldenrod in a clover field; and another was 8 inchesup in a wild rose bush standing in 8 inches of water. Alexander F.Skutch tells me that he found two nests in upland alfalfa fields near
EASTERN REDWING 131Ithaca, N. Y. "The two were built in exactly similar situations, inthe midst of the stalks of an alfalfa plant, with the bottom in eachinstance three inches above the ground." Witmer Stone (1937)records redwings' nests in privet hedges, marsh elders (Iva fruiescens)
,
and one in a small cedar bush, in New Jersey. A. Sidney Hyde (1939)found a nest in a clump of vetch (Vicia) and another in a wild cherryshrub, in northern New York.William Brewster (1937) says of the nesting habits of redwings atLake Umbagog, Maine: "Most of them breed on small, floatingislands moored not within areas permanently covered by the lake butin bordering marshes which have every appearance of thus belongingto it, whenever completely submerged. The islands float only at suchtimes but they keep ever level with the surface of the water, howeverquickly it may rise or fall, yet seldom shift otherwise than vertically,being too firmly anchored to solid ground beneath by tough, flexibleroots which proceed from living bushes?and perhaps also mediumsized trees?that overspread what are essentially buoyant rafts ofvegetable matter for the most part long since dead."Althea R. Sherman (1932) refers thus to tree nesting in Iowa: "It is25 years since Red-winged Blackbirds began nesting in the tops of ourtrees, which grow more than half way up the hillside from a brookfrequented by others of their species. Since 1907, when four femalesbuilt nests at heights of 18 to 22 feet from the ground in separate plumtrees, there has been great increase in growth of wild currant, wildgooseberry and elderberry bushes in our house yard of about an acre inextent. In these bushes more frequently than in the tops of plumtrees do the Red-wings nest."C. J. Maynard (1883) adds the following: " "I have found the nestson an island in the marshes of Essex River, placed on trees twenty feetfrom the ground! In one case, where the nest was placed on a slendersapling fourteen feet high, that swayed with the slightest breeze, thenest was constructed after the manner of our Baltimore Orioles, prettilywoven of the bleached sea-weed called eel-grass. So well constructedwas this nest, and so much at variance with the usual style, that had itnot been for the female sitting on it, I should have taken it for a nest ofI. Baltimore. It was six inches deep."Dr. George M. Sutton (1942) published a photograph of anotherpensile nest, found by Malcom W. Rix in Oneida County, N. Y. Itwas suspended "at the end of a grape-covered willow branch, aboutthree feet above water several feet deep. * * * The inside depthof the nest was only slightly greater than that of the general averageof the species, and not comparable to that of a Baltimore Oriole's nest.The color of the nest was distinctly that of a Red-wing's, although thematerials apparently were somewhat finer than usual."
132 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211W. E. Clyde Todd (1940) mentions two Pennsylvania nests thatwere more than 30 feet from the ground in willow trees, the highest Ihave seen recorded. Brewster (1906) reports a nest in a vertical forkof a small apple tree in an orchard not far from a pond. Harold M.Holland (1923) found a redwing's egg and a cowbird's egg in a Bell'svireo's nest; and later an egg of the redwing and two cowbird's eggs, inanother Bell's vireo's nest, were so much like the eggs in the other nestthat they appeared to have been laid by same interlopers.Allen (1914) describes the progress of the nesting at Ithaca:The first nests built are located in the dead stubs of the cat-tails that have beenburned over during the previous fall. At first they are not sheltered by anyvegetation of any kind, for the new growth is barely above the water. * * * Asthe season advances and the vegetation grows, green stalks are included in thesupport. At first these are not sufficiently strong to serve alone as a support, andconsequently the nests are always attached on one side to the dead stub. * * *This is true of most of the nests constructed in early May, and it generally resultsin disaster. So firmly are the nests fastened by the strands of milkweed fiber, thatthe side attached to the green blades is carried upward by their growth, while theother, attached to the dead stubs, remains fixed. As a result, the one side is liftedat the rate of almost an inch a day until the nest is inverted. The birds continueto incubate until the last egg is rolled out. * * * By the end of the third week inMay, most of the vegetation in the marsh is sufficiently strong to support a nest,and as a result, nests built at this season are located rather indiscriminately in cat-tail, sedge, burreed, water horsetail, dock, or arrow arum. By the first of June thecat-tails and sedges are matured, and have become very dense and harsh. TheRedwings now desert them for the softer vegetation, such as the dock and smart-weed, which by this time fill most of the small ponds.The time required for building a complete nest is usually 6 days. Of this time,3 days are spent on the outer basket and "felting," and 3 days on the lining.Many of the later, more poorly built nests require much less time for construction,some of them being completed in as few as 3 days. * * * The constructionof the nest, in all cases observed at Ithaca, has been entirely by the female. Themale has never been seen with nesting material in his bill. He is very attentive,however, during the process.* * * The adult birds commence building again, often before the first younghave left the nest. The second nest is located in the immediate vicinity of thefirst, frequently within a distance of 10 feet. This is true also when the first nesthas been robbed or destroyed. One pair, which was experimented upon, built4 nests within a radius of 25 feet between April 25 and May 18.Nuttall (1832) gives us the most complete description of the nest ofthe redwing as follows
:
Outwardly it is composed of a considerable quantity of the long dry leaves ofSedge-grass (Carex), or other kinds collected in wet situations, and occasionallythe slender leaves of the flag (Iris) carried round all the adjoining twigs of the bushby way of support or suspension, and sometimes blended with strips of the lint ofthe swamp Asclepias, or silk-weed (Asclepias incarnala). The whole of thisexterior structure is also twisted in and out, and carried in loops from one side ofthe nest to the other, pretty much in the manner of the Orioles, but made of lessflexible and handsome materials. The large interstices that remain, as well as the
EASTERN REDWING 133bottom, are then filled in with rotten wood, marsh-grass roots, fibrous peat, or mud,so as to form, when dry, a stout and substantial, though concealed shell, the wholevery well lined with fine dry stalks of grass or with slender rushes (Scirpi). Whenthe nest is in a tussock, it is also tied to the adjoining stalks of herbage; but whenon the ground this precaution of fixity is laid aside.Harold B. Wood sends me the following note: "A dissected nest,which had been built around 18 burreed stalks, was composed of142 cattail leaves, up to 21 inches in length, and lined with 705pieces of grasses. It also contained 34 strips of bark of water willow,up to 34 inches in length, which made 273 laps around the reeds,with only one making a complete loop around a stalk. The tensilestrength of the matting was tested by placing in the nest increasingweights until a weight of four pounds was held before the nest beganto slip down the reeds. Eleven of 42 nests were completed and neverused; no nest was ever used for a second brood. Red-wings will notabandon eggs merely because they are discovered, as will robins."Eggs.?The eastern redwing lays from three to five eggs in a set,usually four. Bendire (1895) describes them as follows:The eggs of the Red-winged Blackbird are mostly ovate in shape; the shellis strong, finely granulated, and moderately glossy. The ground color is usuallypale bluish green, and this is occasionally more or less clouded with a pale smoke-gray suffusion. They are spotted, blotched, marbled, and streaked, mostlyabout the larger end, with different shades of black, brown, drab, and heliotropepurple, presenting great variation in the amount, character, and style of markings.Occasionally an entirely unspotted egg is found.The average measurement of 380 eggs in the United States National Museumcollection is 24.80 by 17.55 millimetres, or about 0.98 by 0.69 inch. The largestegg in the series measures 27.94 by 19.05 millimetres, or 1.10 by 0.75 inches;the smallest, 20.57 by 15.75 millimetres, or 0.81 by 0.62 inch.Young.?Allen (1914) has this to say about the incubation of theeggs: "During the days when the eggs are being deposited, frequentlyboth birds continue their excursions to the uplands. With thelaying of the third egg, incubation begins, and thenceforth both birdsremain in the marsh. Incubation, so far as observed, is performedentirely by the female. In one instance the first egg hatched in tendays, and frequently one or more of the eggs requires twelve, but theusual period is eleven days."Of the development of the young, he writes:At hatching the young are blind and helpless. The skin is scarlet, with buta scant covering of buffy or grayish down along the principal feather tracts. Theyare at first exceedingly helpless, scarcely able to raise their heads for food, butthey gain strength rapidly after the first feeding. During the first day there isconsiderable increase in size. On the second day feather sheaths of the primariesand secondaries show distinctly. By the third day these feather sheaths appeardistinctly along all of the tracts. On the fourth and fifth days there is a greatincrease in the size of the body and in the length of the quills. On the sixththe feather sheaths of the wing break open. On the seventh the wing feathers
134 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211have grown considerably, and those of the other tracts begin to break. On theeighth all of the sheaths have broken, and the wing feathers have attained con-siderable length. On the ninth the feathers have grown still further, but do notyet cover all of the bare spaces. The young can fly short distances, however,and can not be kept in the nest if once frightened or removed. If the nest hasbecome polluted, as frequently occurs when it has become greatly compressedby the growing vegetation, they may leave of their own accord on this day. Onthe tenth the stronger of the young leave and climb to near-by supports. If thenest is approached, all leave, but otherwise the weaker remain until the eleventhday, when all scatter to the vegetation in the immediate vicinity. They allremain in this neighborhood for at least ten days, even after the parents haveceased caring for them and have started a second brood.He quotes from F. H. Herrick as follows: "In the space of fourhours on the first day * * * fifty-four visits were made and theyoung were fed forty times. The female brooded her young; overan hour, fed them twenty-nine times, and cleaned the nest thirteentimes. The male made eleven visits, attending to sanitary mattersbut twice. * * * On the following day, * * * in the course ofnearly three and one-half hours, 55 visits were made, and the youngwere fed collectively or singly 43 times. * * * The male birdserved food eleven times and attended to sanitary matters once.In the course of forty-two minutes the first young bird to leave thenest was fed eight times, seven times by the mother and once bythe father."Allen continues: "The principal insects eaten are May flies, caddisflies, and lepidopterous larvae. Generally three or four insects arebrought each time, and one delivered to each young. This is notalways the case, however, for sometimes the entire mass is given toone bird. There seems to be no order in this distribution, the youngbird with the longest neck and widest mouth always getting fed first.The food is delivered well down into the throat of the young, and ifnot immediately swallowed is removed and given to another."Ira N. Gabrielson (1914) listed the following items given to a broodof young redwings during 51 feedings: 12 unidentified items, 11wireworms, 1 cricket, 3 beetles, 2 May flies, 3 other flies, 4 greenworms, 20 grasshoppers, 3 moths, 1 spider, 4 tomato worms, and1 measuring worm.Wood says in his notes: "Of the 37 nests which were followedthrough the season, 16 had successful broods; 23 contained 73 eggs,of which 53 hatched (72 percent). From these 73 eggs only 35 full-grown young birds left the nests, a productivity of 48 percent. Twoout of 94 eggs were infertile." In his published paper (1938), hewrites: "The ability of a nestling redwing to take care of himself wastested. A nestling less than two or three days old would be apt todrown if it should tumble out of the nest. As they grow older theybecome more able to save themselves. Placed in water, the half-
EASTERN REDWING 135grown nestling will float and can swim, but in a very excited manner.They will swim to the reeds and hold on, calling for their parents.When well covered with feathers, but yet a few days before being readyto vacate the nest, they readily swim, but excitedly, and can climb upthe cattails to the nest. They are not combative and can not protectthemselves against enemies."Probably two broods are normally raised in a season, and perhapsoften three.Plumages.?The early nestling plumages are described above.Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage of the young male asfollows: "Above, including sides of head, wings, tail, and lessercoverts (i. e., the so called 'shoulders') dull brownish black (no red atthis stage), the feathers edged with buff, palest and narrowest onprimaries, rectrices, head and rump, and richest on scapulars andsecondaries. Below pinkish buff, ochraceous on the chin, thicklystreaked (except on the chin) with brownish black. Obscure super-ciliary line ochraceous-buff."A complete postjuvenal molt, beginning in August, the time varyingfor the earlier and later broods, produces the first winter plumage ofthe male, in which the "entire plumage, including wings and tail,"is "greenish black much veiled with buffy and ferruginous edgings,palest below and faint or absent on primaries and rectrices. Lesserwing coverts ('shoulders') dull orpiment-orange, each feather withsubterminal bars or spots of black. Median coverts rich ochraceousbuff usually mottled with black subterminal areas chiefly on the innerwebs, the shafts usually black."The first nuptial plumage is "acquired by wear, which is consider-able, birds becoming a dull brownish black by loss of the feather edg-ings and by fading. The mottled 'shoulder patches' are characteristicof young birds, the amount of orange varying greatly. The wingsand tail show marked wear."A complete postnuptial molt occurs in August, at which young andold become practically indistinguishable. Dwight describes thisadult winter plumage of the male as "lustrous greenish black, feathersof head and back, greater wing coverts and tertiaries edged more orless (according to the individual) with buff and ferruginous brown.Below, the edgings are paler or absent. The bright scarlet-vermilion
'shoulders' are acquired together with the rich ochraceous buff mediancoverts."The full brilliancy of the spring plumage is produced by wear, thebuff and brown edgings disappearing; the wings and tails of the adultsshow less wear than in the young birds.Of the plumages of the female, Dwight (1900) writes; "In nataldown and juvenal plumage females differ little from males, the juvenal
136 TJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211dress perhaps averaging browner above with less buff below and thechin narrowly streaked. The first winter plumage is acquired by acomplete postjuvenal moult as in the male, from which the femalenow differs widely, being brown and broadly streaked. The firstwinter plumage is hardly distinguishable from the adult winter andpasses into the first nuptial by wear, which produces a black and whitestreaked bird, brown above. A pinkish or salmon tinge is oftenfound in females in any of these plumages, especially about the chinand head, and an orange or crimson tinge may show on the 'shoulders'of the older birds."Food.?Beal (1900) prepared an extensive report on the food ofthe redwing, based on an examination of 1,083 stomachs collectedduring every month in the year from most of its range in the UnitedStates and Canada. In spite of the prevailing impression that red-wings are very injurious to the farmer's interests, his diagram shows novery decided foundness for grain, as most of the birds' food consistedof weed seeds and insects. Unfortunately, no stomachs were examinedfrom the rice-growing region during sowing and harvesting of thiscrop, where considerable damage is claimed. "The food of the yearwas found to consist of 73.4 percent of vegetable matter and 26.6percent of animal." His table shows the following average percent-ages for the 12 months: Animal food?predaceous beetles 2.5, snout-beetles 4.1, other beetles 3.5, caterpillars 5.9, grasshoppers 4.7, otherinsects 4.1, spiders and myriapods 1.3, other animal food 0.5, total26.6 percent; vegetable food?fruit 0.6, corn 4.6, oats 6.3, wheat 2.2,other grain 0.8, weed seeds 54.6, other vegetable food 4.3; total?73.4percent. The consumption of weed seeds amounts to 97 percent inNovember.Another table shows the frequency with which certain vegetablefoods were taken. Among the larger items, oats were found in 190stomachs and corn in 117. Weed seeds of some kind were apparantlyfound in all the stomachs, panic grass in 168, bear grass in 271, rag-weed in 189, and smartweed in 200. Small fruits were seldom eaten,blackberries being found in 7 stomachs, blueberries in 2, and goose-berries, strawberries, and currants were found in only one stomacheach.Of 84 specimens examined by F. H. King in Wisconsin, 37 hadeaten corn and weed seeds, 31 only seeds, 7 only corn, 3 rye, 2 oats,8 wheat, and 2 tender herbage; five had eaten 7 beetles, four 7 grass-hoppers, one a moth, and one a caterpillar; eight had eaten smallmollusks. Bendire (1895) includes small mollusks and newts in thefood. Forbush (1907) writes: "They forage^about the fields andmeadows when they first come north in the spring. Later, theyfollow the plow, picking up grubs, worms, and caterpillars; and should
EASTERN REDWING 137there be an outbreak of cankerworms in the orchard, the Blackbirdswill fly at least half a mile to get cankerworms for their young. Wilsonestimated that the Red-wings of the United States would in fourmonths destroy sixteen thousand, two hundred million larvae."During the nesting season, much of the redwings' food is obtainedin the marshes, but they resort regularly to the uplands to gleaninsects, grain, and seeds in the plowed fields, cultivated lands, andrecently cut hay fields. They even resort to trees at times. Du Boissays in his notes: "From an upstairs window I watched a female red-wing, as she searched the foliage of the nearby basswood for thesmall, smooth, green caterpillars which infest these trees. Hermethod was similar to that of the vireos, though she lacked some oftheir skill and grace. She hopped from twig to twig, eating thecaterpillars from the leaves; and once she made a little flight to take acaterpillar from the under side of a leaf while hovering in the air. Ihad seen a female redwing at the same business in this tree before."Francis H. Allen -writes to me: "In October the redwings feed onthe seeds of a white ash behind my house. They come there dayafter day, sometimes for a week at a time. I notice the manner offeeding of a small flock composed of both sexes. After reaching upand picking off a samara, the bird held it against the twig on which itperched and in this way evidently detached the wing, or perhapsshelled the seed. They seemed to be unable to cut off the wing withthe bill alone without a solid twig to aid them. My neighbor, Mr.John S. Codman, has seen redwings eating seeds from white pine conesin the tops of the trees, perching on the cones as they picked themout."Southerners have complained that redwings pull up the long-leafpine seedlings to eat the seeds. But they are useful in destroying thecotton boll weevil in the south and the alfalfa weevil, two of our mostdestructive weevils. They also eat the larvae of the g}^psy moth andthe tent caterpillar.Economic status.?On its northern breeding grounds the easternredwing is almost wholly beneficial, and comparatively few complaintsare made of serious damage to crops. Its food while here consistsalmost entirely of insects, very few of which are useful species, andweed seeds, which form by far the largest proportion of its food. Theyoung are fed almost exclusively on insects. It does some damage tosprouting grain in the spring, and to sweet corn in the summer, whilethe kernels are soft and milky, by tearing off the husks and ruiningthe ears for the market. Other grains are also attacked to a limitedextent, but much of the grain eaten is waste grain picked up from theground.38092&?57 10
138 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211In the Middle West, where the redwings are much more abundantand where the cereal crops are more extensively cultivated, these andother blackbirds, in late summer and fall, swoop down in vast hordeson the grain fields and do an immense amount of damage to the grainboth while it is ripening and while it is being harvested. Even there,the redwing has some good points in its favor. Lawrence Bruner(1896) writes from Nebraska: "Even when it visits our corn fields itmore than pays for the corn it eats by the destruction of the wormsthat lurk under the husks of a large percent of the ears in every field.Several years ago the beet fields in the vicinity of Grand Island werethreatened great injury by a certain caterpillar that had nearlydefoliated all the beets growing in many of tbem. At about this timelarge flocks of this bird appeared and after a week's sojourn thecaterpillar plague had vanished, it having been converted into birdtissue."In the Southern States, it does great damage to the rice crop bypulling up the seedling rice plants in the spring and by eating the softgrain as it ripens. In this respect the redwing is almost as bad as thebobolink. It does some good, however, by destroying the seeds of theso-called "volunteer" rice, which, if allowed to grow, would injure thevalue of the crop.S. D. Judd (1901) says that on the fall migration, bobolinks andredwings converge and swarm into the limited area of the rice districtsso as to destroy annually $2 million worth of the crop. And B. H.Warren (1890) quotes T. S. Wilkinson as saying: "The rice crop inLouisiana, from the time the rice is in the milk till harvest time andduring harvesting, is much damaged by birds, principally the Red-shouldered Blackbird. Shooting is the only remedy thus far resortedto which is at all effective, and it is only partially so. I have knownrice crops to be destroyed to the extent of over 50 percent, which is aloss of say $13 per acre. While this is an extreme case, a damage andexpense of from $5 to $10 per acre is very common."Beal (1900) says in conclusion: "In summing up the economicstatus of the redwing the principal point to attract attention is thesmall percentage of grain in the year's food, seemingly so much atvariance with the complaints of the bird's destructive habits. Judgedby the contents of the stomach alone, the redwing is most decidedly auseful bird. The service rendered by the destruction of noxiousinsects and weed seeds far outweighs the damage due to its consump-tion of grain. The destruction that it sometimes causes must beattributed entirely to its too great abundance in some localities."Behavior.?On the ground the redwing walks deliberately, or runs,or hops rapidly when trying to keep up with a feeding flock. In latesummer or early fall, one may occasionally see immense flocks of
EASTERN REDWING 139
redwings mixed with grackles, cowbirds, and starlings feeding in theopen fields. Such flocks sometimes contain hundreds or even thou-sands of birds. I have seen flocks that covered as much as an acre ormore in a broad expanse of meadow or pasture land, densely spreadover the ground like a great black mantle. The flock moves alongsteadily as it feeds, all moving in the same direction; at intervalsthose in the rear rise, fly over the main flock, and settle in front of theadvancing horde, to resume their feeding; this happens again andagain, giving the impression of a vast rolling cloud of black birds.When the edge of the field is reached the whole mass rises in a body,to rest in the treetops for a time, or to swoop down into another field.In the air the flight of the redwing is characteristic; it flies withbursts of rapid wingbeats, between which are slight intermittentpauses, producing a somewhat wavy motion. The flocks are inorderly formation, wheeling and turning in unison, but the individualbirds in the flock are constantly changing their positions, rising andfalling more or less independently. The vast flocks that travelabout through the Southern States in fall and winter are most im-pressive. Pearson (1925) writes: "At this time they may be seen inflocks numbering tens of thousands, and they present a marvelousspectacle as they fly with all the precision of perfectly trained soldiers.I have seen fully thirty thousand of them while in full flight suddenlyturn to the right or the left or at the same instant swoop downwardas if they were all driven by common impulse. They perform manywonderful feats of flight when on the wing. Sometimes a long billowof moving birds will pass across the fields, the ends of the flyingregiment alternately sinking and rising, or even appearing to tumbleabout like a sheet of paper in a high wind."Wilson (1832) says: "Sometimes they appeared driving about likean enormous black cloud carried before the wind, varying its shapeevery moment; sometimes suddenly rising from the fields around mewith a noise like thunder; while the glittering of innumerable wings ofthe brightest vermillion amid the black cloud they formed, producedon these occasions a very striking and splendid effect."Redwings are very aggressive in driving away any large bird thatapproaches their nesting places; crows, hawks, and even ospreys arevigorously attacked and pursued sometimes far beyond the bound-aries of the territories; even the bittern is driven to cover in the marsh.Francis Allen tells me that he once saw a redwing "riding on a crow'sback for an appreciable length of time."If a man approaches a nesting colony, even within a hundred feet,the male redwing rises from his lookout perch and flies out to meethim with loud cries of alarm or harsh chucks, hovering over his head andthreatening to attack him, but seldom actually striking him. Alex-
140 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
ander F. Skutch says in his notes: "As I crossed one large meadowwhere several redwings apparently had nests, I had an escort ofguardian males all the way; for as soon as I passed beyond the boundsof the domain of one of them and he dropped behind, another vigilantbird would take over, hover over me, and shriek down imprecations."Du Bois writes to me of a most pugnacious redwing, saying: "Hewould hover directly over my head, where I could not see him, andfrom that advantageous position would strike the top of my head,pecking so hard through a thin summer cap that the blows were quitestinging. After he had struck repeatedly, I hoisted a bamboo staffthat I was carrying, directly under him, thus forcing him upward;but he alighted on the top of the staff and sat there, temporarily,looking down at me. Three days later, when I had stooped over,near his nest, he struck me on the back and on the arm, and evenalighted for an instant on my back. He attacked the camera, also,when I left it standing on its tripod covered with a focussing cloth."The great fall and winter roosts of redwings and other blackbirdsare well known, but few have noted the early summer roosts of themales alone while the females are busy with their nesting. Dr. A. K.Fisher (1896) has told us about this as observed in southern New Yorkin June: ''The red-winged blackbird is another species which appearsto leave its mate and family to spend the night in company with othermales. While watching in this marsh during the early summer eve-nings the writer has seen flocks composed wholly of males flying in,from an hour before sunset until dusk. Some of these bands con-tained a hundred or more noisy fellows, while others were made up ofonly eight or ten individuals. It is probable that all of the males of agiven inland marsh band together toward sunset and come to thegreat rendezvous to spend the night."Experiments were conducted by Reginald D. Manwell (1941), atSyracuse, N. Y., in April and May, to determine the strength of thehoming instinct in the redwing. He released 133 males at distancesvarying from 2 to 210 miles from the place of capture; of these, 47birds were recaptured after their return. "The proportion of birdsrecaught after any given liberation did not exceed 50 percent andwas generally not over 33 percent." Some others may have returned,but were not captured. Most of them returned within a week or two,but some did not appear until the following spring.Voice.?Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following full accountof the song: "The song of the red-wing, well known to bird lovers asconqueree, is actually much more variable than this simple rendition.It generally consists of from 1 to 6 short notes, followed by a somewhatlonger trill. The quality is pleasing, and the presence of prominentliquid and explosive consonant sounds give it a gurgling sound.
EASTERN REDWING 141
"The conqueree song, to my ear more like ko-klareeee, is by far thecommonest form, the first note being lowest in pitch, the secondmedium, and the trill highest. Of 102 records of red-wing songs, 46have 2 notes followed by a trill, and 19 are as described above. Agood many songs of different individuals are apparently just alike,beginning on A", the second note on C", and the trill on E'". Onone occasion I listened to 8 birds singing in chorus: 6 of them sangthis song, another ended with the trill on D'", and the other beganon C" and ended on G"', but all sang the simple 2 notes and a trill."Of my records, 10 have only 1 note before the trill, 29 have 3 notes,9 have 4 notes, 1 has 5, and 1 has 6 ; 6 other records do not end in atrill, but follow the trill by a low-pitched terminal note ko klareeee tup.While it is common for the trill to be the highest pitch of the song, Ihave 14 records in which the note before the trill is about 1 tone higherthan the trill. A peculiar variation, of which I have 9 records, has thetrill made up of notes slow enough to be heard separately and counted.In such cases the number of notes in the trill varies from 5 to 7. Suchsongs usually have but 1 note before the trill, so that such a songsounds like ka-lililililip."Red-wing songs are short, varying from % to 1% seconds. Therange of pitch, however, is great, from A' to G'"'. Individual songsare very variable in range of pitch, from half a tone to 8)2 tones. Thecommonest range, and about the average, is 3/2 tones; 20 of myrecords have this range; 10 other records range the 6 tones of a fulloctave, and 10 more range over an octave. Songs with the greaterranges have 4 to 6 notes before the trill."When a male red-wing sings, it commonly spreads the tail, half-spreads the wings, ruffles up the feathers on its back, and lifts the redfeathers on its 'shoulders,' so that they flash brilliantly with thecoming of the conqueree. At times it sings in flight, and often, whenflying from one perch to another, hovers a foot or so above the con-templated perch and sings just before alighting. In the spring migra-tion one may find a flock of male red-wings in the tree-tops, nearlyevery one singing at short intervals, so that the result is a loud con-tinuous chorus. In May, in the nesting season, in a cat-tail marshwell populated with red-wings, there is a chorus of song just as day-light is beginning. Each male sings his song two or three times aminute, and each female continuously emits a high-pitched, sharp call.I do not remember to have heard this call at any other time."The common call of the red-wing, usually written chack, oftensounds to me more like tsack. An alarm note, used when one nearsthe nest, is a downward slurred peeah, and another, less frequentlyheard, is a mournful sounding downward slide, like peeiiaoh.
142 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
"The season of song begins with the first arrival in spring, which inConnecticut is March or sometimes late February. It terminates inlate July or early August. The average of 17 years is Jul}7 25, theearliest July 16, 1917, in Connecticut, and the latest August 5, 1940,in Cattaraugus County, New York. Ordinarily red-wings do notsing at all in the fall, but once, October 31, 1937, I found a smallflock of males, several of them singing."Du Bois writes to me: "On April 28 and 29, 1930, I heard a thrush-like song suggestive of the veery coming from somewhere beyond abouse; and on May 2, I definitely saw a female red-wing singing thissong at the edge of the marsh by the road." I can find no othermention of a female song.Witmer Stone (1937) gives his impression of the voices of the pairwhen their breeding ground is invaded as follows:As one approaches the nesting site the male launches into the air and beginsto call sheep; sheep; sheep; sheep; each call separated from the next by an interval.Then as the excitement increases there is a long drawn zeeet interpolated irregu-larly thus: sheep; sheep; sheep; sheep; zeeet; sheep; sheep; sheep; zeeet; sheep; sheep;zeeet, etc., the bird all the while poised on rapidly beating wings directly over-head, and now and then swooping down still closer. The female, arising fromher perch on a cattail, has a similar note but less harsh than the sheep of the male,and she also utters a much more rapid and differently pitched series of notes;chip-chip-chip-chip; chip-chip-chip-chip-chip, etc., then both birds alight on abayberry bush and call together, the female seeming to relieve the male entirelyfrom the first part of his cry and to her repeated chip-chip-chip-chip, etc., hecontributes only the long drawn zeeet at regular intervals so that the combinationis almost like his opening effort.In recording the vibration frequencies of passerine song, AlbertR. Brand (1938) found that the highest note in the song of the easternredwing had a frequency of 4,375 vibrations per second, the lowestnote 1,450, with an approximate mean of 2,925 vibrations per second.Enemies.?Probably more redwings have been killed by manthan by any other one agency, for when they swoop down in cloudson the corn fields, grain fields, and rice plantations they have beenslaughtered in multitudes to protect the crops. Wilson (1832) givesthe following graphic account of how they used to be killed in greatnumbers, while roosting at night in the marshes. In some places
?
when the reeds become dry, advantage is taken of this circumstance, to destroythese birds, by a party secretly spproaching the place, under cover of a darknight, setting fire to the reeds in several places at once, which being soon envelopedin one general flame, the uproar among the Blackbirds becomes universal; and,by the light of the conflagration, they are shot down in vast numbers, whilehovering and screaming over the place. Sometimes straw is used for the samepurpose, being previously strewed near the reeds and alder bushes, where theyare known to roost, which being instantly set on fire, the consternation and havocis prodigious; and the party return by day to pick up the slaughtered game.
EASTERN REDWING 143Before it was made illegal to sell game in the market, redwings werekilled in large numbers in the fall and sold in markets as "reed-birds";when fattened on grain or rice, their little bodies served as deliciousmorsols for the gourmand's table; few could distinguish them frombobolinks.The high mortality rate in the nestlings has been mentioned above;probably 50 percent of the eggs laid fail to produce young largeenough to leave the nest. The large nesting colonies are fruitfulhunting grounds for furred and feathered predators. Crows andgrackles eat the eggs, and even the small nestlings, if they are leftunguarded. Dr. Allen (1914) accuses the long-billed marsh wren asbeing accountable for the greatest devastation, which is rather strangesince they live so close together in the marshes. He says:While I was standing near a nest containing two eggs, I noticed a peculiarlyacting Marsh Wren about 30 feet away. The vivacious notes so characteristic ofthe species were not uttered. It made its way through the vegetation directlytoward the nest until within about 10 feet of me, when it began to circle. AfterI had retired to a distance of about 15 feet, the Wren went without hesitationstraight to the nest, hopped upon the rim, and, bending forward, delivered severalsharp blows with its beak upon one of the eggs. It then began to drink the con-tents much as a bird drinks water. After a few sips, it grasped the eggshell inits beak and flew off into the marsh, where it continued its feast. * * * Thatcases are not isolated is shown by the fact that of 51 nests of the Redwing ob-served in a limited area, the eggs of 14 were destroyed in this or in a similar way,and it is not at all uncommon to find one or more of the eggs of a nest with neat,circular holes in one side, such as would be made by the small, sharp beak of aWren.J. A. Weber (1912), of Palisades Park, N. J., tells of seeing a bronzedgrackle causing a great commotion in a colony of redwings. He shotthe grackle and found a young redwing in its bill; the skull of theyoung bird, which was large enough to have been out of the nest forabout a week, had been crushed. An investigation of the nests inthe vicinity showed them to contain only one or two young in each,indicating that the grackles may have robbed them. Usually thegrackles take only the eggs or the very small nestlings.The reactions in a redwing colony to the presence of hawks andother large birds show that they are regarded as potential enemies;great horned owls could do considerable damage to the adults andalso to the larger young, as could marsh, sharp-shinned, and Cooper'shawks; even the apparently inoffensive bittern might not object toeating a tender nestling. Minks, foxes, and weasels, and in the drierspots squirrels, could easily climb to the nests and destroy the eggs oryoung. Wood says in his notes that "water snakes, Nalrix sipedon,seen in the swamp, gave evidence of having destroyed some nests."The damage done to nests, eggs, and young by predators is, however,not always a total loss to the productive capacity of the colony, for
144 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the redwings will continue to build new nests and make repeatedattempts to raise their broods until well into midsummer, when theirreproductive urge wanes.Friedmann (1929) calls the redwing "a fairly common but ratherlocal victim" of the cowbird. At Ithaca, Allen (1914) found hun-dreds of nests but never any cowbirds' eggs. On the other hand,Walter A. Goelitz (1916), of Ravina, 111., writes: "Until this year Ihave never found the eggs of this bird in Red-wing nests, but in alittle colony of some twenty-five pairs of Red-wing Blackbirds, Idestroyed eleven Cowbird eggs on June 17th and six on June 27th ofthe present season."Robert H. Wolcott (1899) never saw a cowbird's egg in a redwing'snest during his collecting in Michigan, but found it not unusual inNebraska. He says: "The owners of the nest, in case eggs of theirown have already been deposited, apparently peck holes in all, in-cluding that of the intruder, and desert the nest. But in one instancea nest was found where the single, still fresh Cowbird's egg which itcontained had been almost entirely buried beneath a new floor, andabove this were four Blackbird's eggs."Out of hundreds of nests, found at Buckeye Lake, Ohio, by MiltonB. Trautman (1940), "a Cowbird's egg was found in each of 4 nests.These nests were isolated. Apparently, it was sometimes possiblefor a Cowbird to lay its egg in a solitary nest without discovery,whereas if it attempted to lay an egg in a nest in a colony, it wasdriven away. Once eggs were in the nests the Cowbird was not toler-ated about the nesting colonies."Redwings are afflicted with a number of external and internalparasites; Allen (1914) lists four species of Acarina and three ofMallophaga; and Harold S. Peters (1936) names three species of lice,one fly, three mites, and two ticks that infest the eastern redwing.In spite of their many enemies, some redwings seem to live for areasonable number of years. From his study of banding records onCape Cod, Mass., Packard (1937) has this to say about longevity:
"Averages compiled from the 266 returns show that 16 percent of thetotal number of Red-wings banded survived one year, 7 percent twoyears, 4 percent three years, 2 percent four years, and 0.3 percentfive years after banding." This takes no account of any survivorsthat did not return to the traps; and the ages of banded birds is notalways known. He continues: "The oldest males in the records aretwo banded as adults in April 1931, and taken yearly through 1936.As it requires at least two years to attain to adult plumage, thesebirds were hatched in 1929, or earlier, thus being at least seven yearsold. Several females lived five years after banding." Banding rec-ords published by May Thacher Cooke (1937) show that 6 redwings
EASTERN REDWING 145lived for 5 years after banding, 2 for 6 years and 1 for 8 years; only2 of the 5-year-old birds were banded as young birds, so that some ofthe others may have been 2 years older than the records indicate.Field marks.?The male redwing, with his gaudy epaulets, isunmistakable; but the female, with her brown back and streakedbreast, is much less conspicuous. At a distance, redwings in anyplumage can often be recognized by their flight and flock formations,as described above and as suggested by the field marks of the yellow-headed blackbird.Fall.?After the young of the second brood are strong on thewing, sometime in July, the females and young gather in flocks andfeed on the uplands during the day, returning to the marshes to roostat night. The adult males form separate flocks and follow the sameplan. But early in August, all the redwings seem to disappear, duringthe molting period, and are not much in evidence until the middle ofSeptember or later, all in fresh plumage and ready to migrate. Allen(1914) explains this disappearance as follows:The adult males, which begin molting about two weeks earlier than the femalesor young, are the first to go, and shortly they are followed by the females andyoung. To the ordinary observer they have completely disappeared. No longerare they seen leaving the marsh in the morning or returning at evening. Alongthe ponds, streams, and lake shore there are none to be seen. They are appar-ently gone from the neighborhood. If at this time, however, one penetrates intothe heart of the marsh, where the flags wave four and five feet over his head, hemay hear a rush of wings ahead of him as a flock of birds breaks from cover anddrops again into the flags a short distance beyond. He may hear this again andagain, and yet never see a bird, so impenetrable is the thicket of flags. A fewvigorous "squeaks," however, such as frequently draw birds from cover, and thesecret is disclosed. A flock of tailless, short-winged birds hover above his headfor a moment, and then is off again into the tangle. If specimens are collected,the disappearance of the Red-wings is no longer mysterious. A.side from the lossof the tail, which is obvious, one finds that the outer primary feathers are but justbreaking their sheaths. With such handicaps, it is no wonder that the long flightsto the uplands are not attempted, and that they seek protection in the effectualshelter of the marsh.About the middle of September, the males appear again on the up-lands, 2 weeks ahead of the females and young. Says Allen (1914):Well defined migration begins about the middle of October. At that time allloitering ceases, and the evening and morning flights in and out of the marsh arevery regular, scarcely a bird lingering during the day. Beginning about three-fourths of an hour before, and continuing about half an hour after the sun has dis-appeared behind the hills, they can be seen in flocks of from ten to a thousand con-tinually dropping into the marsh. * * * The form of the flock is rather irregular,but always with the long axis at right angles to the direction of flight, thus differ-ing from the characteristic form of the flocks of Grackles which sometimes extendfor over a mile in length, although only a few rods wide. The maximum flightoccurs at sundown. The morning flight is not so regular as that in the evening,
146 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
and it extends over a shorter period. Beginning a few minutes before sunrise,flocks are continually in sight for about thirty minutes. Their formation is openand they vary in numbers from a few to over ten thousand birds, the largest flocksextending to the east and to the west as far as the eye can see, but generally notmore than a hundred birds deep. * * * The method of segregation of these birdsin the morning flight is interesting. A single male or a small group of males,finding themselves in a flock of females, drop out of the ranks and await the appear-ance of a flock of their own sex, or until their own numbers are sufficiently aug-mented to form a flock of some size, which they are again up and away. * * *The fall migration continues until about the middle of November. The last birdsseen are generally scattered flocks of females."The southward migration from Cape Cod, and perhaps from otherlocalities in southern New England, aoparently starts much earlierthan from Ithaca, N. Y., as described above, due to different condi-tions in the marshes. Fred M. Packard (1936) writes: "The swampsof Cape Cod differ considerably from those about Ithaca. Cat-tailsare few at the station, and the marsh plants rarely grow taller thanfour feet, affording but little shelter. * * * While the marsh studiedby Dr. Allen is an ideal place for birds to remain undisturbed duringthe molting period, the swamps of Cape Cod seem poorly suited forsuch a purpose." From "the almost complete absence of Red-wingsin September and later at the station," and from the dates and locali-ties of recoveries of birds banded at the station, he concludes that they
"begin the southward migration in July and August before the summermolt is started, and that they probably complete the molt in swampsafter their migration has begun. Unlike the swamps of Cape Cod,many of the marshes on the flight route, such as those found nearNewark and Salem, New Jersey, afford suitable protection for molting,comparable to that provided by the marsh at Ithaca."His map, showing fall and winter recoveries of banded birds, indi-cates that the flight route from Cape Cod follows along the north shoreof Long Island Sound to northern New Jersey, across that State to theDelaware River, avoiding the seacoast of New Jersey, and then alongthe coastal marshes to South Carolina. All but 1 of his 18 recoveriescame from these marshes.Milton B. Trautman (1940) has this to say about the migration ofredwings at Buckeye Lake, Ohio: "During fall the species was morenumerous than it was at any other season, and many thousands werepresent daily. On September 10, 1927, Edward S. Thomas took apicture of a small part of a flying flock. There were more than 400birds in the picture, and we estimated that there were at least 10,000in the flock. Undoubtedly, there were days during each fall when20,000 to 50,000 were present."Winter.?The winter range of the eastern redwing includes muchof its breeding range in the southeastern and southern States. Most
EASTERN REDWING 147
of the birds spend the winter south of the Ohio and Delaware Rivers,and from northern Florida to northern Louisiana and northeasternTexas. But some few are to be found occasionally in winter consider-ably north of these limits, even as far north and east as southeasternMassachusetts, locally and chiefly along the coast.Their winter habits are much like those of the fall months, whenthey travel about in large mixed flocks with cowbirds, rusty black-birds, grackles, and starlings. Milton P. Skinner (1928) says that,in North Carolina in winter, they show a tendency to join withmeadowlarks and pipits. He says further: "During the winter fromChristmas until March 1927, there was a flock of 200 Red-wingedBlackbirds almost constantly with the Cowbirds about the Pinehurststock-yards. Although they were usually on the ground, they oftenalighted on low oaks, sapling pines and even on tall gums, clusteringclose together on the very top in compact flocks. Occasionally flocksof Red-winged Blackbirds were seen elsewhere, particularly about oldcowpea fields. Early in the winter, and again after the winter wasover, I found these blackbirds about old cornfields, freshly plantedoat fields, and swampy places, but I did not see them there duringthe winter." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southeastern Canada to Florida.Breeding range.?The eastern redwing breeds from eastern Ne-braska, Missouri, eastern Iowa (Johnson and Clayton Counties),northern Wisconsin (Danbury), central Ontario (Sault Ste. Marie,Lake Abitibi), southern Quebec (Saint Felicien, Gaspe), NewBrunswick, Prince Edward Island, and central Nova Scotia; south tonortheastern Texas, northeastern Louisiana (Mer Rouge, Tallulah),northern Mississippi, south-central Alabama, southwestern Georgia(Newton), central-northern Florida (Cherry Lake, Gainesville), andsouthern (except the extreme southwest) Georgia (Savannah).Winter range.?Winters rarely north to Kansas, southern Ontario(Chatham, Ottawa), southwestern Quebec, Connecticut and south-eastern Massachusetts; casually to New Hampshire (Warren);regularly south to southern Texas (Brownsville, Tivoli), southernLouisiana, southern Mississippi (Gulfport, Saucier), and Florida.Casual records.?Casual in southeastern Quebec (Piashti Bay)and northern Nova Scotia (Cape Breton, Sable Island).Migration.?The following data refer to the species as a whole.Of the 14 races, 5 are migratory, 9 are resident. Many of the migra-tion records are unidentifiable as to race.Early dates of spring arrival are: Alabama?Scottsboro, February18. Georgia?Macon, March 9. South Carolina?Walhalla, March
148 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 21112. North Carolina?North Wilkesboro, February 26. Virginia
?
Blacksburg, February 9. West Virginia?Bluefield, February 13.District of Columbia?January 23 (average of 29 years, March 1).Maryland?Laurel, February 5 (median of 7 years, February 21).Pennsylvania?Bervvyn, February 3. New Jersey?Cape May, Feb-ruary 9. New York?Branchport and Shelter Island, February 17.Connecticut?New Haven, February 10. Rhode Island?BlockIsland, February 7. Massachusetts?Harvard, February 22 (averageof 7 years, March 11). Vermont?Putney, February 24. NewHampshire?Hollis, March 3. Maine?Lewiston, March 7. Que-bec?Kamouraska, March 8 (median of 14 years, April 7) ; Montreal,March 9. New Brunswick?Summerville, March 23. Nova ScotiaHalifax, April 9. Prince Edward Island?Alberton, March 30 (medianof 9 years, April 11). Tennessee?Nashville, February 10; Athens,February 12 (average of 7 years, March 1). Kentucky?Guthrie,February 10. Missouri?Charleston and Warrensburg, February 8.Illinois?Chicago region, February 19 (average, March 10). Indi-ana?Waterloo, February 14 (average of 19 years, March 1). OhioBuckeye Lake, February 4 (median, February 23). MichiganWashtenaw County, February 12; Blaney Park, March 15. On-tario?London, February 18 (average of 12 years, March 17); Ottawa,March 15 (average of 30 years, April 2). Iowa?Iowa City, February17. Wisconsin?Dane County, February 21. Minnesota?North-field, February 21 (average of 28 years for southern Minnesota, March14); Stearns County, March 13 (average of 15 years for northernMinnesota, March 20). Texas?Wichita Falls, February 15. Okla-homa?Caddo, January 22. Kansas?Harper, January 28. Ne-braska?Lincoln, February 1 ; Red Cloud, February 5 (median of23 years, March 7). South Dakota?Yankton, February 21; SiouxFalls, March 6 (average of 7 years, March 14). North Dakota?CassCounty, March 6 (average, March 19); McKenzie County, March 31(average of 10 years, April 14). Manitoba?Killarney, March 22;Treesbank, March 23 (average, April 9). Saskatchewan?Sovereign,March 12; Wiseton, March 25. Mackenzie?Fort Simpson, April 28.New Mexico?Cla};rton, February 14. Arizona?Grand Canyon Na-tional Park, February 19. Colorado?Durango, February 6. UtahBear River Refuge, Brigham City, February 10. Wyoming?Carey-hurst, February 9. Idaho?Rathdrum, February 12 (average of9 years, March 2). Montana?Charlo, February 10; Fortine, Febru-ary 13. Alberta?Belvedere, March 18. California?Berkeley,February 3. Oregon?Klamath Basin, February 8. Washington
?
Camas, February 1; Spokane, February 4. British ColumbiaOkanagan Landing, Februa^ 12.
EASTERN REDWING 149Late dates of spring departure are: El Salvador?Lake Olomega,April 6. Sonora?Tesia, April 5. Baja California?San Jose delCabo, April 5. District of Columbia?May 18. Maryland?Laurel,May 18 (median of 6 years, May 6). New York?New York City,May 15. Massachusetts?Essex County, May 20. Mississippi
?
Gulfport, April 4. Ohio?Buckeye Lake, median, April 15. NewMexico?Apache, April 27. Arizona?Tucson, May 19. Califor-nia?Cima, May 12.Early dates of fall arrival are: California?Lathrop, October 3.Arizona?Grand Canyon National Park, September 15. New Mex-ico?Colfax County, August 7. Oklahoma?Caddo, September 10.Texas?El Paso, August 7. Ohio?Buckeye Lake, median, Septem-ber 15. Massachusetts? Springfield, July 5. Maryland?BaltimoreCounty, July 11. District of Columbia?July 8. Baja CaliforniaSan Jose del Cabo, August 28. Sonora?Hermosillo, October 22.Chihuahua?Chihuahua, November 6.Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?OkanaganLake, November 22. Washington?Yakima Indian Reservation,November 7. Oregon?Prospect, October 3 1 . California?LafayetteNovember, 26. Alberta?Whitford Lake, October 29; Belvedere,October 27. Montana?Kirby, December 1. Wyoming?Laramie,December 9; Yellowstone Park, November 2. Utah?Ogden Valley,December 4. Colorado?Ramah, December 6. Saskatchewan?SouthQu'Appelle, December 1. Manitoba?Treesbank, November 22 (aver-age, October 24). North Dakota?Argusville, November 20. SouthDakota?Mellette, December 22; Sioux Falls, November 15 (averageof 6 years, November 8). Nebraska?Cortland, November 30. Kan-sas?Onaga, November 29. Texas?Dallas, November 28. Minne-sota?Minneapolis, December 1G (average of 12 years for southernMinnesota, November 15); Elk River, November 14 (average of 17years for northern Minnesota, October 28). Wisconsin?Beloit, De-cember 11. Iowa?Winthrop, December 11. Ontario?Point Pelee,December 10; Ottawa, November 10 (average of 20 years, October 18).Michigan?Mount Clemens, December 14; McMillan, December 6.Ohio?Toledo, December 26; Buckeye Lake, November 24 (median,November 20). Indiana-?Hobart, December 19 : Bicknell and Carlisle,December 11. Illinois?Murphysboro, December 12; Chicago, De-cember 5 (average of 16 years, October 16). Missouri?Palmyra,November 22. Kentucky-?Lebanon, November 10. TennesseeNashville, November 30. Prince Edward Island?Alberton, October1 (median of 5 years, September 29). New Brunswick?Memram-cook, October 22. Quebec?Montreal, November 14, (average of 9years, October 23). Maine?Lewiston, November 28; Hudson.
150 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211November 15. New Hampshire?Hanover, October 24. Vermont
?
Shelburne, November 22. Massachusetts?Harvard, November 26(average of 8 years, October 20). Rhode Island?Block Island,December 4. Connecticut?New Haven, December 7. New YorkNew York City, December 7 ; Watertown, December 6. New JerseyElizabeth, December 10. Pennsylvania?Warren, November 28.Maryland?Laurel, December 15 (median of 4 years, November 25).District of Columbia?average of 6 years, November 19. WestVirginia?Bluefield, December 26. Virginia?Blacksburg, December14. North Carolina?Raleigh, December 3. Georgia?Americus,November 13.Egg dates.?Alberta: 30 records, May 28 to July 5; 15 records,June 1 to June 9.Arizona: 27 records, April 4 to June 25; 14 records, May 18 toJune 4.California: 360 records, March 26 to June 26; 180 records, May 1to May 31.Florida: 47 records, April 15 to June 29; 24 records, May 16 toMay 20.Illinois: 74 records, May 10 to June 14; 38 records, May 22 toMay 31.Massachusetts: 103 records, May 16 to June 21; 80 records, May27 to June 6.New Jersey: 24 records, May 13 to June 22; 12 records, May 19to May 31.North Dakota: 32 records, June 2 to July 5; 20 records, June 6to June 9.Oregon: 24 records, May 1 to June 6; 14 records, May 14 to May 18.Texas: 44 records, May 1 to July 5; 25 records, May 15 to June 5.Washington: 12 records, April 8 to June 21; 6 records, April 26to May 18.Wyoming: 16 records, April 20 to June 9; 11 records, April 20 toApril 27 (Harris).
FLORIDA REDWING 151AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS MEARNSI Howell and van RossemFlorida RedwingHABITSSome confusion has existed in the past and some differences of opin-ion have been expressed as to the proper nomenclature to be applied tothe redwings of the eastern United States and as to the distribution ofthe subspecies. This need not be discussed here, as it is fully explainedin a study of the redwings of the southeastern United States byArthur H. Howell and Adriaan J. van Rossem (1928). They demon-strate that the old name for the Florida redwing, A. p. floridanus,should be restricted to the birds of extreme southern Florida, that theeastern redwing (A. p. phoeniceus) breeds as far south as Gainesvillein northern Florida, and they propose the above scientific name for theredwings that breed over the greater part of the Florida peninsula.In describing this new race, named in honor of Edgar A. Mearns,they assign to it the following subspecific characters:Compared with phoeniceus: Size smaller; bill longer and more slender, bothactually and relatively; coloration of upper parts in females more brownish (lessblackish); under parts more buffy (less whitish), the dark streaks more brownish.* * * In the present race, the maximum brownish suffusion found in Agelaiusphoeniceus is attained; this character at once distinguishes mearnsi from all theOther races occupying the Caribbean area (bryanti, floridanus, littoralis, mega-polamus, and richmondi).Specimens from the Gulf Coast of Florida, particularly from the northernportion, have somewhat thicker bills than those from central and eastern Florida,thus indicating a gradual approach in this character to littoralis of the westernGulf Coast. Specimens from the Caloosahatchee Valley, (Alva and Ft. Myers)show approach in paler coloration to floridanus, of south Florida.Breeding material is lacking from the lower St. Johns Valley, hence the area ofintergradation with phoeniceus is not definitely known; quite probably this racewill be found to range northward nearly or quite to Jacksonville.They give the range of mearnsi as the "greater part of the Floridapeninsula, south to the lower Kissimmee Valley and the CaloosahatcheeRiver; north at least to Putnam County (San Mateo) and AnastasiaIsland; west on the Gulf coast to Apalachicola."All through such parts of central Florida, within the limits namedabove, as I have visited, and these include most of the State, we havealways found this redwing to be an abundant resident bird in all suit-able places?around ponds, marshes, sawgrass sloughs, wet places inthe flat pine woods, or open grassy savannas where there is sufficientmoisture. During the two winters that I spent at Pass-a-Grille,Pinellas County, it was a common dooryard bird. A. H. Howell380928?57 11
152 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211(1932) says: "The Everglades, before drainage operations were begun,supported an immense population, and even now. with large areasdrained and under cultivation, the birds breed there abundantly, asalso on the extensive marshes bordering the upper St. Johns andKissimmee Rivers."Nesting.?Howell (1932) says: "A number of pairs are usuallyfound nesting near together, their nests being placed in small bushesgrowing in shallow water or on marshes at a height of 1 to 8 feet abovethe water or ground. The nests are compactly woven of the stems ofsaw grass or similar materials and firmly bound to the bush in whichthey are placed."Donald J. Nicholson, of Orlando, Fla., has sent me three sets of eggsof the Florida redwing, and tells me that eggs can be found in hisvicinity from the last week in March until late in July. The sets allconsisted of three eggs each. One of the nests was 3 feet up in abuttonwood growing in a pond; another was similarly located, 2%feet up, in one of several buttonwoods on swampy land among bunch-grass and sawgrass; the third was attached to the stems of a water-myrtle, 4 feet from the ground, near a pond. Another set in mycollection was taken in Nassau County by W. W. Worthington; thenest was suspended 3 feet up among grass in a salt marsh, and heldfour eggs. There is a set in the T. E. McMullen collection that wastaken from a nest in a grass field on a farm. While I was huntingfor gallinules' nests in a deep-water pond near Zephyrhills with OscarBaynard, we found two redwings' nests in ty-ty bushes, not far abovethe water; the water was so deep that we had to use a boat; there wasa broad border of pickerel weed all around the pond, with boggy, orfloating islands of flags, Sagittaria, small willows, and ty-ty bushesscattered over it, and with bonnets and white pond lilies in the deeperparts.Eggs.?Three eggs seems to form the usual set for the Floridaredwing, but four eggs are not unusual. They are apparently similarto the eggs of the species elsewhere, except for size. The measurementsof 50 eggs of the five southern races of this species average 23.5 by 17.1millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 27.7 by 17.3,23.4 by 18.8, 21.3 by 16.8, and 21.8 by 15.5 millimeters.Howell's (1932) account of the food of the Florida redwing wasevidently taken from Beal's (1900) bulletin on the food of this species,as quoted from under the eastern redwing; but Beal distinctly saidthat the different subspecies were not considered separately.Philip A. Du Mont (1931), in his paper on the birds of PinellasCounty, says of the status of this race in that region: "A few arepermanent residents. The bulk of the breeding birds winter farther
MAYNARD'S REDWING 153
south and arrive in Pinellas County about the middle of April. Ifound this species abundant in Collier County in January. * * *The song of this bird seems to differ consistently from that of theeastern bird. An extra descending note is added at the end whichmakes the song of the Florida bird conk-a-ree-a. This was called tomy attention first by the late Maunsell S. Crosby."Holt and Sutton (1926) observe: "The Florida Red-wings are muchmore graceful than the northern birds. Often they were seen swingingand climbing about the willow or bay-berry bushes, like BaltimoreOrioles searching for insects."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Florida redwing is resident from northern Florida,except in the extreme north-central section (Apalachicola, CedarKeys), and extreme southeastern Georgia (Okefenokee Swamp, SaintMarys); south to south-central Florida (Fort Myers, Jupiter).Winter range.?In winter wandering to southwestern Georgia(Grady County).AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS FLORIDANUS MaynardMaynard's RedwingHABITSThis form of redwing is resident in the extreme lower part of theFlorida mainland and the Florida Ke3rs, north to Lake Worth on theeast coast, and the town of Everglade in Collier County on the west,including tropical Florida and much of the everglades. This bird wasconsidered at one time to be the Bahama redwing, A. p. bryanti, butit has been shown to be a distinct race worthy of recognition under thename given to it by Maynard.He (1896) gives it the following subspecific characters: "Form andgeneral coloration similar to that of the Red-wing but smaller, withthe plumage more velvety black, and the buff edging to the scarletshoulder, deeper. The bill is a little longer and much more slender."Of its nest, Maynard (1896) writes:The wide-spread marshes of the everglades of Florida are covered with aluxuriant growth of tall grass which attains to the height of five or even six feet.These vast plains form the homes of hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds andthere they also breed. As the grass is submerged in at least a foot of water in thespring, the Blackbirds are obliged to suspend their nests near the top of the stoutstalks, of which they bring several together weaving the leaves in the nests andaround them in order to make them secure. The everglades are seldom free fromwind which often blows a gale, waving the grass back and forth furiously, so that
154 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the birds are forced to build exceedingly compact structures or they would beblown to pieces. The nests are therefore made of the leaves of the coarse sawgrass which abounds, neatly and firmly woven together. The swaying motion towhich their domiciles are constantly subjected, has a tendency to throw the eggsout, and would, were it not that the birds who have doubtless been taught by theexperience of former generations, build their nests very deep and, not contentwith this, they make them more secure by contracting the entrance so much thatit is impossible for the eggs to fall out, even when the grass bends so that the topstouch the water. * * *May first of that same season found me standing on one of the small outer keys,about a hundred miles south of the point last described. This islet, likemany others, contained a small lagoon in the center, around which was a belt ofland that supported a number of trees, mainly the kinds known as Buttonwoodand Mangrove. There were a large number of Red-winged Blackbirds breedingon this Key but I was puzzled to find the nests, for I could not see them in thetrees and there were no bushes or grass. After watching them attentively for afew moments, I saw a female emerge from a small hole in a Buttonwood tree notfar from the ground, and climbing up to it discovered the nest which was built likethat of a Blue Bird. I afterward found several in similar places all containingeggs. For a time I could not understand why the birds had chosen these novelsituations for homes, but the ha-ha of a passing group of Fish Crows helped toenlighten me, for I knew that the predatory habits of this latter named speciesrenders the eggs of all birds unsafe if exposed, unless the owners are sufficientlystrong to protect them, and what the Red-wings lacked in strength they made upin cunning, as they placed their treasures where it was impossible for their enemiesto get at them.Howell (1932) says: "In the Everglades near Royal Palm Ham-mock, June 12, 1918, I found nests with eggs and young in a saw-grassmarsh and in low bushes." Earle R. Greene (1946) found a nest, withone egg on July 24, 1942, on Boca Chica Key, that was 6 feet up in amangrove bush. DISTRIBUTIONMaynard's redwing is resident in southern Florida (Everglades,Miami, Key West).
GULF COAST REDWING 155AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS LITTORALIS Howell and van RossemGulf Coast RedwingHABITSA. H. Howell and A. J. van Rossem (1928) have given the abovenames to the redwings that are resident along the Gulf coast region,from Choctawhatchee Bay, in northwestern Florida, westward alongthe coast at least to Galveston, Tex. Following is their descriptionof it:Compared with Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus of northeastern United States:Coloration of females darker, both above and beiow, particularly on the rump;general tone of upper parts in breeding plumage fuscous-black, with mediancrown stripe and buffy edgings on nape and interscapular region nearly obsolete;ground color of under parts less buffy (more whitish), the dark streaks broaderand averaging more blackish; wing and tail slightly shorter; bill slightly moreslender in lateral profile. Compared with A. p. mearnsi: Coloration of femalesthroughout very much more blackish (less brownish), the brown and buff edgingsto the feathers of the head, nape, interscapular region, and wings very muchreduced; streaks on under parts decidedly more blackish, the ground color lessbuffy (more whitish); bill shorter, and thicker at base; wing averaging slightlylonger.This subspecies, the darkest of all the eastern races, apparently ranges little,if any, above the tidewater region. It appears to be more closely related tophoeniceus than to mearnsi or megapotamus, but material is lacking to show withcertainty the area of intergradation with any of these races."Dr. H. C. Oberholser (1938) calls this redwing "an abundant per-manent resident in southern Louisiana. * * * Throughout all themarshes in the Gulf Coast region in the southwestern part of the State,even in the winter, it is one of the most abundant birds."Nesting.?In May and June 1910, I spent about a month cruisingwith Warden Sprinkle among the islands off the coasts of Louisianaand Mississippi, mainly in the Breton Island Reservation. On allthe islands that we inspected, wherever there was a little moisture andsuitable vegetation, we found redwings common and in some placesabundant. Their favorite nesting sites were in the black mangrovebushes; the nests were placed 3 or 4 feet above the ground, and usuallyheld three eggs.Francis M. Weston has sent me some notes on the Gulf coast red-wing, as observed in the region of Pensacola Bay, Fla. He says thatthe nests "are usually built in clumps of the needle rash (Juncusroemerianus) and in the scattered bushes and low trees that grow inor adjacent to the areas covered by this rush."Young.?Weston relates the following experience: "A young bird,barely able to fly, fluttered out of the march at my feet and headedout across a large salt-water pond. I saw at once that it could not
156 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211possibly reach the far shore. As a matter of fact, it fell into the waterbefore it had gone 20 feet. Immediately, it turned back toward theshore it had just left and, disregarding my presence (although mj^approach had been the occasion of its flight), fluttered to safety alongthe surface of the water. It seemed to travel in a sitting posture onthe water with the forward part of the body held high and the wingsbeating the surface without seeming to submerge. When it regainedthe shore at my feet, it was not bedraggled?appeared to be perfectlydry?and seemed none the worse for its experience."Fall.?Weston writes in his notes: "By the end of October, theredwings resort to the high lands in large flocks during the day,although they always return to the marshes in the late afternoon topass the night. At this season, too, they can often be found amongthe sand dunes along the Gulf beaches, where they feed on the seedsof the sea oats (Uniola paniculata)?the birds perch on the swayingstalks and pick the seeds from the ripened 'heads.' Their fondnessfor the seeds of the long-leaf yellow pine (Pinus palustris) seems notto be generally known. My notes for October 31, 1943, recount mydiscovery of this preference:
"I have often noticed flocks of redwings in the pine woods in fall,but not until today have I been able to get near enough to find whatthe attraction was. Today, I succeeded in driving my car almostunder a pine tree in which a flock of about a hundred buds was veryactive. Certainly, the birds were eating the pine seeds, though Icould not see just how they extracted them from the cones?seed
'wings' were raining down around and upon the car as long as thebirds were in the tree." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Gulf coast redwing is resident in southeastern Texas(Brenham, Galveston) ; southern Louisiana (north, at least, to Crow-ley, Clinton), central western and southern Mississippi (Saucier,Vicksburg), southern Alabama (Mobile), and northwestern Florida(Pensacola Bay, Whitfield).Casual records.?Casual farther west in Texas (Tivoli, EagleLake).
RIO GRANDE REDWING 157AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS MEGAPOTAMUS OberholserRio Grande RedwingHABITSOberholser (1919a) describes this redwing as "similar to Agelaiusphoeniceus richmondi from southern Vera Cruz and Tabasco, Mexico,but larger; female more grayish above and less ochraceus below." Hegives as its distribution
?
central southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. Breeds north to central Texas
;
west to eastern Coahuila; south to Nuevo Leon and northern Vera Cruz; and eastto Tamaulipas and the Brazos River in Texas.* * * This new subspecies differs from Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus in some-what longer wing, rather shorter bill, and much lighter coloration of the female;from Agelaius phoeniceus sonoriensis and Agelaius phoeniceus forlis in very muchsmaller size; and from Agelaius phoeniceus neutralis in greatly inferior size andpaler female. Birds belonging to this geographic race have hitherto been referredto Agelanis phoeniceus richmondi, but they are so different from typical representa-tives of the latter that subspecific separation seems desirable. It is a larger andless brownish edition of Agelaius phoeniceus richmondi, and replaces that form inTexas, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon. It seems to be more or less permanentlyresident, as no specimens have been taken outside of its breeding range.Southward it passes into Agelaius phoeniceus richmondi somewhere in thenorthern part of the State of Vera Cruz; westward through central western Texasinto Agelaius phoeniceus neutralis; northward in central northern Texas intoAgelaius phoeniceus predatorius; and along the coast of southeastern Texas beyondthe Brazos River into Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus of the southeastern UnitedStates.In considering Oberholser's names, as used above, allowance must bemade for some changes that have been made since his paper waswritten.Nesting.?Although he did not recognize it as a subspecies, GeorgeB. Sennett (1878) was the first to give any information on the nestinghabits of this blackbird in the vicinity of Brownsville, Tex.; hewrites
;
"I found this species breeding in great numbers along the LowerRio Grande. They usually build their nests low, among the rankgrowth of weeds and willows that spring up in the resaca beds afterthe annual overflows of the river. One nest, however, I found at least20 feet high in a mczquite-tree. It was composed of bleached grassesand attached to a leaning branch; it was partly pensile, and lookedlike a large nest of the Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius. I was deceivedinto climbing for it."On May 23, 1923, near Brownsville, I found a number of nests of theRio Grande redwing, containing from three to four eggs, placed from 3
158 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211to 10 feet above the ground in some slender willows growing along theedge of a pond.Referring to the same general locality, Herbert Friedmann (1925)says: "Some 15 nests were examined and all were in bushes or trees indry locations and varied from within five feet of the ground to over20 feet above it. In all his years of field work in this region Camp hasnever found a Red-wing's nest built over the water."George Finlay Simmons (1925), referring to the Austin region, whichis probably near the northern limit of the breeding range of this race,says that the nests are placed "1 to 20, usually 6, feet up, firmly wovento limbs and twigs of willow or ligustrum trees or bushes, to cattails,blood-weeds, reeds, rushes, tules, cane or saw-grass; along creeks,sloughs, river margins, draws, edges of pasture ponds, and aboutartificial lakes." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Rio Grande redwing is resident from central Texas(Del Rio, Kerrville, Giddings) south to southeastern Coahuila,Mexico, and northern Vera Cruz.AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS ARCTOLEGUS OberholserGiant RedwingHABITSOberholser (1907) characterized this large northern form as "similarto Agelaius phoniceus fortis, but female decidedly darker below, thestreaks more blackish and more extensive, about as broad as the whiteinterspaces; above more blackish. Male with wing and tail averagingshorter; bill larger; and buff of wing-coverts somewhat paler. Hereported its geographical distribution as "Montana, North Dakota,Minnesota, and northern Michigan, north to Keewatin, Athabaska,and Mackenzie; in migration south to Colorado, Texas, Illinois, andprobably Ohio," and says further: "This new form is much likeAgelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus in color, the male in this respect beingpractically indistinguishable, and the female barely less blackish aboveand below; but in size A. p. arctolegus is much greater, as the sub-joined measurements will show. It differs from Agelaius phoeniceusneutralis in larger size; in more blackish upper parts, broader anddarker streaks on the lower surface of the female; and paler buff onthe shoulder of the male."He did not give it the common name "giant," which does not seem tobe warranted, inasmuch as his tables of measurements show that theaverage measurements of the thick-billed redwing are somewhat
GIANT REDWING 159greater than those of the present form; it would seem that the name
"northern" would be more appropriate. In the same tables, arcto-legus seems to have a thicker bill ihtinfortis, the so-called thick-billedredwing! However, these common names are much more likely tostand the test of time than are the so-called scientific names, which aresubject to change at the whim of any "specialist in speciation." For athorough study of the status of this subspecies the reader is referredto a very enlightening paper on the subject by P. A. Taverner (1939),which well illustrates the difficulty of recognizing some of these micro-scopic subspecies when taken away from their breeding grounds.The series of redwings that we collected during the breeding seasonin southwestern Saskatchewan proved very puzzling; they were notquite typical of either jortis or arctolegus, but the measurements ofmy birds seem to agree rather closely with those given for the latter,to which form they should probably be referred.Spring.?As the giant redwing cannot be recognized in life, itis almost impossible to trace its migration through the ranges of otherforms. Wetmore (1937) reports a specimen taken in Nicholas County,W. Va., as late as May 11, 1936. It probably reaches the southernportions of its breeding range in late February or early in March, inmuch the same way as the eastern redwing does, the passing flockscoming first and the resident birds later. Ian McT. Cowan (1939)thus describes the arrival in the Peace River district in British Co-lumbia: "When we reached Tupper Creek on May 6 male blackbirdswere abundant, seemingly defending territories and in full song.Large flocks of migrating birds composed entirely of males weremoving through daily and it was noticed that little mixing took placebetween the 'residents' and the migrants. * * * A very few femaleswere seen on May 9 and subsequently, but not until the 18th did thefemales start to arrive in numbers. Just after dawn on this date aflock of between twenty and thirty females came down and joinedthe males."Nesting.?Although not recognized as such at the time, this wasundoubtedly the form of redwing we found nesting so abundantly inNorth Dakota in all the reedy sloughs. In the large sloughs, wherethere were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of nests of yellow-headedblackbirds in the tall reeds in the deeper parts, we found the redwingsalmost as common, with nests around the edges in the shorter vege-tation over shallower water, and in the long grass on the borders.O. A. Stevens (1925), of Fargo, N. Dak., published a short paperon the redwing population of a ditch that drained the marshes of theRed River of the North, in which cattails and marsh grasses weregrowing. "The early nests, which include most of them, were builtin last year's cat-tail stalks, from 1 to 2 feet above the water. On
160 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211July 13, the new growth of cat-tails had reached its full height andflower stalks were present. The nests containing eggs at that datewere new and placed 3 to 4 feet above the water. Of the nests foundon June 11, three were lined with a handful of fluff from the last year'sseed-stalks. These were the only such seen. A few nests were insmall willow trees."He has sent me some notes on the same colony, made the followingyear: "The first birds seen were two males on March 29. On April26, three females were present and the number of males was increasingrapidly. No signs of nests appeared until May 10 when five had beenbegun. The first eggs were found May 21 and the first young onJune 3. Repeated rains the first of June converted the ditch into ariver. Several nests were flooded on the seventh and by the tenthall of the earlier ones were covered. On the latter date ten new nestswere found, high up in the small willow trees, except one which wasin a last year's sweet clover plant."Approximately 70 nests were in use at the date of flooding. Nomore nests were built in the cattails until July 19, when two nestswith eggs were found. Most of his new nests were built in 4 daysand the first egg was laid from 1 to 4 days thereafter; but in one casethe birds took 7 days to build the nest and waited another week be-fore laying the first egg.Geographically, the blackbirds that we found nesting abundantlyin southwestern Saskatchewan in 1905 and 1906 are referable to thisrace, though we doubtfully recorded them at that time as jortis, asexplained earlier in this account. They were very common aroundthe sloughs and along the creeks, nesting in the flags and long grasseson the edges of the sloughs and over the water in the shallower por-tions. I collected a nest, containing four fresh eggs, at Crane Lakeon June 5, 1905; it was placed 10 inches above the water in a bunchof reeds (Scirpus) on the edge of a slough; the nest was well made ofdry reeds and was lined with dry grasses.In the Peace River district of British Columbia, Cowan (1939)found giant redwings breeding rather late in the season. "Egg layingcommenced about the end of May at Austin's Pond where the birdswere all building in dead sedges before the new growth was wellunder way. Many pairs on the shore of Swan Lake did not completenest building until about June 23. Here the nests were mostly inthe dense stands of Equisetum growing in the shallow water and inconsequence nest building had to await growth of these early inJune."At Austin's Pond, he says: "Repeated observation led us to theconclusion that there were but four males with the six females. Onone occasion one male was observed to mate with two different females
GIANT REDWING 161
within the space of ten minutes." He found two males that werebreeding in the immature plumage characteristic of the first winter.Eggs.?The giant redwing lays larger sets of eggs than the southernraces, from four to six. In a series of 30 sets in the collection of A. D.Henderson, of Belvedere, Alberta, there are 7 sets of five and 2 setsof six. The eggs are indistinguishable from those of the easternredwing.Winter.?The giant redwing ranges in winter to Kansas, Arkansas,Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Illinois, and as a straggler as far eastas Connecticut; but many winter farther north.Roberts (1932) says: "Flocks of Red-wings, often of considerablesize, may remain through the winter in southern Minnesota, feedingin weed-grown corn-fields, around barns and strawstacks and openspringy marshes and brooks, and spending the nights in the shelteredlowlands." Stragglers are often found even farther north, enduringtemperatures below zero.This redwing seems to be a common, and perhaps an abundant,winter resident in Ohio. Milton B. Trautman (1940) estimated thatabout 20 percent of the redwings migrating through or wintering atBuckeye Lake are referable to arctolegus. Louis W. Campbell (1936)writes: "During the past 8 years flocks of from 20 to 300 Red-wingedBlackbirds have been found wintering about Toledo. * * * In aneffort to determine the composition of these flocks of wintering birds,twenty-three specimens were collected during 1934, 1935, and 1936,between the dates of December 27 and February 29. Twenty-one ofthese proved referable to Agelaius phoeniceus arctolegus. * * * Theearliest spring specimen of Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus was takenon March 12, 1933. The evidence thus indicates that the commonwintering Red-winged Blackbird of the Toledo region is Agelaius p.arctolegus." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Yukon and Mackenzie to Louisiana.Breeding range.?The giant redwing breeds from southeasternYukon, central Mackenzie (Fort Norman, Fort Simpson), northwest-ern Saskatchewan, north-central Manitoba (The Pas, Oxford House),and western and northeastern Ontario (Lake Attawapiskat, MooseFactory) ; south to central British Columbia (Williams Lake, TachickLake), southwestern Alberta (Waterton Lakes Park, Milk River),eastern Montana (Powder River County), southern South Dakota(Menno, Vermillion), and Iowa (east to Tama and Van BurenCounties).Winter range.?Winters casually north to southern British Col-lumbia (Okanagan Landing), southeastern Saskatchewan (Estevan),
162 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
southern Manitoba (Brandon), northern and central Minnesota(Hennepin County), northeastern Illinois (Waukegan), southeasternMichigan (Erie), southern Ontario (Brankford), central Ohio (LickingCounty) and western West Virginia (Mason County); regularly southto north-central Colorado (Semper), central Texas (Boerne, Edge),and Louisiana (Belcher, Jefferson Parish).Casual records.?Casual in southeastern Alaska (Mole Harbor,Sergief Island), central Yukon (Mayo Landing), west-central BritishColumbia (Kispiox Valley), northern Manitoba (Churchill), extremenortheastern Ontario (Cape Henrietta Maria), central New York(Cayuga and Tompkins Counties), Connecticut (North Haven), andGeorgia (Tifton).Accidental in northern Alaska (Cape Price of Wales, Barrow) andnorthern Mackenzie (headwaters of the Dease River).AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS FORTIS RidgwayThick-Billed RedwingHABITSThe thick-billed redwing seems to be very closely related to thegiant redwing and so much like it in measurements that Ridgway(1902) did not separate the two forms. He called fortis the northernredwing and assigned to it the far northern range of the bird we nowcall arctolegus. Both of these two forms are about the same size,considerably larger than the eastern redwing, and both have thickbills, as mentioned under the preceeding race.The thick-billed redwing, as it is now understood, breeds fromIdaho, Wyoming, and South Dakota to Colorado and northern Texas.Its breeding range extends well into the foothills of the Rocky Moun-tains, where it has been detected at elevations of 7,500 and 9,000 feetin Colorado.Young.?At an Iowa nest of the redwing, evidently of this race,Dr. Ira N. Gabrielson (1915) made the following observations on thefemale feeding the young:Altogether during the 170 feeding visits she brought 203 morsels of food. Ofthese, grasshoppers were 34.97%, moths 9.37%, larvae 9.35%, unidentified 17.24%,and the remaining 29.09% was composed of various insects. The unidentifiedwere mostly small insects captured among the arrowhead lilies but we could notidentify them. A very small frog was fed on one visit. As far as numbers wereconcerned the distribution of food to the nestlings was very equal, A receiving34.97% of the insects fed, B, 32.51%, and C, 31.51%. It is not so easy to esti-mate the percentage by bulk on account of the varying sizes of the insectsfed. * * *The position of the blind and the surrounding vegetation exposed the nest
THICK-BILLED REDWING 163
to the sun from 8:30 to 10: 10 while it was shaded during the remainder of theday. On July 1, the day on which we watched during this period, she spent50 minutes or exactly one-half the time in shading the young while not a minutewas so spent at any other time of the day. In shading the young she alwaysassumed the same position with her head toward the sun and broadside to theblind. One foot was placed on each side of the nest, the beak held wide open,the wings half spread and slightly drooping, and the feathers of the head andneck elevated. This resulted in entirely shading the young and is the mostperfect development of this brooding position yet noticed in an individual bird.Voice.?The song and call notes of the thick-billed redwing aregenerally considered to be similar to those the eastern redwing, butFrancis H. Allen tells me of a song that he heard in Colorado that
"ended with a peculiar turn something like conqueree-ee-lyoo."Enemies.?Cowbirds are probably more abundant throughoutthe range of this redwing than they are in the east, hence this black-bird sometimes is often imposed upon. L. R. Wolfe wrote to Fried-mann (1934): "Probably ninety percent of the redwing nests [inDecatur County, Kans.] contained one or more eggs of the cowbirdand I remember frequent extended searches to find a nest withouteggs of the parasite."Winter.?While large numbers of thick-billed redwings remainin winter throughout the southern portions of their breeding range,especially in Colorado, there is a heavy southeastward movement inthe fall toward their winter quarters in the Southern States, from NewMexico to Louisiana.Harry Harris (1919) writes of their coming to the region of KansasCity, Mo.: "They began arriving in small numbers about the middleof November and continued coming in increasing numbers untilduring the intense cold periods of late December and January therewere countless thousands resorting to common roosts in the timberedbottoms along the Missouri River. In the early mornings when thebirds scattered to feed, great flocks flew over the city to their feedinggrounds on the prairie regions many miles to the south and west.It is estimated that some of the flocks covered daily from thirty tofifty miles on these journeys."W. E. Lewis (1925) gives the following graphic account of the im-mense flocks of redwings, with a few Brewer's blackbirds and cow-birds, as seen flying to and from their winter roosts in Oklahoma:They could be seen coming for three or four miles, in a column that resembled atthat distance the line of smoke given off by a distant locomotive, except that itwas constantly writhing and twisting like a sinuous serpent. As the dark bandapproached, the individual birds could be distinguished. The band was perhapsthirty feet across and there were usually about ten to fifteen birds to the rod ofcross section. Sometimes there are fewer than this, but sometimes many more.The column was not continuous. Possibly there would be a mile or two of black-bird ribbon, then a gap of half a mile, then a longer section. On February 13,
164 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
I saw a practically continuous stream about seven miles long. It is hard to accu-rately estimate the total number of individuals, but I think thirty thousandwould be conservative. DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Montana and western Kansas to Louisiana:Breeding range.?The thick-billed redwing breeds east of theRockies in western Montana (Teton and Gallatin Counties), westernNebraska, and western Kansas (Decatur County) ; south throughsoutheastern Idaho (Bear Lake County), central and central-easternUtah (Salt Lake City, Spanish Fork, Moab), and Colorado to south-western Utah (Pinto, Saint George), southern Nevada (intermediatetoward sonoriensis) , central and central-eastern Arizona (San Fran-cisco Mountains, McNary), central and southeastern New Mexico(Fort Wingate, Carlsbad), and (probably) northern and westernTexas (Boise, Canadian, Ysleta).Winter range.?Winters from northern Utah (Morgan County),Colorado (Barr, Colorado Springs), and eastern Nebraska (Lincoln);south to western and central Texas (El Paso, Hot Springs, EagleLake); casually east to Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas County),Tennessee (Reelfoot Lake), Mississippi (Rosedale), and Louisiana(Belcher). AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS NEVADENSIS GrinnellNevada RedwingHABITSThis Great Basin redwing breeds from southeastern British Colum-bia and northern Idaho, through much of northeastern California andsouthward on the east side of the Sierra Nevada to San BernardinoCounty, and through Nevada to eastern Arizona, New Mexico, andwestern Texas.A. J. van Rossem (1926) in his study of the California races givesthis form the following diagnosis: "Bill stouter than in caurinus orsonoriensis, but still decidedly more slender than in neutralis. Maleswith exposed portions of middle wing coverts usually clear buff,but frequently with a small amount of black present, and occasionallywith the exposed black even predominant over the buff. Femalesdecidedly less buffy than caurinus and with darker and broaderventral streaking than in sonoriensis. Not always distinguishablefrom neutralis in coloration, but streaking below averaging narrowerand sharper, and bill diagnostic if similar ages are compared."His seems more comprehensive and clearer than the original
NEVADA REDWING 165description by Grinnell (1914a) which follows: "In shape of bill andother general characters closely similar to A. p. sonoriensis; malescarcely distinguishable, but female conspicuously darker colored,on account of the great relative breadth of black streaking bothabove and below; in this respect similar to female of A. p. caurinus,but bright rusty edging on back and wings replaced by ashy andpale ochraceous; bill in male of caurinus more slender than in eithersonoriensis or nevadensis."Spring.?Claude T. Barnes has sent me the following account ofthe spring behavior of the redwing: "During the spring of 1942 Ifrequently visited Farmington bay, Utah, for the purpose of recordingmigration dates, especially those of the Nevada redwing (Agelaiusphoeniceus nevadensis). Despite the severe cold winter and stormylate spring, the male redwings appeared on the creek-willows onFebruary 20. They sang perfunctorily, and, while sitting, noneshowed their red epaulets. Day after day there was little changein the male flock, except that it grew more vociferous, on March 19,for instance, the male chorus being very pronounced, with muchclucking as well as song. Still only the yellowish crescent showedon the wing.
"For the next few days the male flock was dispersing, each maleselecting his favorite locale, a brook-footed post here, a marsh fencethere, or a reeded patch where slow water ran, always apparently aspot where fresh water was near and perches such as willows and wireseither existing or in the making, such as ungrown rushes."And then, on March 23, a flock of 30 drab little females appearedon the scene, staring curiously about the fen from fence wires andmanifesting no interest in the scattered males, who, indeed, recipro-cated their indifference. A male atop a fence post beside them treatedthem as harmless strangers. When the females flew it was in aflock together."On April 9 the yellow-headed blackbirds appeared; but the red-wings were still in status quo?female flock, isolated males."On April 13 the male's epaulets showed brilliant red in sittingposture; and for the first time the female flock began to disperse.Males began chasing females, and by April 25 no sign of a femaleassemblage remained."Jean M. Linsdale (1938) made the following interesting observationon the nests:A feature of the nests of red-winged blackbirds of special interest was noticedin Smoky Valley. This is that the lining in nearly every instance was paleyellow or whitish in color. This contrasted especially with the almost invariablydark color of the lining of the nest of the Brewer blackbird. In these two speciesas in others which had light or dark colored nest linings, the whitish lined nests
166 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
were in open situations often exposed to the sunlight, the dark lined nests werein shaded places usually protected from direct sunlight. This contrast extendedalso to the color of the down on nestlings. Nestling red-wings had conspicuouslywhitish down, nestling Brewer blackbirds were decidedly blackish. These seemfairly obvious examples of adaptions to exposure to sunshine?the whitish nestsand young to reflect sunrays, the dark ones to absorb them. Apparently it isdesirable for both the eggs and young birds to be thus protected.Nesting.?In general the nesting habits of the Nevada redwing donot differ materially from those of other races of the species, the nestsbeing placed low down in tufts of grass, in marsh vegetation, in variousshrubs near water, or as high as 5 or 10 feet from the ground in willows.Robert Ridgway (1889) "found a colony which had built their nestsin 'sage bushes' (Artemisia tridentata) growing in and about a shallowalkaline pond, on Antelope Island, in the Great Salt Lake." J. S.Rowley has sent me the following account of an especially densecolony in an isolated locality: "I found an old reservoir on the desertbetween Mojave, Kern County, and Little Lake, Inyo County, Calif.,on a deserted farm. Since there was no surface water for miles around,these redwings had taken this place over. The tule patch was onlyabout 50 feet square and there must have been at least 200 nestsoccupied there on April 19, 1934. I had to use great care in goingthrough the tules so as not to trample redwing nests."Eggs.?The Nevada redwing ordinarily lays four or five eggs,probably more often four than five. These are indistinguishablefrom eggs of adjacent races.Food.?E. R. Kalmbach (1914) gives this redwing credit foreating large numbers of alfalfa weevils in Utah. "Of 42 birds ex-amined, only 2 had failed to eat at least a trace of the weevil, and itwas taken on an average of 5.24 adults and 27.16 larvae per bird. Inbulk it amounted to 40.76 percent of the stomach contents."George F. Knowlton (1944) says that a redwing, probably of thisrace, "was collected in an alfalfa field southeast of St. George, Utah.Microscopic examination of its stomach contents revealed that itcontained a great mass of pea aphids (Macrosiphum pisi) estimatedto exceed 1,400 individuals. The pea aphid population in this fieldwas high enough to cause moderate crop injury. A second malered-wing was collected approximately one-half mile away along analfalfa-field fence line and near to sugar-beets. This stomach con-tained 85 pea aphids; one of four additional aphids it contained wasa green peach aphid (Myzus persicae), a species that causes somedamage to nearby sugar-beets intended for seed production."
NEVADA REDWING 167Behavior.?Walter P. Taylor (1912) writes of the behavior ofthis redwing with relation to other species:On more than one occasion was the belligerent disposition of this blackbird inevidence. Flocks of four to eight individuals were frequently seen pursuing somedistressed raven; they swooped at the fleeing bird with every appearance of intentto do bodily harm, but I was not able to observe that they did actually strike thefugitive. Individuals do not seem to be particularly timid about attacking araven, even when no other redwings are about. Magpies come in for a share ofabuse. Apparently redwings do not confine their attacks to birds of their ownsize or larger, for one was observed driving a Savannah Sparrow from a grassstem. Upon the flight of the sparrow, the blackbird settled down on the vacatedperch.Linsdale (1938) noted considerable evidence of polygamy: "Just asin the yellow-headed blackbird a great disproportion was noted inthe numbers of males and females at each nesting colony. This wasnot always apparent upon casual watching, but close study revealedit to be the condition practically everywhere. At 1 or 2 places wherethere was only a single nest there was 1 male, and 1 female, but usuallythere were several females and several nests for each male in thecolony. Once on May 14, 1932, 1 such group composed of 1 male and6 females flew up from a marsh in Smoky Valley and lit on a buffalo-berry bush." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?British Columbia to Nevada and Arizona.Breeding range.?The Nevada redwing breeds from central-southern and southeastern British Columbia (Kamloops, Newgate)south through central Washington (Conconully, North Dalles),northern Idaho (Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston), west-central Oregon (Gate-way, Prospect), and central-northern and eastern California (SeiadValley, Yosemite, Little Lake) to central-southern California (Victor-ville; Death Valley) and southern Nevada (Ash Meadows).Winter range.?Winters north to south-central British Columbiaand northern Idaho; south to western and southern California (PaloAlto, Oro Grande) and southern Arizona (Lochiel).
380928?57 12
168 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS CAURINUS RidgwayNorthwestern RedwingHABITSRidgway (1902) describes this redwing of the humid northwestcoast as "similar to A. p. phoeniceus but wing and bill longer, the lattermore slender; adult male with buff of middle wing-coverts deeper (deepochraceous-buff or ochraceous in winter plumage) ; adult female rathermore heavily streaked with black below and, in winter plumage, withupper parts much more conspicuously marked with rusty."Comparing it with other California races, A. J. van Rossem (1926)gives it the following diagnosis: "Bill longer and more slender than innevadensis or sonoriensis, and slightly different from either race inshape. Adult males with middle wing coverts clear buff, unmarkedwith black except in examples from northwestern California andsouthwestern Oregon, where intergradation with mailliardorum hasleft its impress. Females richly marked in strongly contrastingcolors, the plumage being suffused with buff and the feathers edgedwith rich browns and buffs at the expense of gray tones; the scatteredfeather edgings of the interscapular region usually light, contrastingstrongly with the rest of the plumage."The northwestern redwing, which seems to be nowhere especiallyabundant, is mainly migratory, though a few spend the winter as farnorth as western Washington. Its summer range extends from south-western British Columbia to northwestern California, at least toHumboldt Bay. Van Rossem (1926) says that it "winters muchfarther south than is generally supposed. It is of common occurrencein the San Francisco Bay district * * * and in the San JoaquinValley."I cannot find that it differs materially in its habits from the otherCalifornia races. DISTRIBUTIONThe range of the northwestern redwing lies west of the CoastRanges from British Columbia to California. It breeds along thecoast from southwestern British Columbia (Courtenay, Abbotsford)to northwestern California (Eureka, Requa), and in land along thelower Trinity River in California. It winters throughout its rangeand south to central-western California (Palo Alto) and the GreatValley of California (Gray Lodge State Game Refuge, Buena VistaLake). It is accidental in northern Sonora (Sonoyta).
SAN FRANCISCO REDWING 169AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS MAILLIARDORUM van RossemSan Francisco RedwingHABITSThis local race is evidently a bicolored redwinged blackbird, recentlyseparated from the more widely spread A. p. californicus , the coastalrepresentative of that subspecies, once regarded as a species.In naming it, A. J. van Rossem (1926) describes it as "similar toAgelaius phoeniceus californicus, but bill smaller and less swollen atbase. Females with wing averaging slightly longer, coloration darkerand posterior underparts rarely streaked. Males with exposedportions of middle wing coverts usually entirely black." He gives therange as: "Central coast region of California from central MontereyCounty north at least to Sherwood, Mendocino County; east toinclude Suisun Bay and the western slopes of the inner coast ranges."And he adds: Mailliardorum is the darkest of the races of Agelaiusphoeniceus found in the United States and probably represents in theleast diluted form the formerly widespread stock which has so plainlyleft its mark throughout the west on the invading 'phoeniceus' strain.Females of the streaked type occur rarely. In San Benito Countythere is, as would be expected, a tendency toward streaking whichreflects the proximity of californicus; and in Mendocino County,where an approach to caurinus takes place, the same condition isobserved. These streaked females are darker than the correspondingtype of californicus, and they are of course distinguishable by smallerbill."This race apparently does not differ at all in its habits from theclosely related bicolored redwing, its nearest neighbor.DISTRIBUTIONThe San Francisco redwing is resident in central coastal California(Sherwood, Lower Lake) south to Carmel River, Soledad, andPaicines.
170 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS CALIFORNICUS NelsonBicolored RedwingHABITSThe history of the above name is interesting. We older naturalistscan remember when there were only three kinds of red-winged black-birds, all full species, recognized in North America. These were thered-and-buff-shouldered blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) in the east,the red-and-white-shouldered blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) in Cali-fornia, and the red-and-black-shouldered blackbird (Agelaius guber-nator) in California and Mexico. Audubon (1842) figured these threespecies and used the above three names, which survived for half acentury, in the 1886 and 1895 A.O.U. Check-Lists.Agelaius gubernator is a Mexican species, and it was not long afterthe publication of the 1895 Check-List that E. W. Nelson (1897) dis-covered, in comparing specimens of this species from the tablelands ofMexico with those from California, that "certain differences are foundwhich warrant the naming of a geographical race. As A. gubernatorwas described from the tablelands of Mexico it follows that theCalifornia bird is the new one."The breeding females of typical gubernator from the plains ofPuebla lack nearly all of the light streaking on the entire upper surface,including the wings, and the light streaks are less marked on the lowersurface."Among other differences from true gubernator are the notablysmaller size and slenderer bills of the northern birds."He proposed calling the California bird Agelaius gubernator californ-icus, and this name was adopted in the 1910 Check-List.The discussion that followed, as to whether gubernator was specifi-cally distinct from phoeniceus, at least as shown in the Californiaraces, finally led to another change in the name, for which JosephMailliard (1910) was mainly responsible. In his long and exhaustivestudy of large series of specimens of the California races, he seems tohave demonstrated satisfactorily that the gubernator and phoeniceustypes are connected by every degree of intergradation, and are there-fore not specifically distinct; he proposed to call the California birdthe bicolored redwing, and this name was officially adopted in the1931 Check-List, making the bicolored redwing a subspecies of Agelaiusphoeniceus. For the steps which led to this conclusion, the reader isreferred to Mr. Mailliard's illustrated paper.For comparison with other California races, A. J. van Rossem (1926)gives the following diagnosis for A. p. californicus:
BICOLORED REDWING 171
Bill similar in shape and size to Agelaius phoeniceus neutralis, but males withexposed portions of middle wing coverts more extensively black, rarely clear buff,sometimes entirely black, but usually with a small amount of buff visible, par-ticularly on distal middle coverts. Females averaging much darker throughoutand less streaked (more blackish) below. Differs from Agelaius phoeniceusmailliardorum in much heavier bill in both sexes. Males with longer tails, and withmiddle wing coverts less frequently entirely black. Females with slightly shorterwings, under parts usually more streaked, and coloration paler throughout. * * *Range?Tejon Pass, in extreme northwestern Los Angeles County, north throughthe San Joaquin-Sacramento Valley to about 4 miles south of Red Bluff, TehamaCounty, Calif. East in suitable localities into the Sierra Nevada foothills; westto the eastern slopes of the inner coast ranges and to, but not including Suisun Bay.The specimen figured by Audubon (1842) was supposed to have beentaken on the Columbia River, but this is far beyond its present knownrange; if the locality is correctly given, it must have been a straggler.Courtship.?Grinnell and Storer (1924) describe the courtshipperformance as differing only slightly from that described for theeastern redwing:As soon as the flocks begin to break up, the males commence courting and theirdisplays are carried on with little cessation from daylight to dark throughout thenesting season. For this they seek some open situation, never far from the favoriteswampy haunts. The male lowers and opens his tail in wide fan shape, spreadsand droops his wings until the tips reach to or below his feet, raises his red wingpatches outward and forward like a pair of flaming brands, and having swelledout as large as possible, utters his curious throaty song, tong-leur-lee. Usually thisis done while he is perched; less often he mounts into the air and flies slowly overa circling course without departing far from the object of his attention.Nesting.?Of the nesting sites chosen by the bicolored blackbirdin the Fresno district, John G. Tyler (1913) writes:Almost every clump of tules in the various sinks and ponds is made use of bynesting blackbirds, while in many instances a colony will take possession of a grainfield, building tneir light, basket like structures amid the swaying wheat or barleystalks, from six inches to two feet above the ground.Not infrequently this species departs from the usual customs that have beenfollowed for so long, and nests in treetops. One such colony found May 25, 1906,was occupying some willows along a canal, one nest was fully thirty feet from theground and resembled a kingbird's home, except that several long streamers ofdry tule strips were left dangling and swaying in the breeze, making the nest veryconspicuous. That this site was chosen from preference and not from necessitywas clearly evident, as there was a growth of tules all along the edge of the canal,and a half section of wheat adjoining. Another colony chose nesting sites among thethick foliage of a long row of fig trees, the nests being situated from twelve totwenty feet above the ground. In driving along the road after the leaves hadfallen from the trees I counted eighteen nests in a short section of the row. Almostunder these trees was a small ditch in which water stood nearly all summer, andwhich was partly concealed by willows, tules, and sedges; but perhaps the closeproximity of a schoolhouse had taught the birds to elevate their nests and concealthem as well.
172 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The nests of the bicolored blackbird are usually built in tules atvarious heights above standing water. A typical nest of this raceis thus described by Grinnell and Storer (1924):The nest consists of three parts: (1) An outer loosely woven framework of tuleleaves fastened to the standing (dead) stems and growing leaves oi the tule thicket.The attachment of this outer framework to the tules is very loose, an arrangementwhich undoubtedly saves some nests from being tipped over when one side is at-tached to growing tules and the other to a dead stem. (2) Next comes the bodyof the nest, a firm structure comprising some tules, but chiefly of finer material.This material is worked in while wet, either while it is green or, perhaps, after ithas been taken to the stream-side and moistened. Some foxtail grass of thecurrent season and still partly green was incorporated in this layer of one of thenests examined. Some of the material, in the particular nest here described, hada coating of green algae suggesting that tules broken down into the water hadbeen used. This middle, wet-woven layer when dried and ready for use is sostrong as not to break on moderate pressure with the hands. This is the importantstructural element in the nest. (3) Finally there is an inner lining of fine drygrass stems of the previous year's growth. The fibers of this layer are chieflyinterwoven with each other, but some extend into the middle layer and hold thetwo layers together. This inner layer forms the soft lining on which the eggsand later the newly hatched young rest. Later still it gives a holdfast for thesharp claws of the growing young who can thus secure themselves against beingtumbled out of the nest during high winds or when the nest is beset by marauders.On this point they say that "a single young bird, nearly fledged, wasfound in one of the nests examined at Lagrange. When an effortwas made to lift this bird from the nest, he clung tenaciously to itand each of his sharp claws had to be released in turn from the liningmaterial. Later, when released over dry ground, he flew in a directline toward the nearest patch of green, a willow tree, and the instanthe touched the foliage he seized the latter with clenching claws andhung there until disengaged again."Eggs.?Four eggs seems to be the usual number for the bicoloredredwing; sets of five are rare, and Grinnell and Storer (1924) reportone set of six. They say: "The ground color of the eggs is pale blue,and the scattered markings of dark brown or black, chiefly at thelarger end of the egg, consist of dots, spots, streaks, and lines, thelatter often running around the pole of the egg." Bendire (1895)says: "The average measurement of forty-four specimens in theUnited States National Museum Collection is 24.07 by 17.35 milli-metres, or about 0.95 by 0.68 inch. The largest egg in the seriesmeasures 26.42 by 17.78 millimetres, or 1.04 by 0.70 inches; thesmallest, 21.34 by 16.76 millimetres, or 0.84 by 0.66 inch."Food.?F. E. L. Beal (1910) made a comprehensive study of thefood of the bicolored redwing based on the examination of 198 stomachscollected in every month in the year. The food was found to consistof 14 percent animal matter and 86 percent vegetable matter. Thegreatest amount of animal food, insects, was eaten in May, amounting
BICOLORED REDWING 173to nearly 91 percent. Beetles, mostly leaf bettles and weevils, aggre-gated about 5 percent. Wasps and ants were eaten very sparinglyin summer, as were certain bugs, less than 1 percent of each for theyear. Grasshoppers constituted over 15 percent of the food in July,but only 1.5 percent for the year. Caterpillars aggregated 5.5 percentfor the year, but amounted to over 45 percent of the food in May.The vegetable food consists of grain and weed seeds.Grain amounts to 70 and weed seed to 15 percent. The grain consists of corn,wheat, oats, and braley. Oats are the favorite. They amount to over 47 percentof the yearly food, and were eaten in every month except February, when theywere replaced by barley. The month of maximum consumption was Deoember,when nearly 72 percent was eaten, but several other months were nearly as high.Wheat stands next to oats in the quantity eaten, nearly 13 percent. It was takenquite regularly in every month except March and May. Barley was found onlyin stomachs taken in February, October, and November, and nearly all of itwas taken in February. The average for the year is 5.5 percent. Corn is eatenstill less than barley, and nearly all was consumed in September, when it reached46 percent of the month's food. A little was eaten in May, August, and October,but the aggregate for the year is only slightly more than 4 percent.Fruit is not eaten b^y the bicolored redwing. Among the weed seeds,amounting to 15 percent of the total food, he lists 12 species oftroublesome weeds and other useless plants. Of the food of the young,he says: "The food was made up of 99 percent of animal matter and1 percent of vegetable, though most of the latter was mere rubbish,no doubt accidental. Caterpillars were the largest item, and amountedto an average 45 percent. Bettles, many of them in the larval state,stood next with 32 percent. Hemiptera, especially stinkbugs andleafhoppers, amounted to 19 percent. A few miscellaneous insectsand spiders made up the other 3 percent."As to the economic status of this blackbird, he writes: "In summingup the facts relating to the food of the bicolored redwing, the mostprominent point is the great percentage of grain. Evidently if thisbird were abundant in a grain-raising country it would be a menaceto the crop. But no complaints of the bird's depredations on grainhave been made, and it is significant that the grain consumed is nottaken at or just before the harvest, but is a constant element of everymonth's food. As the favorite grain is oats, which grows wild in greatabundance, it must be admitted that, with all its possibilities formischief, the bird at present is doing very little damage."Tyler (1913) says that in the Fresno district, "farmers regard thisbird with considerable disfavor on account of its fondness for newlyplanted grain, and because of its attacks upon ripening Kaffir, orEgyptian, corn. In districts where large fields of alfalfa are underirrigation these birds are of much service in destrojdng various bugsand worms."
174 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Harold C. Bryant (1912) made a thorough study of the relation ofbirds to a grasshopper outbreak that occurred in the San JoaquinValley in 1912. Although the number of grasshoopers taken per dayby each individual bicolored redwing was exceeded by the dailynumbers taken by several other species (this bud ranking sixth inthis respect), by reason of its much greater abundance the totalnumber of grasshoppers destroyed by the species as a whole far ex-ceeded that for any other species. He figured that the total populationof bicolored redwings consumed 78,590 grasshoppers per day; westernmeadowlarks came next with a daily score of 24,720 for the totalpopulation. "The bicolored redwing was the bird most abundant.Large flocks of from one to four hundred individuals were often seenbusily engaged in catching grasshoppers. At times these flocks wereseen at a considerable distance from their usual habitat. They ap-peared to feed almost wholly in the infested districts, and more oftenin alfalfa fields than in pasture land."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The bicolored redwing is resident in the Great Valley ofCalifornia from Fouts Springs, Red Bluff and Columbia Hill south toLos Banos, Cuddy Valley, and Visalia.Casual record.?Casual in southeastern California (Calipatria)
.
AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS ACICULATUS MailliardKern RedwingHABITSJoseph Mailliard (1915a) described this scarce and extremely localsubspecies as "similar to Agelaius phoeniceus neutralis, but of largersize, feet averaging somewhat larger; but chiefly characterized by alonger, and comparatively more slender bill than any other form ofthis genus in the United States."Of its range, he said: "So far this form has only been found in east-central Kern County, Calif., in the Walker Basin, just north of thetown of Caliente, and on the South Fork of Kern River, betweenIsabella and Onj^x, thus probably being restricted to a very smallrange." And speaking of its coloration and markings, he said thatthis form "seems to be between neutralis and nevadensis, both raciallyand geographically, and appears to have been developed by someunknown factor in the small area it must occupy among the foothillsof the southern Sierra. Specimens of Agelaius taken at Buena VistaLake, thirty or forty miles west of this area, and across the plains, are
KERN REDWING 175indistinguishable from the general run of neutralis, while the form onthe east is sonoriensis, and that on the northeast is Grinnell's newform, nevadensis."A. J. van Rossem (1926) gives the following diagnosis for the Kernredwing
:
Size larger and bill longer than in any other California race. Males very similarto californicus both in individual and average amount of black present on exposedportions of middle wing coverts. Females also paralleling californicus in vari-ability, but coloration richer; feather edgings, where present, stronger in tone,with rich browns and buff at a maximum; grays at a minimum. * * *In view of its coloration acicvlatus is obviously of "gube?-nator" origin, andbecause of its isolated habitat it has not been affected by the thick-billed "phoeni-ccus" stock which is now dominant in the San Diegan Faunal Area and in partsof the San Joaquin Valley. Such modification as has taken place has come fromthe east, from the slender-billed chain, as is at once apparent from bill proportionand shape. * * *Aciculatus departs entirely from its breeding grounds directly after the nestingseason. The bulk of the individuals probably winter in the San Joaquin Valley,but because of their comparatively limited numbers the collecting of one is amatter of chance. There is at hand a female taken at Buena Vista Lake onDecember 30, a young male from the same locality April 14 (not breeding) andan adult male from Corona, Riverside County, December 8. Trie Corona maleis not typical but is best referable to this race.Mailliard (1915b) in a later paper makes these further remarks onthe Kern redwing:That the habitat of the" Kern Red-wing is extremely limited seems, from ourpresent knowledge, to be a reasonable conclusion, even though it is known toinhabit two districts rather widely separated topographically. The first placewhere it was found was the "Walker Basin," which is a meadowlike valley ofonly a few thousand acres in extent, separated from the San Joaquin Valley by arange of mountains over four thousand feet high, its only outlet being by way ofa narrow gorge through which the Walker Creek flows into the Kern River, whosebed is at the bottom of a narrow canyon for miles below the point of intersection.The marshy portion of the Walker Basin is so limited that but few individualsexist there. In fact we saw none at all while passing along the edge of this dis-trict, but van Rossem took some there in 1914.As far as we know, the next, and only other, spot where these birds are to befound is on the South Fork of the Kern River, some four or five miles above itsjunction with the North Fork, twenty-five or thirty miles farther inland thanthe Walker Basin and separated from it by two fairly high ranges of mountains,the river itself being probably at an elevation at this point of some 3,000 feet.Here the narrow valley opens out a bit, to half a mile or more in width, with "fans"covered with desert vegetation running up into the steep canyons that cut into themasses of shattered rock which constitute the mountains on either side. In thecomparatively level bottom are small marshy spots and lagunas where bunches oftules or cat-tails grow, while in places water has been brought in from the river andalfalfa or barley is grown.We found the red-wings mostly in the lagunas, or near them, though some wereseen among the hundreds of Brewer Blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus) whichwere following the water as it spread over the fields and feasting on the insects
176 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211among the alfalfa. The red-wings were usually in small groups or colonies, andfar from numerous. In fact we came across but few spots they seemed to favorby their presence. This irrigated strip extends some eight or ten miles up theriver to where the valley contracts again and it seems to be the only likely localityin which to expect these birds in all that neighborhood.DISTRIBUTIONThe Kern redwing is resident in the mountain valleys of east-centralKern County, south-central California (Bodfish, Isabella, Weldon,Onyx). In winter probably near breeding range; recorded at BuenaVista Lake. AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS NEUTRALIS RidgwaySan Diego RedwingHABITSRidgway (1902) describes this race as "similar to A. p. sonoriensis,but smaller, the adult female darker, with streaks less strongly con-trasted above, those on lower parts rather broader and grayer, theupper parts with little if any rusty, even in winter plumage."Comparing it with other California forms, A. J. van Rossem (1926)calls it "similar to Agelaius phoeniceus californicus in size and shapeof bill. Males with exposed portions of middle wing coverts moreextensively buffy, often unmarked with black. Females more streaked(less blackish below) and with coloration paler throughout. Differsfrom Agelaius phoeniceus nevadensis in heavier bill in both sexes, andin broader streaking on underparts of the females." He finds itsrange to be the Pacific drainage from Sierra Ju&rez, in Baja California,to west-central San Luis Obispo County, in California; and adds:Nevtralis is a common resident in all suitable localities in the San Diegan FaunalArea. Along the southeastern border of its range there is, because of environ-mental conditions, no intergradation with sonoriensis. Intergradation may occurin the San Gorgonio Pass region of Riverside County, but there is no direct proof ofthis possibility. The easternmost station for neutralis in this region is Redlands,while a tongue of sonoriensis extends up into the Coachella Valley on the desertside. * * *Neutralis is resident in the sense that the breeding area is coextensive with thewinter range. A single exception to this statement is an adult male, No. 8205,Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, taken six miles west of Imperial, Imperial County,May 6, 1909, which is unquestionably referable to neutralis.This race does not differ materially in its habits from neighboringraces.
SONORA REDWING 177DISTRIBUTIONThe San Diego redwing is resident in southwestern California(Santa Margarita, Redlands, Jacumha) and northwestern BajaCalifornia (Sierra Juarez, El Valle de la Trinidad, El Rosario). It iscasual in winter in southeastern California (Imperial).AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS SONORIENSIS RidgwaySonora RedwingHABITSA. J. van Rossem (1926) describes the Sonora redwing as being
?
Of the slender-billed sonoriensis-nevadensis-caurinus chain. Bill longer andmore slender than in nevadensis and of different shape than in caurinus. Maleswith middle wing coverts more often and more extensively marked with blackthan in nevadensis, and therefore not to be confused in this respect with caurinuswhich is, except in the extreme southwest corner of its range, essentially an im-maculate buff-winged form. Pale tipping of feathers in fall plumage more exten-sive and paler than in the other California races, and very frequently persisting(even in fully adult males) on the interscapular region until the bird is in worn(late May) plumage. Females by far the palest of the California races. Palerand with narrower ventral streaking than in nevadensis; paler and less buffy thanin caurinus, with markings more diffused (less contrasted) than in that form. * * *After examining the type, a young female in first winter plumagetaken at Camp Grant, 60 miles east of Tucson, Ariz., February 10,1867, van Rossem concludes:This locality is east of the established breeding range of sonoriensis as now under-stood and in a region occupied by both fortis and nevadensis in winter. Mr.Ridgway [1902] himself gives the type locality as "Mazatlan, w. Mexico." It isunfortunate that the type was not selected from the latter locality, for Mazatlanbirds are essentially the same as Colorado River valley specimens. In color, thetype is not quite like the average from the metropolis of the race and its bill isshorter than any other female sonoriensis so far examined. It recalls certainyoung females of fortis in some particulars and its identity may yet be shown tolie in that direction. However, the case demands further material for finalsolution and I continue to apply the name, for the present, to the birds inhabitingthe lower Colorado River and its tributaries and the coastal districts of Sonoraand Sinaloa.E. W. Nelson (1900) was the first to call attention to the un-fortunate selection of a type for what we now call sonoriensis; hispaper throws some light on what has caused considerable confusionas to the propriety of the name, as well as to the distribution of thesubspecies.
178 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Harry S. Swarth (1929) makes the following comments on Ridg-way's type and the status of this form in Arizona:It [the type] differs from the mode of the Agelaius of the lower Colorado Valley,to which the name sonoriensis has been generally applied, in having a distinctlyheavier, stubbier bill, in which particular it can not be matched in a large seriesof Colorado River birds. In coloration, however, it is closely similar to somefemales from the Colorado River, and correspondingly different from the modeof nevadensis and fortis. Altogether, I am disposed to let the name sonoriensiscontinue to stand for the Colorado River form, and to regard the type specimenas a stray or migrant, a winter-taken bird from beyond the normal breeding rangeof the subspecies. There has already been such a confusion of the names appliedto this race, as well as to the proper type locality, that I am unwilling to suggesta change that might cause further trouble.The point I wish to emphasize here is the fact that there are two subspecies ofAgelaius phoeniceus breeding in southern Arizona, one occupying the valley ofthe lower Colorado River and its tributaries as far east as Tucson, the other, theregion east from the Santa Catalina and Santa Rita mountains. Breeding birdsfrom Phoenix and Tempe are mostly indistinguishable from Colorado Valleyspecimens. Breeding birds from near Tucson are intermediate, some of themhaving distinctly heavy and stubby bills, as compared with the slender-billedwestern race, but on the whole they are best associated with the Colorado Valleysubspecies.If we accept the conclusions of van Rossem and Swarth, whichseem reasonable in view of our present knowledge, we must reviseour ideas of the breeding range of the Sonora redwing. For a numberof years in the past this form was supposed to breed in suitablelocalities entirely across the arid portions of southern Arizona andeven in extreme southwestern New Mexico, but now its breeding rangeseems to be limited to the area cited under "distribution," below.DISTRIBUTIONThe range of the Sonora redwing lies in southeastern California andNevada to western Mexico. It is resident from southeastern Cali-fornia (Indio), southern Nevada (opposite Fort Mohave, Arizona),central-western, central, and southeastern Arizona (Mohave, Wikieup,SafTord); south to northeastern Baja California (Colorado Delta) andnorthern Sonora. It winters south to southern Baja California(Santiago, San Jose del Cabo), southern Sinaloa (Mazatlan, Escuin-apa), and central Durango (Papasquiero).
TRICOLORED REDWING 179AGELAIUS TRICOLOR (Audubon)Tricolored RedwingHABITSThis handsome blackbird was discovered by Nuttall near SantaBarbara, Calif., in 1836. He sent a male specimen to Audubon, whodescribed it in his Ornithological Biography (1839) and figured it inhis other great illustrated works as one of the only three forms ofredwings recognized at that time. His specific name has stood onthe A. O. U. Check-List ever since as a binomial; it has not been splitinto subspecies, nor has it been shown to integrate with other formsof Agelaius. Nuttall wrote to Audubon at that time: "Flocks ofthis vagrant bird, which, in all probability, extends its migrationsinto Oregon, are very common around Santa Barbara in Upper Cali-fornia, in the month of April." Its range is now known to extendfrom southern Oregon, west of the Cascade Range, southward throughCalifornia, west of the Sierra Nevada, to northwestern Lower Cali-fornia. Its center of abundance seems to be in the San JoaquinValley in California.Coues (1874) questioned the status of this bird as a distinct specieson the grounds that its bill is similar in shape to that of some of theraces of phoeniceus, and "the difference in the shade of red is no greaterthan that observable in specimens of phoeniceus proper, while thebordering of the red in the latter is sometimes nearly pure white."Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874), however, point out certaindifferences which seem to substantiate the tricolored redwing's claimto specific status
:
Immature males sometimes have the white on the wing tinged with brownish-yellow, as in A. phoeniceus. The red, however, has the usual brownish-orangeshade so much darker and duller than the brilliantly scarlet shoulders of theother species, and the black has that soft bluish lustre peculiar to the species.The relationships generally between the two species are very close, but the bill,as stated, is slenderer and more sulcate in tricolor, the tail much more nearly even;the first primary longer, usually nearly equal to or longer than the fourth, insteadof the fifth.Two strong features of coloration distinguish the female and immature stagesof this species from gubernator and phoeniceus. They are, first, the soft bluishgloss of the males, both adult and immature; and secondly, the clear white andbroad, not brown and narrow, borders to the middle wing-coverts.The lesser wing coverts ("shoulders") of the adult male are coloreda much darker red than in any of the subspecies of A. phoeniceus, adull crimson, or the color of venous blood, very different from thebright vermilion or scarlet of the other species.Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says of the haunts of this redwing: "In
180 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys there are many smallirrigation reservoirs fringed with a dense growth of tules. Fromthese in spring and early summer issues a medley of droning andbraying sounds, and lines of blackbirds fly out in all directions to theneighboring fields or fly back with food for the young."Courtship.?Lack and Emlen (1939) made extensive studies of thebreeding behaviour of tricolored redwings: "Intensive watching inan uncrowded portion of the Willow Slough colony showed that eachmale held a territory some six feet square, to which it usually confinedits movements when in the colony, in which it sang and courted, andfrom which other males were driven out. An immature male was oncetolerated in an adult's territory for two minutes, but it was promptlydriven out when a female arrived. Fighting never seemed serious andboundary demonstrations, so common in typical territorial birds,were not seen."They were unable to distinguish separate territories in the centralpart of the colony, where the population was denser.Both male and female often showed similar raising and lowering of expandedwings and tail as a preliminary to copulation. When inviting the male, the femaleusually arched the body and pointed the beak vertically upward, sometimesquivering the wings or raising and lowering the beak. * * * Once, from a treein the colony, a male flew down in song and with expanded wings to copulate witha female below; this is the only case we observed of an aerial song-flight. * * *As in phoeniceus, polygamy seems the rule. Of three males in contiguousterritories with known boundaries, two had three and the other had two buildingfemales; laying occurred in seven of the eight nests. Occasionally a male dis-played to two females in quick succession. All the females laid at about thesame time. The females usually ignored each other, but occasionally chased eachother short distances.At times, two males were seen displaying to the same female, but usually one,the trespasser, was chased away. As already noted, in an owner's absence, hisneighbor trespassed and courted one of his females. One female, which wasindividually distinguishable, returned with building material when her own malewas absent; the next-door male postured sexually, whereupon she flew over to histerritory and both displayed. Her own male then reappeared, and she returnedand displayed with him. In neither case did copulation follow. These incidentssuggest that promiscuity may occur at times, but polygamy, not promiscuity,would seem the rule where we watched; we do not know that this is true for thedenser parts of the colony.Nesting.?The tricolored redwing is one of our most highly gregari-ous species. It nests in enormous, most densely populated colonies,the nests being placed more closely together than in any other coloniesof marsh-nesting blackbirds. Estimates of population density havebeen made by many observers; these estimates are subject to widevariation and some of them are evidently inaccurate or were carelesslymade. Johnson A. Neff (1937) devoted six seasons to a careful andthorough study of the nesting colonies of this species over most of its
TRICOLORED REDWING 181breeding range in California, and his counts and estimates seem to havebeen made more accurately than some others. He makes the followinggeneral statement: "The writer has noted almost every possiblevariation in density of population. Twelve nests were observed inone small willow, and thirty-six were counted in one clump of aboutfour tall willows growing from the same root. In cattails, nests havebeen noted at least as numerous as one to each three square feet;from one stand in thick cattails, without moving the feet except torotate, we counted from sixteen to thirty-six nests; the average ofmany counts ran well over twenty. A count made in a marginalcolony averaged one nest to each nine square feet. In another colonysample counts, in a number of ten-foot squares, ranged from sixteento thirty-four nests."His tables, showing the variation in sizes of different colonies, arequite enlightening, the numbers running from less than a hundred toover two hundred thousand nests in a colony. Some of his descrip-tions of various colonies follow:About twenty miles east of Sacramento a reservoir, on what is known as theNimbus Ranch, owned by the Natomas Company, was dammed or dug, about1912, as a source of water supply for gold dredgers. Cattail and tule developedabout 1916, and since 1920 or 1921 blackbirds have inhabited the area in greatnumbers. Marsh growth in 1932 covered 30 to 40 acres. On March 4, 1932,the roosting population of this area estimated at "nearly a half-million birds,"fed over an area fully forty miles in diameter. By April 25, 1932, nesting wasunder way, and by May 1 many of the nests held full sets of eggs. In May 1932,many trips were made to this marsh, and the estimate of several cooperators wasplaced at 100,000 nests. * * * By 1935, dredgers had so changed the terrain thatonly 2,000 to 3,000 returned to this place; the feeding area was too far away. In1936 this locality was deserted; three smaller marshes a few miles away were den-sely occupied by a population totaling about 100,000.On April 30, 1932, at a point five miles west of Watsonville, Piper found acolony of about 1,000 Tri-colors nesting in a rather dry marshy area; there wasno standing water, but there was a thick tangle of blackberry vines, nettles, andrather sparse cattails. Nests were uniformly in early stages of construction, withno eggs.On May 14 and 15, 1932, Gabrielson and Jacobsen found a nesting colony ina patch of thistles on a small slough about fifteen miles northwest of Merced onthe Crane Ranch road. The thistle patch was from 75 to 125 feet wide, formingan almost impenetrable jungle. Nests held eggs or young. These observersestimated that the birds numbered between 60,000 and 75,000 pairs.On May 19, 1933, the writer discovered a huge flight of Tri-colors on the hold-ings of the Dodge Land Company and the Perriott Grant ranch which overlapthe Glenn-Colusa county line northeast of Butte City. Here there are a numberof sloughs which are not continuously filled with water; their width varies greatlyand it is virtually impossible to estimate the total area. On May 30, 1933, tensof thousands of birds were flying back and forth into the cattails and tules in thesesloughs, carrying nesting materials. The birds were active over an area roughlyfour miles east and west by six miles north and south. The number of birds,apparently all nesting in the slough area, was so far beyond comprehension that
182 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
after spending parts of three days here the writer gave up in despair with thethought that an estimate of 250,000 adults was ridiculously low. On July 18, 1933,another visit to the section disclosed a general area of about forty square milescentering around these sloughs which literally teemed with squalling youngTri-colors and adults hustling for food for the immense aggregation.On May 10, 1934, a nesting colony was noted in marshes which extend fromthe Culver Ranch into the Cross Ranch, four miles east of Norman, Glenn County.About two weeks later, after nesting was under way in the entire marsh, anirrigation company official, practiced in judging land areas, estimated that nestingcovered virtually sixty acres. During the nesting period many nest counts weremade on sample areas; all averaged close to one nest for every five square feet.Even at one to ten square feet, the nests in this marsh would number about260,000. As the estimated number of nests listed in this report is 200,000, thispermits sufficient allowance for any parts of the marsh not so heavily populated.Rollo H. Beck wrote to me on May 22, 1944: "In last month havedestroyed 850 nests in one farmer's grainfield, and in a small ditchfilled with tules; found several spots where two separate nests wereplaced on same tules. Of interest to me was the grainfield nesting,nests in barley or attached to mustard stalks and barley. Last year10 colonies were all in tules in water."Dawson (1923) says of the nests: "The nests, I say, are everywhere,now at middle levels, 2 or 3 feet above the water, where one maypeep into them, now overhead where we must thrust in exploratorylingers, now hung perilously close to the water where a change inlevel may overwhelm them. Now and again they crowd each other,when two or three birds select the same stems. Here are two nestsside by side, and here one above another. Here a bird has lashed herfoundation too high, and the top will not go on because of a neighbor'sfoundation."Elsewhere (1927), he describes the nest as follows: "Each nest islashed firmly within a group of upright cattail stems; and an artwhich anchors an edifice midway of such unencouraging rods is ahigh art. The sides of the nest are both woven and coiled, but thebottom is coiled only, and that most ingeniously. I have seen a deadcattail leaf five feet long reduced to a single close-set spiral. Thebody, or matrix, of the nest is made of macerated leaves, or vegetablewaste, laid on wet. Occasionally a little mud finds its way into thecomposition, but this is not essential. And, finally, after the matrixis well dried, a smart lining of coiled grasses is added, and egg-layingbegins."In the same paper he writes of the zoning system in the colony:Nesting commences on schedule and proceeds with the regularity of clockwork.We do not know where the High Council convenes which assigns quarters to theincoming citizens, but we do know that first comers, to the number, it may be, ofa thousand, gather in the center of the swamp. Days pass and nothing is done.Then as at a given signal, all fall to work and begin nest-building. This centralgroup, of those who have received building licenses, works thenceforth unremit-
TRICOLORED REDWING 183
tingly, and with such uniformity of success that a visitor can determine the veryday when first eggs, second eggs, and so on, laid by practically every femalemember of the commune. Newcomers?and there is from now on a constantstream of influx?in like manner, group themselves in a section immediatelyadjoining the central colony. These first tarry for recruits, and then set to at agiven signal. Thus, in contiguous but distant sections of a large swamp, one mayfind the nest-under-construction group, the one-egg-laid group, the just-hatchinggroup, and so on, all on the same day. In some smaller swamps, there are con-centric rings of activity.John G. Tyler (1907) tells of a colony in a dense growth of nettlesin a low, damp sink at the end of an abandoned slough:In the lowest land the nettles were very dense and some of them were six feetor more in height; but toward the border where the ground was higher and dryerthey gradually became smaller until at the outer edge they were scarcely sixinches high and were finally replaced by a rather thin growth of foxtail grass.On two sides of the nettle patch was a more or less dense fringe of willows. * * *Before reaching the nettles I was somewhat surprised when a female blackbirdfluttered up from the grass and revealed a nest built on the bare ground. Arather hasty search resulted in the finding of several other nests in like situations.These were all built out in the short thin grass and not concealed at all or pro-tected from the rays of the sun and would certainly have made a rich harvest forsome prowling egg-eater. There was nothing, however, to indicate that they hadbeen disturbed in any way.After entering the nettles, he found that there "were nests every-where: in some instances three or four built one on top of another, thoin such cases only the upper one appeared to be occupied. Theaverage height from the ground was between one and three feet, butmany were seen that were ten and twelve feet up in the willows.They were all built almost entirely of grass stems that had beenfreshly pulled, giving the nests a bright, green appearance. Someof them had a few coarse brown weed stems woven into the frameworkbut in the majority no other material but the grass was used and nonecontained any lining. As the heads of the grass had not been detached,the nests presented a ragged, fuzzy appearance."A fact that impressed him more, perhaps, than anything else wasthat "in the center of the colony where the nettles were thickest,nearly all of the nests contained small young birds and doubtless itwas the parents of these that I first saw. A little farther out, however,there were full sets of badly incubated eggs while near the outsidewere incomplete sets of fresh eggs."Eggs.?Dawson (1923) says that
?
"four eggs being the stern rule of A. tricolor, sets of five or six were pretty sure tocontain an egg structurally weak. The lime had played out. Of the only set ofseven found, one egg collapsed in the nest, and another in being transferred to thecollecting box. * * * The eggs of the Tricolored Redwing are normally of apale niagara green tint, sharply and sparingly marked?small-blotched or short-scrawled?with an intense brownish black pigment. The variation, not in the380928?57 13
184 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211quality but in the application of this single pigment, determines the highly variedresults secured. Often the pigment is shadowed, or "washed," along its edges,revealing thus its brown character. Not infrequently a tinge of the pigment issuffused throughout the shell, and we get such basic tints as glaucous, yellowishglaucous, "tilleul buff," and even deep olive-buff. Again, and more rarely, thepigment is spread about superficially, in whole or in part, paling thus to vinaceousbuff, or fawn-color. In two instances in the M. C. O. collections the color appearsas a uniform vinaceous clouding on a warm buff ground; and in one of these thefreckling is so minute and so uniform as to render the egg almost indistinguishablefrom that of a Yellow headed Blackbird."According to Bendire (1895) the measurements of 201 eggs in theUnited States National Museum average 27.75 by 20.35 millimeters;the largest egg measures 30.78 by 22.61, and the smallest egg 21.59 by18.29 millimeters.Young.?Lack and Emlen (1939) state that "the incubation period,determined by comparing the stage of development on various datesthrough May and early June in each of 4 colonies, is about 11 days,the fledgling period 13 days." They said that "both sexes fed theyoung," but Grinnell and Storer (1924) observed, in another colony,that "the females did all the work of feeding the young."Joseph Mailliard (1914) writes:After hunger fear seemed to be one of the first sensations developed in the youngnestlings. So much was this the case that the youngsters, say a week old, wouldflop out of the nests on the approach of a human being and fall into the water.* * * As the young left the nest and took to the tules their feeling of fear did notdiminish, and they would flutter or scramble away so fast in the thick high tulesthat it was a difficult matter to procure a few for specimens. * * *By June 15 the colony was greatly scattered, many of the young accompanyingtheir parents abroad in search of food. * * * Those old enough for flight seemedto return to the tules every night, and often for the purpose of finding rest andshade in the daytime as well. By July 1 the colony was beginning to disintegrate,and even before that date small flocks of old and young together could be seenworking toward the north, while but few were noticed returning from thatdirection.Plumages.?In a general way the plumages and molts of the tri-colored redwing are similar to those of the other redwings, with a fewspecific differences, some of which are shown in descriptions byRidgway (1902), who said: "Young (sexes alike) much like summerfemale, but general color browner and under parts of body narrowlystreaked with dull grayish white; middle and greater wing-covertsmargined terminally with dull buffy whitish, producing two narrowbands; tertials narrowly margined with dull buffy whitish."Immature female (in first winter [plumage]) similar to the adultfemale in winter, but much browner, the pileum, hindneck, and backstrongly tinged or washed with brown, and the superciliary and malarstripes, lighter streaks of anterior under parts, and margins of wing-coverts brownish buffy.''
TRICOLORED REDWING 185He does not describe the young male in first winter plumage, butDawson (1923) describes the young male in his first spring as "likeadult, but lesser wing-coverts tawny or brownish red, variouslyadmixed with black; the middle coverts wholly black, or variouslymixed black and white."After the first complete postnuptial molt, young birds becomeindistinguishable from adults. Ridgway says that the adult male inwinter is "similar to the summer male, but plumage still softer andmore glossy and middle wing-coverts more or less tinged with brownishbuff."The adult male in summer he describes as "uniform glossy blue-black, the plumage with a silky luster; lesser wing-coverts brownishcarmine or dull crimson; middle coverts white, in abrupt and con-spicuous contrast." The adult female in winter is "similar to thesummer female, but plumage softer, more glossy, and of a more grayishcast, with pale (light buffy grayish) margins to feathers of lower partsmuch broader."Dawson (1923) describes the adult female in spring as
?
Similar to that of Agelaius phoeniceus, but more uniform in coloration and muchdarker; above sooty black, nearly uniform, from back posteriorly, but with someobscure skirtings of brownish gray on head and nape; below sooty black, nearlyuniform from breast posteriorly, although with faint skirtings of lighter, orwhitish?these skirtings sharply defined on lower tail-coverts; breast mingledblack and whitish in about equal proportions, clearing anteriorly to white,sparingly flecked with black on throat; an obscure whitish line over eye; lateralcoloration throughout blending the characters of upper and lower plumage; a dullruddy element often present in the whites, and (in older examples ?) the lesserwing-coverts more or less skirted with dark red.Food.?Beal (1910) examined the stomachs of 16 tricolored red-wings, of which he says: "From the examination of so small a number,final data on the food can not be obtained, but so far as the testimonygoes, it indicates that both species (phoeniceus and tricolor) consumemore insects and less grain than the bicolored. The stomachs of thetricolored contain 79 percent of animal matter to 21 of vegetable.The animal matter consists mostly of beetles and caterpillars, with adecided preponderance of caterpillars. The vegetable food is nearlyall weed seed. One stomach alone contained barley."Mailliard (1914) tells a slightly different story:By the time incubation was completed in the majority of nests and vast numbersof young beaks were opening wide for needed nourishment, the barley in theneighborhood was just reaching the pulpy stage, being "in the milk," as it iscalled, when the kernels of grain are much relished by the redwings on their ownaccount and much prized as food for the young. Hence a large amount of damageis done by these birds when the grain is in this state, and this keeps up even whenthe grain becomes quite hard. But, while thousands of the redwings werevisiting the barley fields, as many more were bringing in grasshoppers, cutworms,
186 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
caterpillars and various sorts of insects in various stages of growth, and probablythe harm done to the grain is more than offset by the good work of destroyinginjurious pests of the insect world.Nuttall wrote to Audubon (1842) that tricolored redwings wereseen in the suburbs of Santa Barbara, feeding "almost exclusively onthe maggots or larvae of the blow-flies, which are generated in theoffal of the cattle constantly killed around the town for the sake ofthe hides."Economic status.?As can be seen from the above statements, theeconomic status of the tricolored redwing is not as bad as it has beenpainted. Examination of stomachs has shown that a surprisinglysmall amount of grain is consumed, which is largely offset by theimmense numbers of injurious insects eaten. Where the birds areespecially abundant, however, hordes of them may be seen flying toand from the fields of barley, rice, and other grains, leaving manystripped heads of ripening grain on the stalks, resulting in considerablelosses, especially in fields near the large breeding colonies.Behavior.?The outstanding characteristic of the tiicolored red-wing is its highly gregarious behavior at all times, the density of itsnesting colonies, the immensity of its flocks, and its social habits.Dawson (1923) puts it very aptly as follows: "Agelaius tricolor isintensely gregarious, more so perhaps than any other American bird.Every major act of its life is performed in close association with itsfellows. Not only does it roost, or ravage grain fields, or foregatherfor nesting, in hundreds and thousands, but the very day of its nestingis agreed upon in concert. In continuous procession the individualsof a colony repair to a field agreed upon in quest of building material
;
and when the babies are clamoring the loudest for food, the deployingforagers join their nearest fellows aud return to the swamps by platoonsand voilej^s, rather than as individuals."And Grinnell and Storer (1924) remark: "Zealous guarding of thenesting precincts, which is so marked a trait in the behavior of themale Red-wing, is not practiced by the Tri-color. There is not the needfor each and every male to remain at the nest while the female isabsent; the nests are located so very close together that there arealways enough adult birds about the colony to sound an alarm shouldan enemy appear. It would seem as though the Tri-colored Blackbirdshad attained to a more successfully communal stage of development intheir domestic affairs than have the Bi-colored Red-winged Black-birds."Tyler (1913) says that?It is not unusual to find a few of this species associating with the large flocks ofmixed blackbirds that are so often seen in winter, but for the most part theTricolors seek no company aside from that of their own kind.
TRICOLORED REDWING 187During the month of March great hordes of Tricolored Blackbirds fly north-ward in what is evidently a local migration. Every morning, from daylight untilafter sunrise, they pass over at frequent intervals; sometimes half a dozen birdstogether and again in large compact flocks. If the weather is clear they fly at aheight of over a hundred feet from the ground, but on foggy mornings they whizalong skimming just over the surface of the earth, in a flight that is very rapidfor blackbirds. At such times they are entirely silent, in surprising contrastto the loose, straggling bands of Bicolors that go creaking along before dark onmany a fall evening.Dawson (1923) says: "The normal flock movement is in itself dis-tinctive. The birds fly silently, with not so much as a rustle of wings;and they pass close to the ground, or at most at an elevation of fifteenor twenty feet. Each member of the flock rises and falls with eachrecurrent effort of the wings, quite independently of his fellows; butthere is no vacillation or disposition to break away. Each bird issolely and ominously intent upon 'getting there'."Voice.?Tyler (1913) evidently did not admire the song of thetricolored redwing when he wrote: "I have yet to hear the bird thatcan produce a more unmusical, strident series of notes than theTricolored Blackbird, and when two or three hundred unite to vocif-erate in concert, the result absolutely defies all description?yet Iwould willingly listen to them for hours. The very harshness seemsto appeal to a bird lover, when more musical bird songs would passas commonplace."Dawson (1927) describes the song as follows: "Instead of the heartykonqueree, or the lively keyring of the swamp redwing, Agelaiusphoeniceus, we have, Look awaay choke, awaay awaay choke, or awaakor chuaack choke, as though sound were being squeezed out of nearlyempty bellows. An anxious jup note reminds us rather of the crowblackbird than of cousin phoeniceus; while, if we were to retire to theoak-clad foothills, where belated courtships are still in progress, weshould hear the curious 'stomach-ache song' of the yellow-headedblackbird only stopped down and subdued."According to Ralph Hoffmann (1927) : "The song of the TricoloredRedwing lacks the liquid quality of the preceding species. The songmay bo written oh-kee-gudy-a, with a braying quality. The commoncall note is a nasal kape."Field marks.?The adult male may easily be recognized by thebroad and conspicuous band of white, the median wing coverts, insharp contrast with the glossj7" black plumage and the dark red
"shoulders"; this shows plainly even when the bird is perched. Thefemale is darker than the females of the other neighboring redwings,the lower parts from the breast posteriorly being solid dark, sootybrown, almost black. Other details are described under plumages.
188 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The behavior of the tricolored redwing is quite distinctive, as men-tioned above, and its voice is quite different.Enemies.?The densely populated breeding colonies of tricoloredredwings, with thousands of nests filled with eggs or small young,offer tempting chances for predators, furred or feathered, to enjoy a
"field day"; many colonies have suffered heavy predation, and somehave been almost, or quite annihilated. Lack and Emlen (1939)report two cases of mass desertion of nests, with destruction of eggs;of one of these, they say: "One colony near Marysville was reportedto contain about 60,000 birds up to May 12. At the time of our firstvisit on May 16 only a few hundred were left. An examination ofabout one hundred nests revealed that more than the three-fourthscontained freshly broken eggs or minute shell chips; only a few wereundisturbed and these latter contained freshly laid eggs. On June 2no adult birds were seen in the vicinity; of 114 nests examined, 62contained shell chips, 46 others were empty and 6 contained newlyhatched, but dead, young. Some of these nests showed small holesin the lining, as if made by birds' beaks."Mailliard (1900) found a number of deserted nests in a colony inMadera County: "Those in the more exposed situations seemed tohave been robbed, probably by the Buteo swainsoni, which were num-erous in the neighborhood and one pair of which had a nest in a tallpoplar tree but a few yards away, and possibly by some of the manyNycticorax n. naevius which simply swarmed in the most attractivespots. * * *"The crop of one Buteo swainsoni contained two young just hatchedand also the remains of two others with portions of the shell stillsticking to them and which must have been just on the point of hatch-ing. These were apparently the young of A. tricolor."Neff (1937) writes: "Heermann wrote in 1853 of the large numbersof Tri-colored Red-wings shot for the market. This practice stillcontinues, and during the past 5 years it is probable that fully 300,000blackbirds of the combined red-winged group have been marketedfrom the Sacramento Valley, with no apparent change in the status ofany of the kinds involved. During the winter of 1935-36, 88,000blackbirds were shipped from Biggs alone. * * *
"Destruction of the birds by man, of nesting sites through drainageor reclamation, of nests by predators or by the elements, and otherfactors, have played their part. All combined, however, they havemade only fractional inroads on this species during the period coveredby this report."This last statement is quite reassuring in view of the fears, expressedonly 5 years previously, that the wholesale poisoning of rodents withthallium and the still more destructive campaigns against this black-
TRICOLORED REDWING 189bird might result in a serious reduction in its numbers, or even practi-cal extermination of the species. Describing this campaign and itsresults, Thomas T. McCabe (1932) wrote at that time:I do not care to record in detail the minutiae of the technique employed, furtherthan to say that grain poisoned with strychnine was placed on a small area ofclean plow-ground close to the swamp, following several baitings with cleangrain, which had attracted the birds and accustomed them to feeding on the spot.When the poison was finally placed, the effect was appalling. Great numbers diedat once on the poison-ground, where within a very small radius 1,700 dead birdswere tossed into a central pile. Later the surface of the shallow water beneaththe willows became an almost solid floor of floating bodies where the observershesitated to enter because of the stench which hung in the quiet air. Weekslater the bases of the cattails were awash with countless dead. At the time ofour visit, May 21, the remainder of the grain was still doing its work, for freshas well as decayed birds were still in evidence, often hanging, caught by thebranches or clinging with the death grip of one foot, from the trees and from thenefts in the rushes.The destruction of adult birds, however, was much the smaller fraotion of thetotal effect. As is often the case in large Tri-color rookeries, the nests wereroughly divisible into groups. Only in two extremely small areas in the rusheshad the eggs not hatched. Elsewhere the vast majority contained either new-hatched young or fledglings nearly ready to leave the nest. The enormousnumber of nests in the willows (a single tree contained 34) were not closely investi-gated. In the rushes, one might have spent a day forcing his way through thetall dense greenery, with from two to five or six nests continually within reach,yet leave untouched larger areas where no locomotion but swimming was possible.Yet judging from the small fractions I had time to cover he could hardly havefound a dozen nests in which the young were alive and vigorous. Of the hundredsof broods I saw, all, practically speaking, were either dead (the vast majority) orfeebly alive in some stage of starvation or grilling and parching by sunburn. Afew evidently healthy adults were still passing in and out of the swamp, but theusual noisy cloud of enraged parents no longer hung over the invader's head.After making several very careful surveys and counts, a total of 30,000birds destroyed seemed to him "very conservative."Winter.?The tricolored redwing is practically resident the yearround in most of its breeding range. It has no regular north andsouth migration. After the breeding season and the molting periodis over, the birds leave their breeding grounds and wander about theopen country in search of good feeding places in the grain and stubblefields and about the ranches; they travel mostly in large flocks oftheir own species, but a few may mingle in the mixed flocks of otherblackbirds. DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?The tricolored redwing breeds east of the coastranges from southwestern Oregon (Agency Lake, Klamath Falls)south through California, west of the Sierra Nevada (Modoc Plateau,Great Valley, Walker Basin, San Bernardino, and along the coast
190 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Trom Bodega Head to Chula Vista), to northwestern Baja Californiaan Rafael Valley, El Rosario).Winter range.?Winters throughout its range in California (atleast north to Glen County) with winter specimens reported fromBaja California (El Rosario).Egg dates.?California: 304 records, April 1 to June 17; 200 records,April 22 to May 20.AGELAIUS HUMERALIS (Vigors)Tawny-Shouldered BlackbirdHABITSThis well-known Cuban species is entitled to a place in the A. O. U.Check-List because of the capture of two specimens at Key West,Fla., by William W. Demeritt (1936), who describes the interestingevent as follows:In the course of my bird banding operations there were trapped at my stationat Key West, Florida, two black birds, at the time unfamiliar to me. Theyproved to be Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds (Agelaius humeralis (Vigors)) whichspecies is native to the island of Cuba, and has also been found on Haiti. Theseindividuals were taken on February 27, 1936, on the Key West Lighthouse Reser-vation. They had been about for several days associated with Red-winged Black-birds, of which there was a considerable number present at that time. Theywere kept in captivity until April 7, when they were shipped alive to the BiologicalSurvey at Washington, D. C. There the previous tentative identification asAgelaius humeralis was confirmed by Dr. Harry C. Oberholser of that Bureau.They have been deposited as specimens in the Biological Survey collection in theUnited States National Museum, as proof of the record.This is evidently a very common bird in Cuba, where it is knownas the Cuban redwing or mayito. Thomas Barbour (1923) says of it:"The Mayitos abound in winter in great tame swarms, and hauntdooryards and gardens, whispering and wheezing metallically, andthe volume of sound is very great. In the spring the males seek matesand the pairs split off and nest in April and May. They build, onpalm fronds or on clumps of air plants, a nest of grass and Spanishmoss lined with hair and vegetable wool. Formerly they did greatdamage in the rice fields, but today, beyond raising an unconscionableracket, they are very pleasing and ornamental neighbors.
"This is the black bird with tawny shoulder-marking and with thefemale black also, but still having a shoulder patch, though less ex-tended and often much invaded with black feathers."Wetmore and Swales (1931) say of its status in Haiti:The tawny-shouldered blackbird was unknown in Hispaniola until its discoverynear the mouth of the Artibonite River, a short distance from St. Marc, Haiti, in
ORCHARD ORIOLE 191the summer of 1927 by Stuart T. Danforth and John T. Emlen, jr. Five speci-mens, an adult and an immature male, and three females, were taken near somesloughs. * * * Danforth and Emlen report that they observed about twenty ofthese blackbirds on the date mentioned near sloughs along the Artibonite River,about 8 miles from St. Marc, where they were in flocks of five to ten, resting intrees standing in water. Some were feeding young birds on the wing. * * *The limited area from which this blackbird is known in Haiti, and the fact that ithas not been recorded earlier suggest that it may have been established recentlyon the island by individuals come from Cuba. Abbott did not secure it duringextensive travels on the island nor did Wetmore observe it during his work inthe field so that it can hardly be wide spread in distribution since it is a bird thatis conspicuous and easily seen when its haunts are visited.The tawny-shouldered blackbird measures 200 mm. or a little more in lengthand is glossy black in color, with the bend of the wing, or "shoulder," deep brown-ish buff. Male and female are alike in color.DISTRIBUTIONThe tawny-shouldered blackbird is resident throughout Cuba andlocally in west-central Haiti (Port de Paix, lower Artibonite River).It is accidental in Florida (Key West).ICTERUS SPURIUS (Linnaeus)Orchard OriolePlates 11, 12, and 13HABITSThe origin of the name spurius, which is decidedly undeserved andinappropriate, is discussed at considerable length by Wilson (1832),who tells how a female Baltimore oriole was thought to be the maleof this species; this error resulted in the name spurious, or bastard,Baltimore oriole, which at one time was applied to our orchard oriole
;
and the name spurius still clings to it.The orchard oriole enjoys a wide distribution in the central andeastern United States, breeding from the northern tier of the CentralStates, extreme southern Ontario, and extreme southern New England,southward to northern Florida and the Gulf States. Its center ofabundance during the breeding season seems to be in the Statesbordering on the Mississippi Valley, especially to the southward,where it is really abundant in some places. It is comparatively rarein the northern portions of its range, so very rare in southeasternMassachusetts that I have seen only one nest in over 60 years.As its name implies, the orchard oriole shows a decided preferencefor orchards in rural districts near human dwellings, where apples,pears, or peaches are cultivated; and when these colorful trees are inbloom in spring, we are likely to find these orioles gleaning among the
192 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
opening foilage or preparing to build their basket nests. But it is byno means confined to such habitats even in the breeding season, forit is equally at home in the shade trees about houses or along villagestreets or country roadsides. In the prairie regions it lives in the tim-ber belts along the streams or in the tree claims about farms andranches; and in the south it is especially common about the plantationsand in the shade trees about the planter's home. Everywhere itshuns the forests and the heavily wooded regions, preferring the openand cultivated lands, especially near human dwellings. In the north,where orchards are not as common as they were, the orchard orioleseems to find a satisfactory substitute in the nurseries, where treesand shrubs of many kinds are cultivated. And H. C. Oberholser(1938) writes: "One of the interesting and rather surprising ornitholog-ical experiences in southeastern Louisiana, particularly in the regionof the Mississippi River Delta and the coastal areas west of that point,is to find the Orchard Oriole so common an inhabitant of the marshes,occurring even in the grasses and reeds as well as in the bushes andtrees that fringe the bayous and ditches."Spring.?Alexander F. Skutch writes to me: "The orchard orioledisappears from Central America during April. My latest record forCosta Rica is April 6, when a solitary male was seen at El General.In the Motagua Valley of Guatemala, where the species is so abundantduring the winter, the last individual for the season, a female, wasseen on April 21. Their sojourn here covers 9 of the 12 months."Alexander Wetmore (1943), while collecting birds in southern VeraCruz, Mexico, observed a heavy migratory flight of these birds, ofwhich he says: "During the end of March and early April I saw moreorchard orioles near Tres Zapotes than I had observed in all my pre-vious years of observation of this species in its northern home. Somedays they fairly swarmed, so that it was necessary to scrutinize care-fully every bird collected to avoid shooting them."These were probably birds that would migrate northward througheastern Texas and the western part of the Mississippi Valley. Accord-ing to George F. Simmons (1925), the orchard oriole arrives in theAustin region around the middle of April, where it is also a commonsummer resident.Some individuals, probably many, migrate straight northwardacross the Gulf of Mexico, from Yucatan to Louisiana and other GulfStates at least as far east as northwestern Florida. George H. Lowery,Jr. (1946), recorded an immature male that came aboard his ship onApril 30, 1945, 94 miles south of the Louisiana coast and approxi-mately halfway across the Gulf from the coasts of Texas and Florida;and he mentions two males and a female seen by Joseph C. Howellnear the middle of the Gulf, May 3-6, 1945.
ORCHARD ORIOLE 193Francis M. Weston writes to me from Pensacola, Fla.: "The orchardoriole is an early migrant, usually arriving during the last week ofMarch in northward flight across the Gulf of Mexico. Normally, itis common; but when incoming flights meet adverse weather condi-tions?rain, heavy fog or strong northerly winds?and several succes-sive days' arrivals are halted and weather-bound in this coastal area,they become unbelievably abundant. At such times, I have seenhundreds of orioles in city parks and gardens or in a single smallpatch of woods. Under these conditions, and when their sojournhappens to coincide with the bloom period of the black locust (Robiniapseudo-acacia), the orioles show marked preference for this species oftree. Whether they actually feed on the flower parts or are attractedby the insects that swarm in the scented blossoms, I do not know;but on April 15, 1934, I counted 40 orioles busily feeding in two locusttrees that stood side by side in a city garden."On the first day that the weather becomes propitious for a continua-tion of the interrupted northward flight, the nonresident oriolesprepare to leave. They become restless late in the afternoon andresort to the tops of the tallest trees, where their bright colors glowin the last, level rays of the setting sun. Frequent tentative startsare made by small groups, which circle a time or two and then returnto their perches. The birds are still there when the light fails and theobserver on the ground can no longer distinguish them against thedarkening sky. The actual 'take-off' may come shortly after dark.Certainly, by morning not an oriole is left in a patch of woods thatharbored hundreds the evening before."As a migrant in Cuba, according to Barbour (1923), "The OrchardOriole appears occasionally in spring in company with BaltimoreOrioles or alone. It seems possible that they are regular migrants,and have been overlooked among the native Orioles in immaturedress." Earle R. Greene (1946) reports it as a "fairly commonspring migrant" along the lower Florida Keys from April 9 to 22.A. H. Howell (1932) says: "On the Tortugas, migrants were reportedApril 11, 1890, April 14, 1909 (abundant), and April 26 to 28, 1914.There is but one record from Key West?April 29, 1887." He goeson to give a number of dates for the west coast of Florida, but nonefor the east coast, where this oriole seems to be an extremely raremigrant south of St. Johns County. From the above it appears thatthe orchard oriole advances from its tropical winter home on a broadfront from eastern Mexico and Texas to the Gulf coast of Florida,diminishing in numbers in the latter region.When the migrating birds leave the Gulf States, they advancenorthward and rather rapidly on a similar broad front, though moreabundantly in the Mississippi Valley than on the Atlantic coast,
194 TJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
reaching the northern limits of their breeding range early in May.In Missouri, according to Widmann (1907), the "first to arrive arethe old males followed after a few days by the first females and thefirst males of the second year. It is from 1 to 2 weeks after the firstmales have come before their full strength is reached and their songheard everywhere."Nesting.?Although there are a few scattered breeding records forMassachusetts, I have seen only one nest here. During the monthof June 1915, a pair of orchard orioles built a nest and reared a broodof three young in Berkley, about 8 miles from my home, in a farmyardand close to a house. The nest was suspended from the end of along, drooping branch of an apple tree and fully 15 feet from theground. It was well concealed among the leaves and was madealmost wholly of freshly dried yellowish grasses, with a few leaves ofthe tree woven into it; it was deeply hollowed, thin-walled on thesides but with a thickly wadded bottom, and was lined with very, veryfine white, silky, woolly substances. I collected the nest after theyoung had left it, but neither the old nor the young birds were everseen again.T. E. McMullen has sent me the data for four New Jersey nests,ranging from 6 feet up in an elder bush to 10 and 15 feet up in appleand pear trees, and for a North Carolina nest that was 20 feet fromthe ground in a maple. A. D. Du Bois' notes record a nest foundin Lake County, 111., that "was about 8 feet from the ground, hangingat the end of a branch of a small, lop-sided apple tree in an oldabandoned orchard on a hill. It was constructed of fresh grasses,gray-green in color, fragrant like new hay. The grasses appeared tohave been green when first woven into the nest?a wonderfully wovencup, contracted at the top. This little deserted orchard of barely adozen trees also hid the nests of kingbird, Baltimore oriole, catbird,robin, yellow warblers, chipping sparrows, a phoebe and a vireo."A. C. Reneau, Jr., has sent me his records of 23 nests of the orchardoriole, found near Independence, Kans., of which 8 were in elms, 8in button-bushes, 5 in willows, and 1 each in a cottonwood and amaple. The lowest nest was only 4 feet up in a buttonbush and thehighest 30 feet from the ground in a willow. The dates ran fromMay 14 to July 3. Ten of the nests, six of which were in the sametree, were near kingbirds' nests, one being within 5 feet of such anest; another was within 25 feet of a marsh hawk's nest.In some notes he sent to me on Georgia nests, Frederick V. Hebardsays: "The orchard oriole individuals show some tendency to nest atthe same time and then to gather in flocks up to 18. Out of fivenests, two were built in live oaks, two in pecans and one in a long-leaf pine sapling. The last was lodged in pine needles near the top
ORCHARD ORIOLE 195
of the trunk, about 11 feet up. The young had left the nest betweenJune 24 and 26, 1942. The nest was removed and examined June29. It was a pendulous affair of wire grass with its bottom stillgreen. Outside it was 3% inches deep and 3 by 3% inches across.Inside it was 2}i inches deep and 2% by 3 inches across. It wasdifficult to understand why it had not fallen as had another, blownout of a pecan in a storm about May 23, 1946. This nest, whenexamined June 8, was composed of golden wire grass, and measuredoutside of 2% inches deep and 3% by 4 inches across. Inside it was2% inches deep and 2)i by 2}'t across. The proportions of the latterwere the same as the three other nests observed. One could seethrough the bottom of all five nests."M. G. Vaiden writes to me from Rosedale, Miss. : "In this immediatearea the orchard oriole prefers the country district to the small town;it is just the opposite with the Baltimore oriole, a bird found almostexclusively breeding within town limits. The orchard oriole can befound nesting over the water in the small cottonwood and switch-willow growths usually found in shallow to deep barrow-pits. It is amost numerous nesting bird in such areas, constructing its semipensilenest near the top of the swinging treetop, or out at a short distancefrom the top on a limb. Most of the nests have been found in switch-willow or finger-cottonwood growth, but not all are found over water.Occasionally a very large pecan, cottonwood, sycamore, or elm willbe found to contain a nest of the orchard oriole. Two nests havebeen found within the town limits."The following account of the nesting habits of the orchard oriolein northwestern Florida comes to me from Francis M. Weston: "Thetypical nest of the orchard oriole is suspended from a forked terminaltwig, usually of a large tree, after the manner of the much picturednest of the Baltimore oriole, but it is never deep enough to be describedas 'pensile'?its depth is usually less than its outside diameter. In-variably, the nest is woven of long blades of green grass that laterturn yellow and give the nest of this species its characteristic color.I was thoroughly familiar with the st}de and normal situation of thisnest before I came to Pensacola, so it was a source of surprise anddisappointment to me that I succeeded in finding only a few nestshere where the birds are so common. It was years before I couldaccount for my failure. Then, on May 20, 1923, I saw a femaleoriole disappear into a dense festoon of Spanish 'moss' (Dcndropogonusneoides) that hung from a low branch of a deciduous oak (Quercussp.). Within the festooa, I found a nest, typical in structure, size,shape and color, but unique in that it was not attached to a twig ofthe tree but was wholly supported by the strands of the 'moss'?afterthe manner of the nests of the parula and the yellow-throated war-
196 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211biers, which nest exclusively in such situations. The nest containedfour eggs, well along in incubation. Guided by this discovery, I soonfound other nests similarly concealed in Spanish 'moss.' I now con-clude that at least 50 percent of the oriole nests in this central GulfCoast region are so situated, while the remainder are in the normallyexposed locations on terminal twigs."The earliest nest I have ever known contained a full set of eggson April 29, 1929, but the average for complete sets is the latter halfof May. Late nests, probably second or even third attempts by birdsthat failed the first time, have been seen as late as the latter half ofJune and even in July. The latest nest I have ever known still con-tained well-grown young birds on July 14, 1937."In Duval County, northern Florida, S. A. Grimes (1931) finds thisoriole nesting in the Spanish "moss" very commonly, but also inpecans, other orchard trees, longleaf pines, black gums, oaks, button-wood saplings, live oaks, sweet gums, hickories, and chinaberry trees,at heights ranging from 4 to 50 feet above the ground. Arthur T.Wayne (1910) has found the nest as high as 70 feet, in South Carolina.H. H. Kopman (1915) regards the orchard oriole as "the most con-spicuous summer visitor in the fertile alluvial section of southeasternLouisiana. * * * Its abundance as a breeder in the southeasternportion of the State, however, can scarcely be comprehended by thosewhose acquaintance with it is confined to its appearance in morenorthern localities. In one live oak in a plantation yard where therewere many more trees of this kind I once counted nearly twenty nestsof this species."Near Brownsville, Tex., George B. Sennett (1878) says "it likes tobuild in mezquite, wesatche, and willow trees." Farther north, nearAustin, Tex., George F. Simmons (1925) lists the following nestingtrees: Hackberry, mesquite, cedar elm, winged elm, peach, pear,huisache, retama horse-bean, honey locust, eastern live oak, blackwillow and pecan trees. Probably many other trees are selected inother parts of its range, for the orchard oriole does not seem to be at allparticular in its choice of a nesting tree ; weeping willows seem to offerfavorite sites.The nest is beautifully and compactly woven in the shape of a semi-globular cup with a contracted rim. Wilson (1832) says: "I had thecuriosity to detach one of the fibres, or stalks of dried grass, from thenest, and found it to measure thirteen inches in length, and in thatdistance was 34 times hooked through and returned, winding roundand round the nest!" The materials used in the construction of thenest vary but little in character; R. C. Tate (1926) says that, inOklahoma, these consist of "fresh blades of Mesquite grass andgramma grass, yucca fibres, fibers from tree cactus and prickly pear."
ORCHARD ORIOLE 197Bendire (1895) describes a large well-built nest, taken on ShelterIsland, N. Y. : "The outer diameter at the widest part, a little belowthe middle of the nest, is 4% inches; the outside depth is 4 inches.The upper rim of the nest is somewhat contracted; the inner cup is3 inches deep by 2% inches in diameter. The sides are thick andsecurely fastened to several branches, but the bottom does not comewithin 2 inches of the fork of the crotch in which it is placed." Itwas placed "in an upright fork of a small branch in a thorn pear tree."Ora W. Knight (1908) watched the building of a nest in Texas: "Anest which was discovered in its very first stages of construction wascompleted in 6 days and an egg was laid daily until a set of five wascompleted, when incubation commenced. Both birds help to buildthe nest and aid in the incubation."The orchard oriole is a friendly, sociable bird and is often foundnesting in orchards with kingbirds, robins, chipping sparrows andother species, with all of which it seems to be on good terms. Theeastern kingbird seems to be a favorite companion, from which itmay gain some protection. This companionship is referred to aboveand several observers have mentioned it in print. H. C. Campbell(1891), for example, mentions seven such cases; in one case the oriole'snest was within 7 feet of the kingbird's and in another instance thetwo nests were only 3 feet apart. He says further: "In 1887 I founda nest of the Orchard Oriole in an apple tree. When the nest con-tained five eggs I collected it. While at the nest a pair of Kingbirdscame and made even more demonstration than the Orioles. I foundthe Kingbird's nest in a rotten apple tree about 200 feet distant fromthe tree containing the Oriole's nest."John V. Dennis has sent me some full notes on his interesting ex-perience with what might be considered as communal nesting of theorchard oriole in the Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana,located between the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, some70 or 80 miles below New Orleans. "Lying on the east bank of theMississippi, two miles above Pilotstown, is the refuge headquartersarea, comprising approximately seven acres. Seventy-eight shadetrees, as well as numerous shrubs and ornamental plantings, are inthe area. Forty-five of the trees are hybrids of live oak and wateroak. The other trees are mainly camphor, willow, and magnolia.
"Nest building began about May 1. The peak of nesting activityoccurred during the first half of June. The last nest to be observedunder construction was one begun on July 4. A total of 1 14 nests werecounted during this single nesting season on the seven-acre tractunder study."Dennis counted 45 oaks, containing a total of 80 nests; 15 camphortrees, 8 nests; 8 magnolias, 5 nests; 5 willows, 4 nests; 2 elms, 6 nests;
198 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2112 cottonwoods, 2 nests; the only pecan held 4 nests; there was 1 nestin 1 of the 2 loquat shrubs; in over 50 ornamental shrubs there wereonly 2 nests; and in over 100 black elderberries there were only 2 nests."The most surprising discovery occurred about a month after nest-ing had begun at the headquarters area. I had frequently seen orchardorioles in the vast marshes which extend eastward from the Mississippifor a distance of some 10 miles to the waters of the Gulf. I hadn'tsuspected nesting in such an unusual habitat for the orchard orioleuntil I found some very agitated adult birds in a cane break near themouth of Dead Women Pass. A search revealed their nest. It wasbuilt in roseau canes, Phragmites communis. The nest was wovenabout three stalks, which acted as its support. This nest, and otherswhich were discovered later, was located on the outer edge of a canebreak overlooking a body of water."On all subsequent visits to the marsh I made every effort to findnew nests. Eventually some 10 were found in widely separatedareas of the marsh; one was less than a hundred yards from the mudflats of the Gulf of Mexico. All were built in roseau cane, usualtyat a height of about 7 feet. Some nests were completely built ofvarious grasses, while others were almost entirely constructed of saltmeadow cordgrass, Spartina patens. Those furthest from willows,sometimes as far as 5 miles from a tree of any kind, were lined withcattail down. Otherwise the chief item used was the down fromwillow catkins. The only exception to this was in areas where this-tles (found only on filled-in land) grew nearby. Then thistledownwas used copiously in lining nests."Referring to the nests in trees, he noted that the lowest nest was2% feet from the ground, and the highest nearly 40 feet. "As oftenobserved, the orchard oriole showed preference to trees occupied bythe eastern kingbird. Two kingbird nests were in the study area.One of the nests was in a small hybrid oak. Nesting concurrentlyin the same tree were four pair of orchard orioles."Of seven nests under daily observation, five were built in 3 days,one in 4 days and one in 5.Eggs.?The orchard oriole lays from three to seven eggs to a set,four and five being the commonest numbers; Bendire (1895) saysfrom four to six, mostly five. He describes them as follows:The eggs are mostly ovate in shape, but occasionally a set is found which isdecidedly elongate ovate. The shell is moderately strong, close grained, andwithout gloss. The ground color is usually pale bluish white, and this is some-times faintly overlaid with pale pearl gray or grayish white. The markings,which are nearly always heaviest about the larger end of the egg, consist ofblotches, spots, scrawls, and tracings of several shades of brown, purple, lavender,and pearl gray, varying in amount and intensity in different specimens. In themajority of the eggs before me the darker markings predominate, but the lighter-
ORCHARD ORIOLE 199
colored and more neutral tints are nearly always present to a greater or less extent.The average measurement of one hundred and thirty-three specimens in theUnited States National Museum collection is 20.47 by 14.54 millimetres, orabout 0.81 by 0.57 inch. The largest egg in the series measures 22.35 by 15.24millimetres, or 0.88 by 0.60 inch; the smallest, 18.03 by 14.22 millimetres, or0.71 by 0.56 inch.Young.?Bendire (1895) says: "Incubation lasts about 12 days,and I am of the opinion that this duty is exclusively performed bythe female. I have never seen the male on the nest, but have seenhim feed his mate while incubating. I believe as a rule only onebrood is raised in a season. Both parents show equal solicitude anddevotion in the care and defense of their young from prowling enemies,and will boldly and furiously attack any intruder."Grimes (1931) doubts if the period of incubation exceeds 12 days,says that only one brood is raised each year, and that "male andfemale share the task of incubating the eggs, and both feed and broodthe young, which leave the nest when ten or twelve days old. Foodfor the young, which I have noticed consists largely of katydids, isusually secured at a distance of one hundred yards or more from thenest. * * * The female is by far the more solicitous of the pairwhen the eggs or young are in danger."In the seven nests under daily observation, Dennis found the pe-riod of incubation, from the first egg laid to the first hatched, to be12 days in one nest, 15 days in one, and 14 days in the other five.The young were fledged in from 11 to 14 days.In her observations on a family of orchard orioles in Wisconsin,Winnifred Smith (1947) noted that "the female did all the incubating.* * * During three hours the male fed the young 23 times, thefemale 14 times. Feces were carried off or eaten by the male eighttimes and only once by the female." After the young had left thenest, the "male undertook the care of two fledglings while the femaletook care of one. The male chased the female when she attemptedto feed the two in his charge. * * * The family remained in thevicinity until July 30 after which they were not seen again in 1946."Plumages.?Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage of theorchard oriole as "above, including sides of head and neck, pale gray-ish olive-green, buffy on rump. Below, pale sulphur-yellow. Wingspale clove-brown, the primaries and secondaries narrowly edged withdull white, the median and greater wing coverts with pale buff form-ing two indistinct wing bands. Tail yellowish olive green."The first winter plumage is acquired by a partial postjuvenal molt,beginning late in July, at which time only the wing-quills and thetail feathers are retained. In this plumage both sexes are much likethe adult female in winter. A limited prenuptial molt, mainly about380928?57 14
200 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the head and throat, occurs in late winter or early spring, before thebirds come north, at which time the young male acquires the blackthroat, or a number of black feathers in that region, and a few chest-nut feathers more or less scattered over the body. Young malesare known to have bred in this plumage. Young females have aneven more limited molt at this season. Adults have a limitedprenuptial molt about the head and throat.Young birds and adults have a complete postnuptial molt in earlyfall after they have gone south, at which time the adult winter plum-age is assumed. This is like the spring plumage, except that thebrown and black colors of the male are heavily veiled and nearlyconcealed by buff or yellowish tips which wear away before spring.Old females sometimes have a few black feathers in the throat.Dickey and van Rossem (1938) throw some light on the molts ofthe orchard oriole, based on specimens collected in El Salvador:On arrival in mid-August these orioles are in fearfully abraded plumage, forthey have, contrary to the usual custom, completed the migration before theannual molt has taken place. This is true of adults and young alike, and whenthe latter arrive they are still in soft, juvenal feather. The process of annualrenewal is a relatively slow one, and not until the latter part of October (in onecase November 4) is the new plumage completely acquired. Males in theirsecond year, that is, those which have molted from the black-throated, greenishplumage of the first year to the first, brown, subadult plumage, are characterizedby broad buffy tipping to the feathers of the body plumage. This tipping makessuch males superficially more or less like Icterus fuertesi, but most of the lightercolor wears off by midwinter. During early April some 1-year-old spring malesshow a limited spring molt involving both the chin and throat, and some newlack feathers appear on these parts.Todd and Carriker (1922) collected an adult male in Colombia onOctober 15, 1915, that was completing the postnuptial molt. "Therectrices are about two-thirds grown, and the wings retain only thetwo outermost primaries of the old dress."Food.?Judd (1902) studied the contents of 11 stomachs of theorchard oriole, collected on a Maryland farm in May and June; thefood "was composed of 91 percent animal matter and 9 percent vege-table matter. The latter part was nearly all mulberries; the formerwas distributed as follows: Fly larvae, 1 percent; parasitic wasps,2 percent; ants, 4 percent; bugs, 5 percent; caterpillars, 12 percent;grasshoppers, including a few crickets, 13 percent; beetles, 14 percent;May-flies, 27 percent; spiders, 13 percent. Thus beneficial insects
?
parasitic wasps?formed only 2 percent of the food, and injuriousspecies?caterpillars, grasshoppers, and harmful beetles?amountedto 38 percent."Bendire (1895) writes: "Few birds do more good and less harmthan our Orchard Oriole, especially to the fruit grower. The bulk of
ORCHARD ORIOLE 201
its food consists of small beetles, plant lice, flies, hairless caterpillars,cabbage worms, grasshoppers, rose bugs, and larvae of all kinds,while the few berries it may help itself to during the short time theylast are many times paid for by the great number of noxious insectsdestroyed, and it certainly deserves the fullest protection."Barrows (1912) says that "two specimens were killed in an orchardoverrun with canker worms in Tazewell County, 111., in 1881, and thecontents of their stomachs studied by Professor S. A. Forbes. Hefound that nearly four-fifths of their food was cankerworms, whileother caterpillars formed all but three percent of the remainder, thisbeing ants. Butler states that in Indiana when the young leave thenest the whole family go into the cornfields and feed upon the insectenemies of the corn."According to A. H. Howell (1924), this oriole "is a persistent hunterof boll weevils, and is one of the few birds that has learned to seek outand destroy this pest which hides in the cotton squares. Nearly one-third of the stomachs of this species taken in the Texas cotton fieldscontained boll weevils; the average number of weevils found in astomach was 2 and individual birds had eaten as many as 13 weevilsat a meal."Economic status.?The only arguments that can be advancedagainst the orchard oriole as an economically valuable bird are theclaims that it eats the stamens in the blossoms of the fruit trees; thatit occasionally helps itself to various small fruits such as cherries,strawberries, and raspberries ; and that it does some damage to grapesand ripening figs. But the slight damage done is insignificant whencompared with the great good that it does in destroying harmfulinsects, which make up 90 percent of its food.Behavior.?The orchard oriole is a gentle, friendly, and sociablebird that lives in perfect harmony with many other birds in more orless close association and seems to enjoy human environments. It is arestless, lively bird, and not particularly shy, but since it spends mostof its time flitting about in the trees in search of insects, or keepingout of sight among the foliage, it is not as easily observed as someothers. When it is singing freely in the spring, we are often attractedto it by its voice and can catch a glimpse of its pretty colors and itsgraceful, slender form as it hops from twig to twig, or makes shortflights among the branches, or hangs head downward to pry under aleaf in search of its prey. During the courting season, an ardent malemay sometimes be seen to rise high above the treetops and to pourout an ecstasy of song as it descends to its leafy shelter.Voice.?Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following study: "Thesong of the orchard oriole consists of a series of rather rapid, musicalnotes, exceedingly variable in time and pitch. As I study my 32
202 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
records of this song, I can find no fixed pattern for the song and nogeneral rule that does not have exceptions. One marvels that undersuch conditions the song, when well known, is always recognizable inthe field. The quality, mainly musical but with occasional harshnotes, is more like that of the robin than that of the Baltimore oriole.While most of the notes are distinctly separated, there are two-notephrases, connected by liquid consonant sound, and slurs. The notesvary up and down in pitch, but there are occasional series of notes onthe same pitch."The number of notes in the songs I have recorded varies from 7to 19, averaging about 12. The songs vary from 1% to 3% seconds inlength. The pitch varies from E" to B'"', 3% tones more than anoctave. Individual songs range from 2% tones to an octave, or 6tones. The average range is about 3.85 tones."A common characteristic of many of the songs is that they end ina downward slurred note, distinctly harsher than the other notes ofthe song, that suggests the quality of the scarlet tanager, rather thanthat of the robin; 22 of my records have such an ending.
"Another characteristic is a series of very short notes, all on onepitch, usually near the end of the song. I have heard this describedas a trill, but I use the term 'trill' only for series of notes so rapidthat they cannot be separated by ear and counted. Under thatdefinition, I have never heard an orchard oriole sing a trill. Thenumber of notes that are thus rapidly repeated varies from 3 to 6 inmy records, and 18 of them contain such a series of notes, while only3 are without this series or the downward slur; 11 records containboth. Downward slurs are common, though not always terminal; 27of my records contain them and 14 contain 2 or more. Upward slursare rarer, only 6 records containing them."The orchard oriole sings from the time of its arrival to the earlierpart of July. In eight seasons when I was able to observe this species,the last song averaged July 10, with July 5, 1944, and July 17, 1941,as earliest and latest dates. This bird has a long, rattle-like call, anda shorter one very similar to the chack of the redwing."The vivacious, attractive song has been compared to the rollickingoutburst of the bobolink, the rich spring song of the fox sparrow, andthe warbling songs of the purple finch or the warbling vireo. It isnot as loud, nor as rich as that of the Baltimore oriole and is quiteunlike it, but it is equally pleasing. Chapman (1912) says of it:
"His voice is indeed unusually rich and flexible, and he uses it withrare skill and expression. Words can not describe his song, but nolover of bird music will be long in the vicinity of a singing OrchardOriole without learning the distinguished songster's name." C. W.Townsend (1920) writes: "The full song of the Orchard Oriole is given
ORCHARD ORIOLE 203
with great abandon from a perch and especially on the wing. I haveheard one sing six times in a minute and have tried to express hissong by the words Look here, what cheer, what cheer, whip yo, whatcheer, wee yo." Witmer Stone (1937) represents it with the syllables
"teetle-to?wheeter-tit-tillo-wheetee, chip, chip, cheer." Another birdcalled: "Choop, choop, choolik as if trying to start a song and failingin the effort." Francis H. Allen tells me that the food calls of theyoung resemble those of the Baltimore oriole, but are higher pitchedand more rapid. Young males in first year plumage sing enthusias-tically; and sometimes females sing a little.Field marks.?The adult male orchard oriole is unmistakable inhis black and chestnut plumage. The young male is like the female,but has a black, or partially black, throat and usually more or lesschestnut scattered through his plumage. The female might easily bemistaken for the female of some other orioles, but she differs from theBaltimore oriole by being olive-green above, instead of brownish olive,and having less of an orange tinge on the under parts, which are dullyellow.Enemies.?The orchard oriole is a not uncommon host of both theeastern and the dwarf cowbirds. There is a set in my collection con-taining a cowbird's egg. Dr. J. C. Merrill (1877) mentions a nestthat contained three eggs of the red-eyed cowbird, "while just be-neath it was a whole egg of this parasite, also a broken one of thisand of the Dwarf Cowbird." The nest was, of course, deserted.Harold S. Peters (1936) mentions only one external parasite asfound on this oriole, a louse, Myrsidea incerta (Kell.).Grackles, which sometimes nest in the same trees with the orioles,probably rob some of the nests of eggs or small young. And youngbirds that leave the nests prematurely fall easy prey to variouspredators.Fall.?The orchard oriole spends only about 10 weeks in the north-ern part of its breeding range, arriving early in May and leaving soonafter the middle of July. It lingers through August and occasionallyinto September in some of the Southern States; Howell (1932) givesone very late date, October 13, 1917, for Royal Palm Hammock insouthern Florida. The fall migration is started and, apparently,often finished before the annual molt is accomplished; some youngbirds arrive in Central America while still in juvenal plumage, andmany adults are still molting when they arrive.As soon as the young are able to fly, old birds disappear with theirfamilies, forming into flocks, and are seen no more in their breedinghaunts. In Missouri, according to Widmann (1907), "after the youngare grown the species roams in July and August in troops through thecountry living mostly on wild cherries, wild grapes and other wild fruit,
204 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
sometimes visiting orchards. After August 20 the species is seen onlyoccasionally, though we may come upon a few later in the month, orin early September, exceptionally later (September 17, 1903, NewHaven; September 21, 1903, Kansas City)."Kopman (1915) says: "This species becomes inconspicuous at Gulfcoast latitudes after the middle of August, though little companies ofthem may be in evidence for a few days at a time at intervals untilSept. 10 or 15. Such transients usually form part of slight wavesincluding other species. The latest date of departure is Sept. 26, 1914,near Poydras, St. Bernard parish Louisiana. The average date ofdeparture is about Sept. 15."F. M. Weston writes to me: "The orchard oriole is the first summerresident to disappear from the Pensacola region. It becomes rareearly in July and, in some years, it is not seen after July 15. Ordi-narily an occasional bird appears in August and, twice in a period ofthirty years, I have recorded occurrence in September?September 1,1940, and September 3, 1944. In both cases these were apparentlyfamily groups of young birds. This suggests that the birds that are suc-cessful in their family affairs leave early in July, and it is only the fewthat are delayed by having to 'try, try again' that make up the sparseAugust population"The fall migration route of the orchard oriole is certainly not areversal of the spring route. Then, as noted above, they come acrossthe Gulf in tremendous numbers and pass through this region on theirway to more northerly breeding grounds. In fall, when a successfulbreeding season must have at least doubled their numbers and even apoor season would not have diminished them, few orioles are seen.During 30 years of continuous field observation, I have never underany circumstances of favorable or adverse weather conditions seen anyconcentrations of orioles, though it is a common experience to findthousands of migrants of other species weatherbound on this coast onseveral occasions every fall. Our local breeding population of oriolesmerely withdraws from this region, and no birds from more northerlyareas come in to replace them."There seem to be few fall records for southern Florida, none for theFlorida Keys and none for Cuba. By what route these orioles migrateto their winter homes in Central America and northern South Americadoes not seem to be known. Some may migrate across the Gulffarther west, or they may follow the coasts of Texas and Mexico, butconclusive data are lacking.Grimes (1931) gives the following account of their disappearancefrom northeastern Florida:Late in June the oriole's singing begins to diminish in force, and discordantnotes creep in as the song becomes broken and unmusical. After the first week
ORCHARD ORIOLE 205in July it is unusual to hear the song at all, and I have noticed that the gatheringflocks are composed entirely of plain yellow birds?females and young or perhapsonly young birds?and that the males have suddenly disappeared. Sometimesthese flocks consist of as many as twenty-five or thirty individuals, but morecommonly of ten or twelve. It seems that several families of orioles from a certainbreeding area congregate in a selected stretch of woods and fields after the nestingseason and spend a month or six weeks there getting acquainted and organizedbefore starting on their southward migration, but this is a conjecture that wouldbe difficult to substantiate.Winter.?Alexander F. Skutch contributes this account: The orch-ard oriole is one of the very first of the visitors from the north to reachCentral America as fall approaches. On July 20, 1932, I found a maleand female together in a bushy pasture beside the Motagua River inGuatemala?only 3 months earlier, on April 21, I had seen the lastof the spring migrants lower in the same Valley. Cherrie recorded thespecies at San Jose, Costa Rica, on July 31 ; while still farther south ithas been met at El Pozo de Terraba, Costa Rica, on August 10, andin the Canal Zone on the same date. Many adults arrive in northernCentral America in worn breeding plumage, having left their nestingarea before completing the postnuptial molt. Considering these facts,Osbert Salvin long ago surmised that the orchard oriole might breed inthe Guatemalan highlands; but subsequent intensive exploration hasfailed to reveal its presence there during the summer months.
"Like the Baltimore oriole, the orchard oriole is widely distributedover Central America during the period of the northern winter. It isfound in midwinter from Guatemala to Panama^ and along both theCaribbean and Pacific coasts. I have met it at this season in regionsof such contrasting climate and vegetation as the wet Caribbean low-lands of Guatemala and Honduras and the arid coast of El Salvador,where in early February these birds were abundant amid cacti and low,thorny trees at Cutuco. But although as widely, the orchard oriole isby no means so uniformly distributed over Central America as theBaltimore oriole. It seems to winter in far greater numbers in Guate-mala and Honduras than in Costa Rica and Panamtl. In the formercountries it equals or exceeds the Baltimore oriole in abundance, atleast at lower altitudes, while in Costa Rica the Baltimore oriole iscertainly the more common bird?on this last point my own experienceis quite in accord with that of Carriker (1910), whose ornithologicalwork in the country antedated my own by a thud of a century. Inaltitudinal range, the orchard oriole is far more restricted than theBaltimore oriole. Even in northern Central America, where it is soabundant in the lowlands, it is rarely met above 4,000 or 5,000 feet.In the Terraba Valley of Costa Rica, from 1,500 feet upward, theorchard oriole is a very rare winter visitant, while the Baltimore orioleis fairly abundant.
206 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
"Although my few Costa Rican records of the orchard oriole are allof single individuals, in northern Central America, where the speciesis far more abundant, it is more sociable during the winter months,wandering in straggling flocks through the riverside trees, the planta-tions and shady pastures, but rarely entering heavy forest. In thebanana plantations, these oriole hang head downward beside the huge,red flower buds and push their sharp bills into the long, white, tubularblossoms to sip the abundant nectar. In the pasture lands they strag-gle along the fence lines, where living trees of the madre de cacao formthe posts, and investigate the pink, pealike blossoms which in Feb-ruary or March cover the long, leafless branches. The single orchardoriole that in four years I have seen on my farm in southern CostaRica was visiting the madre de cacao blossoms in a hedgerow. Whenthey find groves of introduced eucalyptus trees, the orioles probe theclusters of long white stamens, either for nectar or for the small insectsattracted to the flowers.
"I have twice found the roosts of wintering orchard orioles. Theyseem to prefer stands of tall grass of one sort or another. In theLancetilla Valley, on the northern coast of Honduras, many roostednightly in a patch of introduced elephant grass, Pennisetum purpureum,which formed an impenetrable thicket 6 or 8 feet high. They went earlyto roost, sometimes retiring an hour before nightfall. By the time thecrowds of small resident finches joined them there, they were com-pletely hidden from view amid the tall grass, whence would issue a fewsnatches of their breezy song, audible above the chatter of the garrulousseedeaters. Here the orchard orioles slept with seven other species ofbirds, both resident and migratory, including a few Baltimore orioles,as told in the section devoted to that species. I found the orchardorioles roosting in this patch of grass in September and October, andagain in February of the following year. In March 1932, a small flockroosted in a dense stand of young giant canes, Gynerium sagittatum,that were colonizing a sandy flat left by a shift in the channel of theRio MorjtL, a small tributary of the Motagua in Guatemala. Thecanes, still only 10 feet or less in height, had attained only a fractionof their full stature, and resembled some tall, coarse grass, like theelephant grass in which I had found the orioles roosting in an earlieryear, rather than a mature stand of Gynerium.
"I have heard no other winter visitant sing so much during its so-journ in Central America as the orchard oriole. Upon arriving inHonduras and Guatemala in August, the males often delivered frag-ments of hurried, whistled song. In September their songs came morerarely ; but toward the end of October, more than two months after thearrival of the first-comers, I still occasionally overheard them deliverbrief, subdued refrains. From October to March they were practically
ORCHARD ORIOLE 207
songless, but before the vernal equinox they began to sing sweetlyagain. In the Motagua Valley in Guatemala, where orchard orioleswinter in great numbers, at the beginning of April I heard no bird'svoice so much as theirs; for the Gray's thrushes, so abundant in thecleared plantation lands, had not yet come into full song. The oriolesthat roosted in the dense stand of young canes beside the Rio Morjaraised a delightful chorus when they awoke at dawn. Their musicincreased in both quality and abundance up to the time of their de-parture; and the young, black-throated, yellowish males, eager to usetheir newly acquired singing voices, performed as much if not morethan the mature males in chestnut and black. They captured myheart as no other birds, they whistled so often and so cheerily on theeve of their long migration, when most other birds of passage sing-little or none."In El Salvador, according to Dickey and van Rossem (1938), theorchard oriole is a "common winter visitant and abundant fall andspring migrant in the lowlands throughout the country." They referto some of its habits as follows:About the middle of February, in 1926, the ceiba trees on the coastal plain atRio San Miguel were a solid mass of pink bloom, to which came unbelievablenumbers of orchard orioles in search of the swarming insects. Until this suddenconcentration we had noticed no sex segregation, but now it was suddenlyapparent that these great flocks, composed of hundreds of individuals, were madeup almost exclusively of old males. On February 20, a great ceiba standing alonein a grass pasture was watched for over an hour. No accurate estimate could bemade of the number of birds present, but it certainly ran into many hundreds.The wide-spreading mat of blossoms was at least one hundred feet from the ground,and the darting restless swarm of old males packed it literally to a point wherethere was no room for more. * * * Orioles of the smaller species (particularlyof the genus Icterus) are not, as a group, noted for their flocking tendencies, butspurius while in winter quarters is very much of an exception to this general rule.Not only does it spend the day in small groups, but it frequently concentrates stillfurther at sundown and roosts in good-sized flocks. Such a night roost, composedof about fifty birds, was seen on many occasions in a tangle of mimosa and vines ina barranca at Divisadero. Others were observed at Barra de Santiago in the lowscrub of a sand spit between the ocean and lagoon.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Manitoba and southern Ontario to northern SouthAmerica.Breeding range.?The orchard oriole breeds from southern Man-itoba (Cypress River), central and southeastern Minnesota (Nisswa,Stillwater), central Wisconsin (northern Wood County), southernMichigan (Greenville, Port Huron), southern Ontario (Lambton,Gananoque), north-central Pennsylvania (Punxatawney, LockHaven), central and central-eastern New York (casually to Ithaca
208 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Wilmington), and central and northeastern Massachusetts (Amherst,Fitchburg); south through eastern and central-southern NorthDakota (Devils Lake, Bismarck), central South Dakota (Stamford,Grass Creek), central Nebraska (Fort Niobrara Refuge, NorthPlatte), northeastern Colorado (Wray), central-northern and westernTexas (Amarillo, Marfa) to central Durango, central Nuev6 Leon,northern Tamaulipas, southern Texas (Hidalgo, Brownsville), theGulf coast, and northern Florida (Aucilla, Saint Augustine).Winter range.?Winters from Colima, Guerrero, Puebla (Huexo-titla), central Veracruz (Jalapa), Yucatdn, and Quintana Roo(Cozumel Island) ; south to southern and central-eastern Colombia andnorthwestern Venezuela; in migration west to southern Sinaloa(Labrados, Rosario) and Nayarit (San Bias) ; and east throughpeninsular Florida, the Florida Keys, and western Cuba.Casual records.?Casual in New Mexico (Hagerman), centralColorado (Denver, North Creek), Wyoming (New Castle), westernSouth Dakota (Buffalo Gap, Grand River Agency), south-centralManitoba (Lake Saint Martin), northern Michigan (McMillan,Onaway), southern Quebec (La Colle), northern Vermont (Middle-burry, Orleans), central New Hampshire (Grafton County), southernMaine (Auburn, Calais), New Brunswick (Grand Manan) and NovaScotia (Cape Sable Island).Accidental in California (Eureka) and Nevada (Halleck)
.
Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Costa Rica?ElGeneral, February 24. Cuba?Havana, April 10. Florida?DeFuniak Springs, March 15; Pensacola, March 22 (median of 40 years,March 30); Fort Myers, March 28 (median of 7 years, April 12).Alabama?Mobile, March 30; Decatur, April 6. Georgia?Savannah,March 18; Tifton, March 29. South Carolina?March 27; Aiken,April 3. North Carolina?Raleigh, April 16 (average of 30 years,April 25). Virginia? Norfolk, April 21. West Virginia?FrenchCreek, April 21 (median of 9 years, May 1). District of Columbia
?
April 25 (average of 40 years, May 3). Maryland?Laurel, April 7(median of 9 years, April 30) ; Denton, April 19. PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, April 19; Beaver, April 22 (average of 13 years, May 1).New Jersey?Moorestown, April 15; Demarest, April 23. NewYork?Bronx County, April 28; Buffalo, April 30. ConnecticutJewett City, April 29 (average of 21 years, May 10). Rhode IslandProvidence, May 5. Massachusetts?Newton Highlands, April 17;Chatham, April 20. Maine?Springvale, May 9. LouisianaThibodaux, March 20; Bains, March 21. Mississippi?coastalMississippi, March 21. Arkansas?Helena, March 30 (average of 24years, April 13). Tennessee?Memphis, April 2; Athens, April 6(median of 7 years, April 13). Kentucky?Guthrie, April 14. Mis-
ORCHARD ORIOLE 209
souri?St. Louis, April 15 (average of 11 years, April 22); Columbia,April 18 (median of 20 years, May 2). Illinois?Murphysboro,March 20; Chicago region, April 1 (average, May 15). Indiana
?
Silverwood, Fountain County, April 4. Ohio?central Ohio, April 3(average, May 3); Columbiana, April 8. Michigan?Ann Arbor,April 23 (average of 22 years, May 6). Ontario?Hyde Park, May 2;Port Dover, May 4. Iowa?Wall Lake, April 23. WisconsinWaukesha, May 2. Minnesota?La Crescent, May 3 (average of 16years in southern Minnesota, May 12) ; Polk County, May 11 (averageof 10 years in northern Minnesota, May 20). Texas?Olmito, March24 ; Dallas, April 9. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City, March 23 ; Ardmore,April 13. Kansas?Bendena, April 10; Harper, April 21 (median of13 years, April 29). Nebraska?Bladen, March 21; Red Cloud, April30 (average of 24 years, May 8). South Dakota?Yankton, April 28.North Dakota?Fairmount, May 23. Manitoba?Winnipeg, May 18.Colorado?Beulah, May 15; Yuma, May 17.Late dates of spring departure are: Colombia?Aracataca, March 2.Panama?Gatiin, March 31. Costa Rica?El General, April 10.Nicaragua?Eden, March 28. Guatemala?Quirigud, April 21. ElSalvador?Barra de Santiago, April 12. Veracruz?Omealca, May15. Nuevo Le6n?Montemorelos, May 21. Cuba?Havana, April19. Florida?Bradenton, May 19 ; Tortugas, April 30. New JerseyNew Brunswick, May 30. New York?New York City region, June8. Illinois?Chicago, May 18 (average of 6 years, May 15).Early dates of fall arrival are: Texas?Tivoli, August 15. SouthCarolina?Greenwood, July 5. Tamaulipas?Pano Ayuctle, August6. Durango?Papasquiaro, August 8. Veracruz?July 16. Micho-acan?Apatzingan, August 12. El Salvador?Lake Olomega, August16. Honduras?Cantarranas, August 3. Nicaragua?EscondidoRiver, August 20. Costa Rica?San Jos6, July 31. Panama?Perme,August 3. Colombia?Fundaci6n, October 15.Late dates of fall departure are: California?Eureka, October 6(only record). North Dakota?Fargo, September 10. South Da-kota?Faulkton, October 15; Yankton, September 9. NebraskaOmaha, September 12. Kansas?Hays, October 12; Onaga, Sep-tember 9 (median of 9 years, September 1). Oklahoma?OklahomaCity, September 18. Texas?Austin, October 10. Minnesota?St.Paul, September 3 (average of 5 years in southern Minnesota, July31). Wisconsin?Milwaukee, October 14. Iowa?Woodbury County,September 24. Ontario?London, September 16. Michigan?GrandRapids, September 28. Ohio?Toledo, September 24; central Ohio,August 28 (average August 19). Indiana?Richmond, September 20.Illinois?Deerfield, October 10; Freeport, September 24. MissouriConcordia, September 26 (average of 8 years, August 23); Kansas
210 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211City, September 21. Kentucky?Versailles, October 2. Tennes-see?Athens, September 22 (average of 6 years, August 24). Arkan-sas?Rogers, October 1. Mississippi?Edwards, October 21. Louisi-ana?New Orleans, October 10. Nova Scotia?Sable Island, Sep-tember 28. Massachusetts?Lexington, September 30. RhodeIsland?Kingston, November 8. Connecticut?Hartford, September18. New York?Massapequa, September 27. New Jersey?LongBeach, September 8. Pennsylvania?McKeesport, October 19; Ber-wyn, September 21 (average of 14 years, August 31). Maryland
?
Gibson Island, October 13; Charles County, September 21. Districtof Columbia?September 14 (average of 5 years, August 27). WestVirginia?Bluefield, September 10. Virginia?Richmond, September22; Lexington, September 19. North Carolina?North Wilkesboro,October 27; Raleigh, August 22 (average of 10 years, August 6).South Carolina?Spartanburg, September 26. Georgia?Augusta,September 7. Alabama?Smelley, October 13. Florida?Royal PalmHammock, October 13; Fort Myers, October 11 (median of 7 years,September 28); Pensacola, September 14 (median of 18 years, August25). Sinaloa?Escuinapa, October 25.Egg dates.?Illinois: 12 records, May 13 to June 20; 7 records,May 22 to June 10.Kansas: 8 records, June 5 to June 21.New York: 4 records, May 29 to June 13.South Carolina: 11 records, May 16 to June 6; 6 records, May 24 toMay 31.Texas, 30 records, April 29 to July 2; 18 records, May 8 to May 30.ICTEUUS GRADUACAUDA AUDUBONII GiraudAudubon's Black-Headed OrioleH4BITSBendire (1895) writes:This is one of the sixteen new species of birds described by Mr. J. P. Giraud inthe Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, in 1841, from specimenscollected in Texas in 1838. Some time afterwards Mr. John H. Clark, the natural-ist attached to the Mexican Boundary Survey, obtained several specimens nearFort Ringgold, Texas. He reported it as not abundant, and its quiet manners andsecluded habits prevented it from being very conspicuous. It was most frequentlyobserved by him feeding on the fruit of the hackberry, but whenever approachedwhile thus feeding it always showed signs of uneasiness, and soon after soughtrefuge in some place of greater concealment. Usually pairs were to be seen keep-ing close together, apparently preferring the thick foliage found on the marginsof ponds or on the old bed of the river. They did not communicate with eachother by any note, and Mr. Clark was struck by their remarkable silence. Theirhabits seemed to him very different from those of any other Oriole with whichhe was acquainted.
AUDUBON'S BLACK-HEADED ORIOLE 211George B. Seimett (1878) says: "This large Oriole cannot be saidto be very abundant on the Rio Grande, although it is by no meansrare. I think it is by far more retiring in its habits than any other ofthe family. If I were to go in search of it I should seek dense woods,near an opening, with plenty of undergrowth, where the Rio GrandeJay loves to dwell."As all other naturalists who have visited this fascinating regionalong the lower Rio Grande have found this handsome, black-headedoriole far from abundant and not conspicuous among the many in-teresting Mexican species that there extend their ranges into theUnited States, it is not strange that we saw very few when I visitedBrownsville in 1923. What few we saw were in the dense forestsalong the resacas, or stagnant water courses, the former beds ofstreams, or in other wooded regions; these usually contained largespecimens of mesquite, hackberry, ebony, huisache, and a few palms,with a heavy undergrowth of shrubs, small trees, persimmons,granjenas, coffeebeans, and bush morning-glories.At early morning and again after sunset, these woods resoundedwith the weird chorus of loud screams from the chachalacas; all daylong the white-winged and white-fronted doves filled the air with theirtiresome cooing; and the noisy Derby flycatchers often proclaimedtheir presence with loud, clamorous notes from the treetops; but wedid not hear, or failed to recognize, the song of Audubon's oriole.Frequent glimpses were had of the brilliant green jay and the lovelylittle Texas kingfisher, but the oriole kept mostly hidden in thefoliage.Our black-headed oriole, as it was formerly called, is a northernrace of a Mexican species, which ranges from the lower Rio GrandeValley southward into Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon in Mexico.The t}Tpe race (A. g. graduacauda) ranges over the southern portionsof the Mexican plateau; it is a smaller bird, with the bill muchstouter, shorter, and the culmen more curved; the black of the headand neck is more extensive; there is no white in the wings, and themiddle coverts are black instead of yellow; and the tail is entirelyblack. In our bird the outer edges of the wing quills are edged withwhite, broadly so on the innermost secondaries, and the greaterwing coverts are usually edged with white near the tips; the outertail feathers, also, are more or less edged and tipped with white.Nesting.?Sennett (1879) was the first to discover the nests andcollect authentic eggs of Audubon's oriole, about which he writes:
"This year I was fortunate in obtaining, within our limits, nestsand eggs of this large Oriole. Two incomplete sets were found earlyin May, which enable me to identify a complete set of four obtainedlast year. The latter set was taken at Hidalgo, Texas; the two former,
212 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
at Lomita. The three nests were found in heavy timber, some ten ortwelve feet from the ground, are half-pensile, something like thoseof the Orchard and Bullock's Orioles, and attached to uprightterminal branches. They are composed of dried grasses wovenamong the growing twigs and leaves, so as to form a matting light andfirm. They measure on the inside some three inches in depth andrather more in width."Since then, the National Museum has received from William L.Ralph a fine series of the eggs, taken near Brownsville, Texas. Basedon this material, Bendire (1895) describes the nest as follows:The nest of this Oriole is usually placed in mesquite trees, in thickets and openwoods, from 6 to 14 feet from the ground. It is a semipensile structure, wovenof fine, wire-like grass used while still green, and resembles those of the Hoodedand Orchard Orioles, which are much better known. The nest is firmly attachedboth on the top and sides, to small branches and growing twigs, and, for the sizeof the bird, it appears rather small. One, now before me, measures 3 inches indepth inside by about the same in inner diameter. The rim of the nest is somewhatcontracted to prevent the eggs from being thrown out during high winds. Theinner lining consists of somewhat finer grass tops, which still retain considerablestrength, and are even now, when perfectly dry, difficult to break. Only a singlenest of those found was placed in a bunch of Spanish moss, and this was sus-pended within reach of the ground; the others were all attached to smalltwigs. * * *Nidification begins sometimes early in April, but usually about the last weekin this month. Fresh eggs have been taken on April 23 and as late as June 8.Attempts are probably frequently made to rear two broods in a season, but manyof them are unquestionably destroyed each year by the Red-eyed Cowbird,as well as through other causes.Eggs.?Bendire (1895) gives the following good description of theeggs:The number of eggs to a set varies from three to five. Sets of one or two eggsof this Oriole, with two or three Cowbirds' eggs, seem to be most frequentlyfound, some of the first-named eggs being thrown out to make room.The eggs differ somewhat in the character of their markings from those of theremainder of our Orioles; they are ovate and elongate ovate in shape, and theshell is rather frail and lusterless. The ground color is either pale bluish orgrayish white, and occasionally the egg is only slightly flecked with fine markingsand a few hair lines of different shades of brown and dark purple, these beingnearly evenly distributed over the surface. In others the ground color is partlyobscured with a pale purple suffusion, and more profusely blotched and streakedwith different shades of claret brown, purple, ferruginous, and lavender, re-sembling somewhat certain types of Brewer's Blackbirds' eggs, while an occasionalset is profusely blotched with coarse, heavy markings of cinnamon rufous andnumerous finer spots of the same tint, these almost completely hiding the groundGolor. The markings are generally heaviest about the larger end of the egg.The largest egg of the series measures 26.42 by 18.80 millimetres, or 1.04 by0.74 inches; the smallest, 23.62 by 17.78 millimetres, or 0.93 by 0.70 inch.
AUDUBON'S BLACK-HEADED ORIOLE 213Plumages.?Chapman (1923b) describes the plumages briefly asfollows: "In nestling plumage, Audubon's Oriole is olive-green above,greenish yellow below, the wings and tail being externally brownish.The black head of the adult is acquired at the postjuvenal (first fall)molt, but the wings and tail are still those of the 37oung bird. Thisplumage is worn throughout the first nesting season, at the end ofwhich the black wings and tail are acquired and the bird resemblesour figure. The female closely resembles the male and often cannotbe distinguished from it in color, but usually the back is more olive-green, less pure yellow than in the fully adult male."The above description is correct as far as it goes. In a large seriesthat I have examined, the postjuvenal molt seems to begin early; Ihave seen a young bird in juvenal plumage that was acquiring a blackthroat on July 19, and another that had a nearly complete black headon July 14. As stated above, this first winter plumage is worn with-out much change all through the spring; I have seen birds in thisplumage in March, April, May, and June, and as late as July 7. Thepostnuptial molt of adults is apparently not completed until sometime in September; one taken September 3 was still molting wingsand tail.Behavior.?The following quotations are taken from some paperssent to John Cassin (1862) by Lieutenant Couch:The Black-headed Oriole was seen for the first time on the third of March 1858,at Santa Rosalio rancho, eight leagues west of Matamoras. It had paired, andboth male and female were very shy and secluded, seeking insects on the nopal(a species of prickly pear), or among the mimosa trees, never seeming to be atrest, but constantly on the look-out for their favorite food.At Charco Escondido, farther in the interior of Tamaulipas, this bird was wellknown to the rancheros, who were disposed to give it a bad reputation, statingthat it often came to the rancho to steal the freshly-slaughtered beef, hung upto dry in the sun. Whether this was true or not, I had no opportunity of as-certaining; but my acquaintance with the Black-headed Oriole, at this place,I have a particular reason for remembering. * * * It was the day after asevere norther, and the whole feathered kingdom was in motion. My guidesoon called my attention to two calandrias, as these birds are called by the Mexi-cans, which were quietly but actively seeking their breakfast. The male havingbeen brought down by my gun, the female flew to a neighboring tree, apparentlynot having observed his fall; soon, however, she became aware of her loss, andendeavored to recall him to her side with a simple pout pou-it, uttered in a strainof such exquisite sadness, that I could scarcely believe such notes to be producedby a bird, and so greatly did they excite my sympathy, that I felt almost resolvedto desist from making further collections in natural history, which was one ofthe principal objects of my journey into the country. * * *My stay in Mexico was not sufficiently protracted to enable me to study thehabits of this interesting bird as fully as I could have wished. Generally, itsflight is low and rapid, and it seemed to prefer the shade of trees. It was observed
214 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
almost invariably in pairs, and the male and female showed for each other muchtenderness and solicitude. If one strayed from the other, a soft pou-it, soonbrought them again together.Voice.-?Couch (Cassin, 1862) observed further: "I have neverheard the lay of any songster of the feathered tribe expressed moresweetly than that of the present Oriole. At Monterey, it is a favoritecage-bird. The notes of the male are more powerful than those ofthe female."Sennett (1878) says: "It is a sweet singer, never very generous withits music, and only singing when undisturbed.
"I remember once sitting in the edge of a woods, watching themovements of some Wrens just outside, the only sounds to be heardin the woods being the discordant notes of the Rio Grande Jay, whensuddenly, from over my head, there burst upon my ear a melody sosweet and enchanting that I sat entranced, and, listening, forgot allelse. I soon discovered the whereabouts of the singer, and watchedhim as he flitted about from branch to branch, singing his wonderfulsong. I have no power to describe a bird's song, least of all thisOriole's."Field marks.?Audubon's oriole should be easily recognized as alarge oriole, with a wholly black head and neck, and with black wingsand tail, the rest of the body being yellow, rather more greenish yellowon the back and clearer yellow below, but without any orange tinge.The sexes are practically alike.Enemies.?Audubon's oriole probably has as many enemies asother birds, but the cowbirds seem to be as troublesome to it as any ofwhich we have record. Bendire (1895) says that it "seems to be greatlyimposed upon by the Red-eyed Cowbird; half of the sets in the collec-tion contain from one to three of these parasitic eggs; but none of theequally common Dwarf Cowbird have, as far as I am aware, yet beenfound in them."Herbert Friedmann (1929) writes: "Near Brownsville, Texas, Ifound two nests of the Audubon's Oriole; both of them containingeggs of the Red-eyed Cowbird. One had two eggs of the Oriole andone of the Red-eye. The other contained one Red-eyed Cowbird'segg and one of the Dwarf Cowbird and one of the owner. Bothnorthern races of the Red-eyed Cowbird are parasitic on the Audubon'sOriole."Winter.?Audubon's oriole is mainly resident throughout the yearwithin its breeding range, but it is said to occur in San Luis Potosi inwinter, and to wander casually as far north as San Antonio, Tex.H. P. Attwater (1892) called it a "rare winter wanderer" in the latterlocality; he secured a fine male there on March 27, 1890, and, on
SENNETT'S HOODED ORIOLE 215February 13 of the next year, he obtained three specimens out of aflock of 8 or 10; the next day they were all gone, and he did not seethem again. DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southern Texas to Central Mexico.Breeding range.?Audubon's oriole breeds from southern Texas(Rio Grande City, Hidalgo, Brownsville) and possibly casually northto Pleasanton and Austwell south at least to central Tamaulipas(Realito, Rio Cruz).Winter range.?Winters throughout breeding range south toNuevo Le6n (Mesa del Chipinque, south of Monterrey), San LuisPotosi (Hacienda Angostura), and southern Tamaulipas (Victoria,Tampico).Casual records.?Rare in south central Texas (San Antonioarea).Migration.?Largely a permanent resident. Early spring datenorth of normal range: Texas?Lytle, Atascosa County, March 4.Egg dates.?Texas: 15 records, April 23 to June 15; 8 records,May 7 to May 28.ICTERUS CUCULLATUS SENNETTI RidgwaySennett's Hooded OrioleHABITSThis is a northeastern race of a Mexican species, ranging fromTamaulipas, in northeastern Mexico, into the lower Rio Grande Valleyof Texas. According to Ridgway (1902), it is "similar to /. c. cucul-latus, but lighter in color; adult males less decidedly orange, the colorof pileum, chest, etc., deep cadmium yellow, never cadmium orange;adult females much lighter in color, the yellow of the under parts dullor pale gamboge instead of saffron or ochreous, the back and scapularslighter grayish, and light olive-greenish of pileum, rump, etc., clearer;wing and tail averaging decidedly shorter."In the lower Rio Grande Valley, Sennett's hooded oriole is anabundant and familiar summer resident. George B. Sennett (1878)reported it as "very common in the vicinity, and among timber of anyrespectable growth." He found it "more plentiful than all the rest ofthe genus combined." James C. Merrill (1878) says: "This is perhapsthe most common Oriole in this vicinity during the summer, arrivingabout the last week in March. It is less familiar than Bullock'sOriole, and, like the preceding species, is usually found in woods."When I visited Brownsville in 1923 we found this oriole very common380928?57 15
216 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211in the woods and about the ranches and towns, where we foundseveral nests. On his visit, a year later, Herbert Friedmann (1925)found it very common, "close to houses at times; in fact they seem notto mind human presence at all." He found 16 nests.Nesting.?The early accounts of the nesting habits of Sennett'shooded oriole differ considerably from what recent observers havenoted. Sennett (1878) wrote:Their usual nesting places are the hanging trusses of Spanish moss, everywhereprovokingly abundant on the larger growth of trees. I have also found theirnests on the lower limbs of trees and the drooping outer branches of undergrowth;but wherever found, the inevitable Spanish moss enters largely or wholly intotheir composition. So durable is this moss that it lasts for years, and as a con-sequence there are everywhere ten old nests to one new one. The heart of themoss when separated from its white covering becomes the "curled hair" of com-merce. The Hooded Oriole takes this dry vegetable hair, and ingeniously weavesit into the heart of a living truss of moss, making a secure and handsome home.I took one no higher than my head, and others thirty feet or more from the ground.Later, he wrote (1879): "One nest was discovered, in a corn-field,made of Spanish moss, which was interwoven with a couple of leavesof two corn-stalks, which it thus bound together; another was foundin a truss of Spanish moss, having dried grasses for lining, instead ofthe usual dead and black hair-like moss. In several nests were horse-hair and tufts of goats' wool."Merrill's (1878) account is somewhat similar:The nests of this bird found here are perfectly characteristic, and cannot beconfounded with those of any allied species; they are usually found in one of thetwo following situations: the first and most frequent is in a bunch of hanging moss,usually at no great height from the ground; when so placed, the nests are formedalmost entirely by hollowing out and matting the moss, with a few filaments of adark hair-like moss as lining; the second situation is in a bush (the name of whichI do not know) growing to a height of about six feet, a nearly bare stem throwingout two or three irregular masses of leaves at the top; these bunches of dark greenleaves conceal the nest admirably; it is constructed of filaments of the hair-likemoss just referred to, with a little Spanish moss, wool, or a few feathers for lining;they are rather wide and shallow for Orioles' nests, and, though strong, theyappear thin and delicate. A few pairs build in Spanish bayonets ( Yucca) growingon sand ridges in the salt prairies; here the nests are built chiefly of the dry, toughfibres of the plant, with a little wool or thistle-down as lining; they are placedamong the dead and depressed leaves, two or three of which are used as supports.Bendire (1895) says of a nest built in a yucca: "One now beforeme, in an excellent state of preservation, measures exteriorly 3%inches in depth by 3 inches in width; the inner cup is 2% inches wideby 2 inches deep. It is built throughout of yucca fiber and containsno lining.
"Nidification begins in April, and the earliest record of a full clutchof eggs having been taken is April 17, a set of five; the latest wasJuly 5; probably two broods are raised in a season."
SENNETT'S HOODED ORIOLE 217Perhaps the Spanish "moss" had largely disappeared from thevicinity of Brownsville at the time of our visit, for all of the nestswe saw were in palms or palmettos. We found several of their nestsin palms 25 or 30 feet from the ground and generally inaccessible.On May 25, 1923, we found three nests in a grove of palmettos near ahouse ; a man and his boys helped us to climb to these by means of aladder; and from one of them I collected a nice, fresh set of foureggs. The nests were all neatly woven cups, made entirely of thefibers of the palmetto leaves; they were securely fastened to theunder side of the leaf, which generally was green, the supportingfibers being sewn through some strong portion of the leaf; as a resultthey were well shielded from either rain or sun.Friedmann's (1925) experience was similar; all his 16 nests were
"sewn on to the under side of the palm or banana leaves"; they weremuch shallower than nests of the Baltimore oriole, but deeper thanthose of the orchard oriole. Neither of us saw any nests in Spanish
"moss" (Tillandsia) ; in fact, I cannot remember seeing any lichenin that vicinity; but some of the trees on the edges of the resacassupported more or less Usnea.Eggs.?Bendire (1895) writes:The number of eggs laid to a set varies from three to five, sets of four being mostcommon, and an egg is deposited daily. They are mostly ovate in shape; theshell is delicate, rather frail, and without luster. The ground color is dull white,occasionally this has a pale buffy and again a faint bluish tint. The eggs areblotched and spotted, principally about the larger end, with irregularly shapedmarkings ranging from dark seal brown to claret brown, purple, mixed withochraceous, mouse, and pearl gray, and these rarely run into lines and tracings, soprevalent in the eggs of most of our Orioles. Some eggs are fairly well marked,others only faintly; the lighter shades mentioned largely predominate over thedarker ones, and in some the latter are entirely wanting.The average measurement of ninety-three specimens in the United StatesNational Museum collection is 21.59 by 15.24 millimetres, or 0.85 by 0.60 inch.The largest egg in the series measures 22.86 by 16 millimetres, or 0.90 by 0.63 inch;the smallest, 18.80 by 15.24 millimetres, or 0.74 by 0.60 inch.Plumages.?I have seen no very young orioles of this species, butChapman (1923a) describes the sequence of plumages briefly asfollows: "Nestlings of both sexes resemble the adult female [based onthe subspecies Nelsoni], and the female wears essentially similarcolors for the remainder of her life. After the post-juvenal molt themale apparently continues to resemble the female during the firstpart of the winter or even early spring when it acquires a black throatand lores. This constitutes its first breeding plumage and it is wornuntil the post-nuptial (second fall) molt at which the bird passes intoadult winter dress."
218 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Young males and females, during their first winter, are both some-what duller in color than are the adult females at that season.Ridgway (1902) describes the adult winter plumage of the male assimilar "to the summer plumage, but the orange or orange-yellowduller, especially on upper parts, where more or less obscured by atinge or wash of olivaceous; scapulars and inter-scapulars marginedterminally with light olive or olive-grayish; tertials more broadlymargined with white."Behavior.?Sennett (1879) noted that these orioles "were contin-ually peering about the thatched roof of our house and arbors adjoiningfor insects. They were more familiar than any of the other Oriolesabout the ranch." And Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874), state oninformation received from Captain McCown
:
When met with in the woods and far away from the abodes of men, it seemedshy and disposed to conceal itself. Yet a pair of these birds were his constantvisitors, morning and evening. They came to the vicinity of his quarters?anunfinished building?at Ringgold Barracks, and at last became so tame andfamiliar that they would pass from some ebony-trees, that stood near by, to theporch, clinging to the shingles and rafters, frequently in an inverted position,prying into the holes and crevices, apparently in search of spiders and such insectsas could be found there. From this occupation they would occasionally desist,to watch his movements. He never could induce them to partake of the food heoffered them.Enemies.?Sennett's hooded oriole is often imposed upon by thedwarf cowbird and the red-eyed cowbird, principally the latter, andthe eggs of both species are sometimes found in the same nest. Outof the 16 nests observed by FriedmaDn (1925) near Brownsville, oneheld an egg of the dwarf cowbird and two of the oriole, and three con-tained eggs of the red-eyed cowbird.DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?Sennett's hooded oriole breeds from SouthernTexas (Rio Grande City, Port Isabel) south along the Gulf coastalplain to southern Tamaulipas (probably Paso del Haba).Winter range.?Winters throughout its range south to northernGuerrero (Taxco, Iguala) and Morelos (Cuernavaca).Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole.Early dates of spring arrival are: San Luis Potosi?Valles, March 24.Tamaulipas?Rancho Rinconada, March 5. Nuevo Le6n?Linares,March 5. Sonora?Tesia, March 21; Baja California?Santo Do-mingo, February 28. Texas?Hidalgo and Brownsville, March 12(median of 9 years in Cameron County, March 15). New Mexico
?
Carlsbad Cave region, March 24. Arizona?Tucson, March 14(median of 13 years, March 25). California?Los Angeles County,March 5 (median of 32 years, March 20) ; Santa Barbara, March 14.
SWAINSON'S HOODED ORIOLE 219Late date of spring departure : Sonora?Guirocoba, May 20.Early dates of fall arrival are: Sinaloa?Escuinapa, October 24.Guerrero?Taxco, November 1
.
Late dates of fall departure are: California?Los Angeles County,November 1 (median of 5 years, September 13). Arizona?Tucson,October 8. New Mexico?Guadalupe Canyon, October 4. Texas
?
Brownsville, November 12.Egg dates.?Arizona: 22 records, May 22 to Aug. 25; 11 records,June 6 to July 18.California: 72 records, April 7 to Aug. 12; 36 records, May 9 toJune 12.Baja California: 15 records, May 1 to Aug. 10; 8 records, July 14to July 25.Texas: 44 records, April 8 to July 5; 22 records, May 1 to May 29.
ICTERUS CUCULLATUS CUCLLLATUS SwainsonSwainson's Hooded OrioleSimilar in its habits to Sennett's hooded oriole, this race is some-what darker, more orange, less yellowish in the males, and notablydarker in the females.Swainson's hooded oriole ranges from western Texas south toGuerrero and Veracruz, and its breeding range extends from westernTexas (Boquillas, Del Rio), Chihuahua (Sabinas), Nuevo Le6n(Monterrey, Linares), and Tamaulipas (Gomez Farias); south to SanLuis Potosi (probably San Luis Potosi), northern Guerrero (Iguala),and southern Veracruz (Orizaba, Catemaco). Its winter range isuncertain; the northernmost winter specimens are from Morelos(Cuernavaca) and central Veracruz (Mirador); in spring and fallspecimens have been taken in western Texas (Marathon, Langtry),Nayarit (Santiago), Michoactin (Lake Patzcuaro, Tacambaro), centralGuerrero (Chilpancingo), and Veracruz (Puerto Mexico).
220 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211ICTERUS CUCULLATUS NELSONI RidgwayArizona Hooded OriolePlates 14 and 15Contributed by Robert S. WoodsHABITSDespite its shy, quiet ways, probably few birds of the Southwesthave impressed themselves upon the average human consciousnessmore definitely than the Arizona hooded oriole. This is due not onlyto the eye-arresting coloration of the adult male, but to the fact thatit finds its most congenial surroundings among plantings of palmsand flowering shrubs, the former furnishing nesting sites and material,and the latter a favorite food. In spring and summer it is a commoninhabitant of city parks and gardens, though it manifests none of theboldness and assurance that characterize some of our dooryard birds.In the United States, the Arizona hooded oriole is a summer visitantto the southern portions of New Mexico and Arizona, and southeasternCalifornia. Typically a species of the Lower Sonoran Zone, the hoodedoriole is seldom seen among the yuccas and junipers frequented byScott's oriole. Previous to the large-scale development of irrigation,it appears to have been confined mainly to woodlands bordering thewatercourses of the lower country. Much of its territory is sharedby Bullock's oriole, which sounds its ringing notes from the tops ofeucalyptus or cottonwood trees while the hooded oriole makes itsmore silent way through the shrubbery and branches below.Concerning the haunts and habits of the hooded oriole in southernArizona, H. W. Henshaw (1875) said: "It shuns the arid districts,and is found only in the fringes of deciduous trees along the streams.Here it seeks its food among the foliage of the cottonwoods, and fliesfrom thence to the low bushes on the canon sides, spending much ofits time among them, gleaning insects from the branches, or evendescending occasionally to the ground. I did not hear the song; thebirds, at the time of my acquaintance with them, being busy in pro-viding for their young, and seeming to find then- time too fully occupiedto devote any to music. Their common notes are a rolling chatter,which somewhat resembles that of our common Baltimore Oriole,but is much weaker and fainter."Also referring to conditions of an earlier day, Bendire (1895) wrote:"Within our borders it is more common in southern Arizona thananywhere else, and I found about twenty of its nests here during thespring and summer of 1872. * * * I rarely saw one far away fromwater at any season of the year. The dense, shady groves of cotton-
ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE 221wood and mesquite trees in the creek bottoms appeared to be itsfavorite haunts. It is a shy, restless creature, nearly always on themove, looking for insects of various kinds and their larvae, includinghairless caterpillars, and small grasshoppers." It may be doubtedwhether the first statement of the foregoing quotation is still true,as suitable habitats have increased greatly.Spring.?While Dawson (1923) found the hooded oriole beginningto arrive in California late in March, corresponding dates for southernArizona may be somewhat later, W. E. D. Scott (1885) stating thatthey arrive about the middle of April. For a time the males are morefrequently seen than the females.Courtship.?"During the mating season, beginning about the latterpart of April," says Bendire (1895), "several males may sometimes beseen chasing a female and scolding and fighting each other for thecoveted prize." Little if anything has been published regarding anycharacteristic courtship practices of this species, but I have seen anadult male execute a series of exaggerated bows as he advancedslowly along a horizontal limb of a tree in which a female was perched.Again, in midsummer, a male in second-year plumage was observedhopping round and round his mate in a tree, singing softly and re-peatedly posturing with open bill directed toward the zenith, whilethe female faced him, also with open bill.Nesting.?For a bird which spends most of its time comparativelyclose to the ground, the Arizona hooded oriole chooses surprisinglyhigh nesting sites. With one exception hereinafter mentioned, thenumerous nests observed by Bendire (1895) and Scott (1885) inArizona ranged from 12 to 45 feet from the ground.As in the case of the cactus wren, a species having a somewhatsimilar geographical range in the United States, the nesting materialsused by the hooded orioles seem to differ as between Arizona andCalifornia, a difference hardly to be accounted for by the relativeavailability of the materials. However, whereas the former seems toconstruct grass nests only on the Pacific slope, the present speciesuses such materials mainly at points farther east, and seldom inCalifornia. The various nest descriptions quoted below plainlybring out this difference.Bendire (1895) says: "In southern Arizona nidification beginsrather late, rarely before May 20, and sometimes later. In southernCalifornia, however, it commences fully a month earlier, and a fullset of eggs was taken by Mr. Theodore D. Hurd, near Riverside,California, on April 23." Referring to a nest containing three fresheggs, found in Arizona on June 5, he continues
:
It was suspended from a bunch of mistletoe growing on a limb of a cottonwoodtree, about 40 feet from the ground, and was hard to get at. This, like nearly
222 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
all of the nests found by me, was woven of a species of slender wiry grass growingin moist places, which was used in a green state. It contained a little Cottonwooddown for lining. Its green color, closely resembling the surrounding foliage,made it very difficult to see. It was securely fastened to several mistletoe twigsamong which it was placed. Fully three-fifths of the nests found by me wereplaced in similar situations; the others were suspended in mesquite (exceptingone found in an ash tree), at various heights from 12 to 45 feet from the ground.The majority of these nests were woven of this green wire grass, which seemsadmirably adapted for this purpose, and a few only were made of dry yucca fibers;the latter were much more easily seen. In some instances this material wasalso used for the inner lining, mixed with willow down or a little wool, rarelywith a few feathers, or a small quantity of horsehair.While some of the nests were semipensile and slung somewhat like a hammock,so that they rocked like a cradle with every breeze, in the majority some of thesurrounding slender twigs among which the nest was placed were incorporatedinto its walls and sides, securing it almost immovably in position. None of thenests seen by me in any way resembled those of Bullock's Oriole, which was alsocommon here. They were always much brighter colored, not nearly so deep,and were constructed of entirely different materials. Neither do the grass-woven nests of the Arizona Hooded Oriole resemble the common type of its nearrelative found in Texas. I refer to the nests built of tree moss, which are usuallylocated in bunches of the same material. But those of either form of the HoodedOriole, when built of yucca fibers, might be readily mistaken for each other.Besides the trees already mentioned, Mr. Scott found it breeding in sycamores,and in California it nests in walnut, cypress, gum, and fan palms, the fibers ofwhich, according to Mr. Theo. D. Hurd, are almost exclusively used as nestingmaterial in that locality.Hurd (1890) published the following interesting notes on thenesting habits of this oriole, as observed by him in that vicinity:
"For the rearing of the first brood the nests are usually suspended inoverhanging branches of the blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), but itis a noticeable fact that the second nests are more commonly attachedto the leaves of the palm tree. Why this is I do not know, unless theywant to begin laying as soon as possible, and therefore build wherematerial is most easily obtained. When in palms the nests are fast-ened directly to the under side of a large leaf, leaving a small openingon one or more often on either side, for the bird to enter."Says Bendire (1895): "Two and possibly even three broods aresometimes raised in a season. I found slightly incubated eggs inArizona on August 25. From three to five eggs are laid to a set;in Arizona usually only three or four; but Mr. Hurd reports taking aset of seven on May 6, 1890. An egg is deposited daily until the setis completed."He reports having seen the male carrying nesting materials, andadds: "The nest is well built, it is basket or cup shaped, with a verythick bottom and strong sides. It averages about 4 inches in heightexternally. The inner cup is oval, about 2% inches deep and 3 by 2inches wide, and it takes about 4 or 5 days to complete it."
ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE 223Henshaw (1875) thus describes the nests observed in Arizona:
"I saw quite a number of what I took to be the nests of this species,suspended low down from the branches of the cottonwoods and variousdeciduous trees; one or two being not more than ten feet from theground. These were made of grasses, and woven and interwoven insuch a manner as to make a very firm durable nest, and shows thatthis species is not inferior to its allies in the art of construction." Scott(1885) says: "Two broods are raised, and not infrequently three, dur-ing their stay here, and a new home is built for each brood. The oldbirds are great workers when building their nests, and the rapiditywith which so elaborate a structure is completed is astonishing. Threeor four days at most generally suffice to complete the structure." Hethen describes in considerable detail 10 nests in a canyon, presumablynear Tucson
?
All taken from three kinds of trees, cottonwood, sycamore, and a kind of ash;and, considering that the location of all were not a mile apart, it would seem thattaste or fancy had much to do with producing in the same locality, where thematerials used by all of the builders are abundant and easily obtained, structuresvarying so widely in general appearance, in the materials of which they arebuilt, and in their method of building, as well as in mode of attachment to thetree.Some of the nests, it will be seen, are as truly pensile as those of Icterus galbula;others are more like those of Icterus spurius; while one at least rests on a stouttwig and is hardly to be regarded as a hanging nest at all.Of the 10 nests, 8 are described as composed mainly of grasses, eithercoarse or fine, 1 of yucca fibers, and 1 of a combination of these 2materials. In addition to these, he mentions nests built in clumps ofmistletoe in mesquite trees, and also an unusual nesting site at aheight of only 8 feet on the trunk of a yucca in the open desert.Eggs.?The eggs are indistinguishable in size and appearance fromthose of other races of the species, as described under Sennett's hoodedoriole.Young.?Bendire (1895) gives the incubation period as 12 to 14days. Irene G. Wheelock (1904) says: "Incubation lasts thirteendays, and in this the male takes no part." Since the nesting sitesusually chosen do not readily lend themselves to observation of theinteriors of the nests, statistics relative to the development of theyoung are not plentiful. According to Mrs. Wheelock (1904), "Theyoung Orioles are born naked except for flecks of down on the crownand along the back. They are fed by regurgitation for four or fivedays. The eyes open on the fourth day, and pinfeathers soon beginto darken the skin. In two weeks the nestlings are fully fledged,looking much like the mother, and are ready for their d6but. Never-theless they are very helpless, and are fed and cared for by bothparents for some time after leaving the nest."
224 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Plumages.?The plumages and molts are similar to those of thespecies elsewhere, described under Sennett's oriole, to which thereader is referred.Food.?In general, the food of this oriole consists of a combinationof insects and the nectar of flowers, but also some fruits, such asberries and cherries. In addition to the fruits mentioned above,hooded orioles are fond of loquats, but in my experience they paylittle attention to peaches, grapes, or other later ripening soft fruits.Nectar undoubtedly fills a larger place in their diet than is recognizedby some writers. Where suitable flowering plants are present inabundance, the birds will spend much time in diligently probing theblossoms of agaves, aloes, hibiscus, lilies, and other tubular forms.In procuring nectar from large flowers, the favored method is toperch on the stem of the blossom and puncture the base of the tubewith the sharp bill. While a certain amount of insect food wouldnaturally be obtained from the flowers, the fact that nectar is theprimary object is indicated by their custom of occasionally slittingunopened lily buds, a habit by no means popular with gardeners.As might be expected from their fondness for nectar, orioles enthu-siastically respond to offerings of sugar sirup, of which they willconsume relatively large quantities, drinking deeply and often. Theyappear rather more tolerant of dilution of the sirup than do humming-birds. An originally saturated solution seems to be as readily takenwhen diluted to half strength.Behavior.?Except with respect to its nests, this species seems tohave received little detailed study. Of its general habits, Mrs.Wheelock (1904) says: "Like the orchard oriole, he haunts the heavyfoliage, flitting through the open only en route to a fresh pasture.Restless, shy, ever on the move, searching for caterpillars on the undersides of the leaves chickadee fashion, picking in the crevices for larvaelike a nuthatch, and snapping up grasshoppers with a little jump asdo young meadowlarks, he is usually to be found within 12 feet of theground." While these statements are true as generalizations, thehooded oriole does not hesitate to risk a more exposed situation whennecessary in order to explore the flowering stalk of an agave or aloe,and the males sometimes sing from the tops of tall trees.Their agility on the wing is apparently not such as to encouragethem to attempt the capture of flying insects, though the flight isfairly strong and swift. It seems, however, to be used solely as ameans of getting from one place to another, and never as a method ofexpressing exuberance of spirit or expending surplus energy. Ingoing about through the trees and shrubbery, the orioles are likely toclimb along the branches with minimum use of the wings. When
ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE 225
approached, they lean forward and lower their heads in a characteristicattitude while peering nervously at the intruder.While preferring well-watered situations, the orioles do not seemgreatly interested in the water itself, though they occasionally bathe.The nectar which forms a part of their diet doubtless makes thedrinking of water unnecessary. Though not rated as a gregariousspecies, there seems to be a certain desire for companionship, and inspring before the nesting activities are under way, two of the brilliantlyhued males may often be seen feeding at the same flower stalk. Theyoung also remain in rather close association for some time afterattaining self-support. They are not quarrelsome, either amougthemselves or with other species. In spite of the fact that they socommonly frequent low shrubbery, these birds rarely alight on theground, though on occasions they may be seen hopping over a lawn,presumably in search of insects.Voice.?The presence of the Arizona hooded oriole is usually firstbetrayed by a liquid chirp repeated at intervals, or by a chatter likethat of Bullock's oriole, but lighter and softer in tone. Contrastingstrongly with the buglelike notes of the latter species is its pleasantbut unpretentious warbling song, which is neither loud nor frequent,and is interspersed with the typical chatter or rattle.Field marks.?In flight, the male hooded oriole can most easilybe distinguished from the Bullock's and Scott's orioles by the appar-ently solid black of the tail. The body color of this subspecies isdeeper yellow than in Scott's oriole, but less orange than in Bullock's.In the western tanager, of somewhat similar size and coloration, the tail isnearly even instead of graduated, the wings have yellow patches, andthe throat is without black. The entirely yellow crown of the hoodedoriole is distinctive, and the bill is more slender than in the othersmentioned. Descriptions of coloration are hardly adequate guides tothe field identification of the female orioles, but in the present speciesthe bill is more distinctly decurved and the tail more definitelygraduated.Bendire (1895) says: "The Arizona Hooded Oriole is imposed on toa considerable extent by the Dwarf Cowbird, and I found severalnests containing one and two eggs of this parasite with one or two onlyof the rightful owner."Enemies.?Herbert Friedmann (1929) lists this species among thevictims of both the dwarf cowbird (Molothrus ater obscurus) and thebronzed cowbird (Tangavius aeneus aeneus) in Arizona. Its wariness,nonterrestrial habits, and the nature of its nesting sites should renderit comparatively safe from most natural enemies.Fall.?Most of the Arizona hooded orioles have disappeared
226 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211from their summer haunts by the end of August, but a few individuals,especially the immature, remain into September.DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?The Arizona hooded oriole breeds from south-eastern California (Colorado River Valley), central and southeasternArizona (Topock, San Carlos, Safford), and southwestern New Mexico(Silver City); south to northeastern Baja California (eastern base ofSierra San Pedro Martir, lat. 31? N.) and southern Sonora (Guaymas,Agiabampo). Casual in southwestern Utah (St. George, Beaver DamWash), where it may breed.Winter range.?Winters from central Sonora (Hermosillo) cas-ually to southern Arizona (Tucson); south to southern Sinaloa(Escuinapa, Rio Mazatlan).ICTERUS CUCULLATUS CALIFORNICUS (Lesson)California Hooded OrioleContributed by Robert S. WoodsHABITSThis race of the hooded oriole has extended its range northward onthe Pacific coast in recent years casually to the San Francisco Bayregion, but W. L. Dawson (1923) has placed Santa Barbara as thenorthern limit of its common occurrence. Undoubtedly the extensiveornamental plantings which have been made in southwestern Californiahave greatly increased the amount of country suitable for this bird andhave correspondingly increased its potential population.Like other species, this one occasionally departs markedly from itsusual routes and schedules. F. C. Lincoln (1940) reports one indi-vidual that was banded at Los Angeles on January 22, 1939, and wasfound dead near Garden City, Kans., about August 5 of that year.Spring.?In Los Angeles County the hooded orioles are usuallyfirst seen during the latter half of March, but in some years theirarrival in any given breeding locality may be delayed until after thebeginning of April. Dawson (1923) said "[This oriole] begins to arrivein California late in March. I say 'begins to arrive' because I thinkit altogether probable that there are two streams or stocks of migrants,one arriving early and nesting in April and July, the other nestingonly once, in late May or early June."Courtship.?Nothing appears to have been published to indicatethat the courtship of this race differs in any way from that of theArizona bird.
CALIFORNIA HOODED ORIOLE 227Nesting.?Like the Arizona race, this hooded oriole chooses nestingsites high up in trees. Florence Merriam Bailey (1910) says: "Inchoosing between individual [palm] trees, the taller seem to be giventhe preference." In California this oriole has been found nesting,not only in cottonwoods, as in Arizona, but also in walnut, cypress,gum, and fan palms, the fibers of which are used as nesting material.The California oriole does not, like the more eastern races, constructits nest out of grasses. Bendire (1895) speaking of the Arizona hoodedoriole, noted that a full set of eggs, undoubtedly of the California race,was found near Riverdale, Calif., by Theodore D. Hurd on April 23.A good account of the nesting of the hooded oriole in southwesternCalifornia is found in the notes of J. F. Illingworth (1901), who states
"it is difficult to find two nests of the Bullock's Oriole alike in shape ormaterial, as they use almost anything they can find in the way offiber." He continues:The nests * * * on the other hand are very much alike, and I have neverfound one made of other material than the palm-fiber. The locations, too, aresimilar, a tree with large leaves being usually selected and a favorite position isunder the broad, corrugated leaves of the palm. These form an excellent shelterfrom both rain and sun. They drill holes through the thick leaves with theirsharp, slender beaks and tie the nest to them with palm-fiber. Often the nest i3hung between several leaves such as those of the fig tree, when holes are cut andthe palm-fibers laced in and out through them, thus drawing the leaves togetherto form the outside of the nest. The leaves not only aid in the nest structurebut also form the best possible concealment.An average nest * * * is 3.50 inches deep and 2.50 inches wide inside measure-ments, while the outside is about four inches deep and four across. Nests ofboth the Bullock's and Arizona Hooded Orioles are frequently taken possessionof by House Finches, sometimes even before the orioles have finished them, butmore often after they are deserted.From an article on "the palm-leaf oriole" by Florence MerriamBailey (1910) the following excerpts relating to nesting are obtained:In eight towns and three country places in the general region between Redlandsand San Diego in the summer of 1907, I counted forty nests made of palm fibersand hung in fan palms, and twelve others made of palm fiber and hung in othertrees. * * * The great variety of palms used for decorative purposes in southernCalifornia gives the oriole a wide range of choice in nesting sites, but with oneexception, that of a yucca-like palm in Santa Ana, the nests found were in thecommon native Washington fan palm, or in one too nearly like it to be distin-guished by the unbotanical. The wisdom of the choice is easily appreciated forthe narrow leaves of the date palm offer no protection from the hot Californiasun while the wide leaves of the fan palms are natural umbrellas, and among fanpalms the short-stemmed varieties with close-set leaves would give little of thebreeziness given by this long-stemmed one whose leaves fan reasonably free fromeach other. * * * By the time I had listed the fifty-two nests made of palmfiber, forty of which were hung in the palm, it seemed that, in southern Californiaat least, nelsoni had won its right to the name of Palm-leaf Oriole.
228 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Dawson (1923) gives the following formal description of the hoodedoriole's nest in California: "Nest: a closely woven basket, or hangingpouch, of fine vegetable fiber, usually composed externally of a single,uniform, selected material, and in California almost invariably theshredded fibers of the Washington Palm, * * * with some inner felt-ing of vegetable down or feathers; lashed to the under side of a palmleaf or of other large protecting leaves." The nests that I found atAzusa, Calif., were in avocado, eucalyptus, and dracaena (perhaps the
"yucca-like palm" mentioned by Mrs. Bailey). In the first two loca-tions, the nests were placed in terminal clusters of leaves, so that theywere not at all conspicuous. All these nests were made of what ap-peared to be palm fiber, although the nearest fiber-bearing palms wereperhaps half a mile distant. Other suitable fibers were scarce, andone summer a specimen of "old man" cactus (Cephalocereus senilis)was almost denuded of its white hairs by the orioles. In some in-stances, at least, material is gathered by the female while the malewaits near by and flies with her to the nesting site.One noteworthy nesting site was beneath the second-story eaves ofmy home, where the birds had in some manner wedged one or morefibers into a crack, despite the lack of any perching place except thelower surface of shingles and sheathing. The nest when completeddangled from a single strand, swinging and twisting in the wind, butmiraculously remained in position until the young were successfullyfledged, shortly after which the empty nest dropped to the ground,the removal of the tension due to the weight of the young havingevidently permitted the disengagement of the fiber.It is unfortunate that we have no information concerning the habitsand abundance of this oriole in southwestern California previous tothe widespread introduction of the fan palm, Washingtonia filifera,which is native only to a few restricted localities on the borders of theColorado Desert. It would be interesting to know whether the specieshas altered its nesting habits on the Pacific slope, or whether thiswhole area has been populated by descendants of the birds whichshared the original habitat of the palm and which followed its wideningdistribution.Eggs.?The eggs are indistinguishable in size and appearance fromthose of other races of the species, as described under Sennett's hoodedoriole.Young.?The young are similar in every way to those of the otherraces of this species. That they possess some aquatic ability wasnoted by Frank F. Gander (1927), who reports: "On July 21, 1924,I saw two fledgling Arizona Hooded Orioles leap from their nest in
CALIFORNIA HOODED ORIOLE 229
a eucalyptus tree and fall 20 feet into a pond. They at once swamashore, paddling with their feet and with their wings spread out onthe water."Plumages.?The plumages and molts are similar to those of thespecies elsewhere, described under Sennett's hooded oriole, to whichthe reader is referred.Food.?Near Los Angeles, Illingworth (1901) found that the
?
Orioles are very beneficial to the horticulturist, although they eat some early fruitsuch as berries, cherries, etc., but no fruit man will begrudge them these if hethoroughly understands their habits. The chief food of the orioles consists ofinsects and injurious caterpillars, and I have often watched them while they weresearching among the branches for this latter food. They are particularly fond ofa small green caterpillar that destroyed the foliage of the prune trees a few yearsago. The orioles are often seen in the berry patches but they are usually in searchof insects as is proven by the examination of a great number of stomachs.Voice.?Dawson (1923) describes the vocal efforts of this oriole as
"exceedingly variable both as to length and quality, now a weakrasping phrase, now a succession of sputtering squeaks, half musicaland half wooden, and now a wild medley wherein are imbedded notesof a liquid purity."Fall.?Most of the birds leave their summer haunts by the end ofAugust, but stragglers have been reported in southern Californiathroughout the winter. DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?The California hooded oriole breeds from cen-tral California (Solano County, Fresno, Clark Mountain) south tonorthwestern Baja California (Santo Domingo, San Jos6); it is casualin southern Nevada (Pahrump, Ash Meadows), where it may breed.Winter range.?Winters casually, north to southwestern Cali-fornia (Pasadena, Los Angeles); the southern limits of its winterrange are unknown.Casual records.?Accidental in Kansas (Garden City).
230 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211ICTERUS CUCULLATUS TROCHILOIDES GrinnellSan Lucas Hooded OrioleHABITSJoseph Grinnell (1927) describes this oriole as "similar in generalsize to Icterus cucullatus nelsoni Ridgway, of Arizona and southernCalifornia, but bill in both sexes longer, more attenuated in bothdorsal and lateral views, and more decurved toward tip ; color tone ofmales in summer on bright parts of plumage averaging duller, moreyellow, less orange. * * * Range.?The Cape San Lucas district ofLower California. Specimens examined from many localities fromSan Jose del Cabo north to La Paz." He believed this race to be "al-together resident in the Cape district" and could find no specimensreferable to it from the mainland of Mexico.William Brewster (1902) states that Mr. Frazar "saw only oneindividual on the Sierra de la Laguna, but observed many in thecanons at its base. The species was most numerously representedabout Triunfo where it frequented trees near water, and began nestbuilding late in June. The first eggs, a set of four, were found at SanJose del Rancho on July 14; during the following 10 days, six nestsand sets of eggs were obtained."Of the nests of the San Lucas hooded oriole Brewster (1902) says:
"[They] are essentially uniform in size and shape, and in these respectssimilar to the nest of the Baltimore Oriole, although smaller anddecidedly shallower. All are largely composed of a fine, straw-colored,jute-like fiber firmly interwoven, and four contain only this material,but the fifth is lined with horsehair, and the sixth with cotton and a fewfeathers. One was attached to the under side of a palm-leaf, two tothe branches of orange trees, three were in bushes, and one was sus-pended at the end of a drooping branch of some deciduous tree. Theywere placed at heights above the ground varying from four to eightfeet."Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874) quote the following brief notesfrom Mr. Xantus: "Nest and two eggs, found May 20, about ten feetfrom the ground, woven to a small aloe, in a bunch of the Acaciaprosopis. Nest and two eggs, found May 22, on a dry tree overhungwith hops. Nest and one egg, found May 30, on an acacia, aboutfifteen feet from the ground. Nest with young, found on an aloe fourfeet high. * * * Nest and eggs, found on a Yucca angustifolia, onits stem, six feet from the ground. Nest and two eggs, found in aconvolvulus, on a perpendicular rock fifty feet high. Nest and threeeggs, found on a acacia, twenty-five feet high."
ALTA MIRA LICHTENSTEEN'S ORIOLE 231
J. S. Rowley tells me that the nests he saw "were sewed to theunder side of banana palm fronds."The measurements of 40 eggs average 23.0 by 16.0 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 26.6 by 15.9, 22.5 by 16.9,22.0 by 16.0, and 22.5 by 15.1 millimeters. The eggs are practicallyindistinguishable from those of the species elsewhere.DISTRIBUTIONThe San Lucas hooded oriole is resident in southern Baja Californiafrom San Ignacio, Comondu, and Carmen Island south to CapeSan Lucas. ICTERUS GULAKIS TAMAULIPENSIS RidgwayAlta Mira Lichtenstein's OrioleHABITSThis brilliantly colored and well-marked oriole was added to ourfauna by Thomas D. Burleigh (1939), who collected a female nearBrownsville, Tex., where it was probably only a winter wanderer, asits known range is from Veracruz, Pueblo, and San Luis Potosi toTamaulipas in eastern Mexico. Burleigh says of its capture: "Theday it was collected, January 7, 1938, it was found feeding with aflock of Green Jays (Xanthoura luxuosa glaucescens) in rather thickwoods a few miles north of Brownsville; it was restless and wary,and was approached only with difficulty.'
'
Two other races of the species are found in southwestern Mexicoand in Yucatan, respectively. In naming it Ridgway (1902) describesit as "similar to 7. g. gularis, but decidedly smaller and the colorationmore intense, the orange-yellow more decidedly orange (usually richcadmium orange) ; black at anterior extremity of malar region, broader;bill shorter and deeper through base."Sutton and Pettingill (1943), to whom we are indebted for most ofour knowledge of its habits, describe it as
?
A conspicuous, orange, black and white bird of eastern Mexico's coastal plain.* * * It is larger than the other common nesting orioles of this region, the Hooded(Icterus cucullatus) and the Black-headed {Icterus graduacauda), being fully 9inches long. Its song is loud and repetitious. It is especially notable for tworeasons: (1) The male and female are so much alike in size as well as color as to bevirtually indistinguishable in the field, a resemblance that certainly is not charac-teristic of the Icteridae in general. (2) The nest is customarily placed in such anexposed situation as to suggest that the instinct for hiding it has been lost, orperhaps has been supplanted by an instinct for advertising it. This is hardlytrue of most orioles of the genus Icterus.380928?57 16
232 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Evidently, the Alta Mira oriole is not at all secretive in its habitatnor in the selection of a nesting site, in spite of its conspicuous coloring.In southern Veracruz, according to Wetmore (1943) "these birds werefound through the treetops in heavy forest, in the lines of trees border-ing fields and streams, and in scattered groves through the pastures.They were the most common of the orioles and were often kept ascage birds."Bendire (1895) wrote at some length on the frequent occurrenceof orioles of this species in Louisiana, based on information receivedfrom E. A. Mcllhenny; but as these may have been escaped cage-birds, the species has never been accepted as occurring naturally inthat State, which is so far from its known range. It does not seem tohave been reported there in recent years.Nesting.?The Alta Mira oriole is a wonderful nest builder. Sut-ton and Pettingill (1943) found five occupied nests near GomezFarias, Tamaulipas, all of which were "placed in much exposed situa-tions. Nests of Icterus gularis reported from San Luis Potosi and ElSalvador were placed in similarly exposed situations." The firstnest was within 75 yards of the house in which they lived, and waswatched daily from the beginning of the construction to the layingof the first egg. This nest was in "a living, though leafless, 50-foot-high ear tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) ," about 35 feet from theground, not far from the end of a slender branch and attached to atwo-tined fork.Building the nest required at least 18 days (April 7-24) and possibly as manyas 26 days (April 7-May 2). From April 7 to 14 the work progressed irregularly;from April 14 to 17 much material was added; from April 17 to 22 the structuretook on its final shape; but from that date on, work was desultory. We believethe first egg was laid on May 2. * * *The nest's greatest outside length, from the fork to the bottom, was 25 inches.The greatest outside diameter (not far from the bottom) was 6J4 inches. It wassymmetrical and quite smooth, the material being well tucked in. It was madealmost entirely of air-plant rootlets, most of them several inches long, and fiberstripped from palmetto leaves. The lining, which covered the bottom only,was of palmetto fiber and horsehair. Nowhere about the nest was there a feather,bit of wool or cotton or kapok fluff, or other soft material.About 250 strands of rootlet or palmetto fiber passed over each eight-inchlength of supporting twig. The remaining third of the nest-rim consisted offour or five tough rootlet "cables" hung from one tine to the other. Aboutthese, slenderer rootlets were twisted tightly, giving the edge a somewhat rope-like appearance. This third of the rim was notably thin and strong. * * *The rootlets of the nest wall ran downward and more or less parallel to eachother, as if they had purposely been allowed to dangle while the bird wove otherstrands about them. Some of these meridional rootlets extended the entirelength of the nest, but most of the material was obviously woven in and out cross-wise into a sort of rough fabric. No rootlet or fiber encircled the outside of thenest.
ALTA MIRA LICHTENSTEIN'S ORIOLE 233The wall was thickest at the bottom. Here the material was tightly interwovenand matted. The lining was not attached either to the bottom or to the sides.It could be lifted en masse without difficulty, evidently having been laid with somecare and pressed into final position by the bird's body.At this, and at all the other nests observed, only one brightly coloredbird was ever seen at the nest or even bringing material; as bothsexes are brightly colored and practically indistinguishable in thefield, this was probably the female. Brief notes on their other nestsfollow
:
"Sutton discovered a partly built Alta Mira Oriole nest on April6. It was almost directly above one of the paths leading from theRio Sabinas to the main trail to Gomez Farias and was about 30 feetfrom the ground on a dead branch in a living tree at the edge of agood-sized clearing. Here one brightly colored bird was notedrepeatedly, never two."Another nest "overhung the Rio Sabinas not far from the Rancho.We found it on April 3, but we do not know how many birds workedon it. It was in a cypress and must have been fully 50 feet above thewater. It was in plain sight for many rods both up and down streamand was not far (possibly 25 feet) from an occupied nest of the Rose-throated Becard (Platypsaris aglaiae) and one of the Giraud, orSocial Flycatcher (Myiozetetes similis)."The fourth nest "was far out on one of the uppermost branches of alarge (50 feet high), completely dead tree that stood quite by itself in awell cleared field just north of the headquarters house"; and the fifth"hung from a leafless, perhaps dead branch, almost over the mainhighway, about 30 feet from the ground."Sutton and Burleigh (1940) found a nest in San Luis Potosi thatswung from a single telephone wire that ran above a wooded gullyand was 80 or more feet from the ground. The poles were manyrods off, on ridges at either side of the gully. Dickey and van Rossem(1938) say that, in El Salvador, "the usual sites are the tips of branchesat varying heights from the ground, but sometimes the nests are hungfrom telephone wires, particularly if there happen to be a few tuftsof epiphitic growth to provide a starting point."It appears from the above accounts that the Alta Mira oriole pur-posely selects the most conspicuous nesting site that it can find, onwhich Sutton and Pettingill (1943) comment:Certain it is that a conspicuous nest site is advantageous to the owner insofaras it forces enemy species to use exposed avenues of approach. How easy it is,when we focus attention on any one bird to forget that this bird's enemies all haveenemies themselves! Any predatory creature that makes its way to an AltaMira Oriole's nest, either by day or by night, is certain to expose itself to its ownenemy species whether these happen to be enemy species of the oriole or not.
234 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The oriole's nest must meet certain specifications if it is to be boldly advertised,of course. It must provide proper conditions of temperature and air for the eggsand young birds in spite of hanging, hour after hour, exposed to the sun. Itmust be tough enough, long enough, far enough out on the branch, and far enoughabove the ground to make a coati-mundi (Nasua) "think twice'' before attemptinga raid. It must be too deep for Brown Jays to rob easily, too tough to tear apart,too much like a trap to appeal to the female Red-eyed Cowbird (Tangavius aeneus).The fact that Icterus gvlaris is common proves it to be a successful species. Wemay believe, therefore, that its own peculiar method of nest-advertising is advan-tageous rather than otherwise.Eggs.?Bendire (1895) describes an egg from Guatemala "as a palegray, blotched and streaked with very dark brown; it measures 1 by0.70 inch." Dickey and van Rossem (1938) say: "The eggs aresimilar to those of sclateri and pectoralis, that is, they are elongateovate, with the bluish white ground color lined, scrawled, and irregu-larly spotted with black. A set of three eggs collected at Lake GuijaMay 23, 1927, measure respectively: 29.8 x 19.2; 29.6 x 18.5; and29.1 x 19.3. Three and four eggs are the usual numbers laid."Alexander F. Skutch mentions in his notes an egg of this species,taken in Guatemala, that "was of an extremely elongate form, incolor white irregularly scrawled with lines of black and pale lilac,and measured 27.4 by 17.5 millimeters." It was on the point ofhatching and was probably somewhat faded.Young.?In his notes on another race of this species, Icterus gularisxerophilus, Skutch writes: "On July 19, I watched a nest which con-tained two young about ready to leave it. The repeated passage ofthe adults while feeding then nestlings had torn and enlarged theentrance until the entire side was open to within a few inches of thebottom, a not infrequent occurrence with nests of this type. Whenone of the parents clung to the outside to deliver an insect, two headsstretched forth, open-billed, to receive it. A third nestling hadalready departed, and awaited his share of the good things in thenext tree. The whole time that I was within hearing, both parents,who united in feeding their offspring, uttered a continuous successionof single notes of three different kinds, and each as full of sunshine astheir golden plumage. Whether they searched among the foliage forlarvae and insects, or returned with food in then* bills to the nest, orclung to its side in the interval between feeding their offspring andcarrying away the droppings, then joy in their occupation constantlyexpressed itself in these happy monosyllables. Even when theyinterrupted their parental ministrations to scold at my intrusion,their churring protests were punctuated with these notes of gladness,which they never seemed able, or willing, to suppress. Never haveI heard other birds, save vireos, sing so continuously."He says that orioles of this race in Guatemala raise two broods in a
ALTA MIRA LICHTENSTEENl'S ORIOLE 235
season, and that the young of the first brood are apparently fed bythe male while the female is building the second nest.Plumages.?Ridgway (1902) describes the juvenal, or first, plumageof typical /. gularis as: "Head, neck, and under parts (includingthroat, etc.) yellow, the color duller on pileum and hindneck; back andscapulars olive; rump and upper tail-coverts dull yellow (gallstone ordull saffron), like pileum and hindneck; wings and tail as in theimmature plumage, described above [see below], but greater covertsbroadly tipped (on outer webs) with dull yellowish white, secondaries,broadly edged with white, primaries more broadly edged with palegray (passing into white terminally) and with a white patch at thebase."Apparently, a postjuvenal molt renews all the contour plumage andthe wing coverts, but not the rest of the wings nor the tail. Ridgwaydescribes this first winter plumage as follows: "Head, neck and underparts as in adults, but the latter rather paler, or less orange, yellow;back and scapulars yellowish olive ; lesser wing-coverts dusky, broadlytipped or margined with saffron yellowish; middle coverts dusky atbase, broadly tipped with white or yellow; rest of wings dark grayishbrown with paler edgings, these white, or nearly so, on greater coverts;tail yellowish olive."Dickey and van Rossem (1938) say of this plumage and subsequentchanges
:
At this age the throat patches of the females are very restricted and mixedwith yellow. Those of the males are larger and very much blacker, but otherwisethe sexes are very similar. Some young birds have a first preuuptial molt whichaffects chiefly the foreparts and back, but in four out of six cases the postjuvenalplumage is worn with no discernible change for a full year or until the first post-nuptial (second fall) molt. This first postnuptial has produced in the cases ofthree females a livery like that of the adults except that the back is more or lessmixed with yellowish green. Certainly in these cases, at least, maturity was notreached at that time, and as there is apparently no spring molt (except in a fewfirst-year birds) the fully adult plumage could not have been acquired by theseindividuals until the third fall (second postnuptial) molt.There is a large series of the various races of this species in theMuseum of Comparative Zoology, in Cambridge, showing all theplumages substantially as described above. The postjuvenal moltapparently begins in August and may not always be completed beforethe middle of September or later. I have seen one in full juvenalplumage as late as September 12. The series contains numerousspecimens in first winter plumage from December to May.The first postnuptial molt is shown in specimens taken in Augustand September; in one taken September 24, this molt is nearly com-pleted, with yellowish green edgings on the feathers of the back. The
236 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211postnuptial molt of adults occurs at about the same time, the bodyplumage being molted first and the wings and tail last.Food.?Of the stomachs of this species examined by Dickey andvan Rossem (1938) in El Salvador, one contained small ants, oneinsects, one insects and berry seeds, and one berry seeds and pulp.Referring to one of the birds shot by Mcllhenny in Louisiana,Bendire (1895) says: "On dissecting the specimen he found a numberof small green caterpillars and several spiders, but their principal foodseemed to consist of the small purple figs, which were just ripe. Whilein search of food they move about exactly as the Baltimore Orioledoes, swinging from slender twigs head downward, looking underlimbs for insects."Voice.?Wetmore (1943) says that the "song is a quick repetitionof two or three notes without the clear tone of that of the Baltimoreoriole or the troupial, though the alarm calls are like those of thenorthern orioles." Mcllhenny (Bendire, 1895) called it "a soft,flute-like note."Alexander F. Skutch says in his notes on the Guatemala race:"The song of this oriole consists of round, mellow whistles, uttereddeliberately in a clear, far-carrying voice. In the evening, especially,it delivers single tinkling whistles spaced at rather wide intervals
?
crystal beads of melody strung along a thread of silence. It has achurring call, somewhat like that of its neighbor, the hooded cactuswren (Heleodytes capistratus) , and a rather nasal note which mayserve either as a call or a signal of alarm."Field marks.?The Alta Mira oriole is a brilliantly colored andconspicuously marked bird. The sexes are almost indistinguishablein the field. The throat, interscapular region, and tail are clear black
;
the lesser and median wing coverts are yellow; the greater covertsare tipped with white, forming a wing bar; and the rest of the wingsare black with varying amounts of white edgings. The head, neck,rump, and entire under parts (except the black throat) are rich yellowor orange-yellow. In the female, the black of the throat is somewhatmore restricted and the blacks and yellows are duller than in themale. For other details, see the description of the plumages above.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Alta Mira Lichtenstein's oriole is resident from cen-tral Tamaulipas (Victoria) south through eastern Mexico to Veracruz,Tabasco, Mexico, and Campeche.Casual records.?Casual in southern Texas (Brownsville) ; nestednear Santa Maria, Tex., 1951,
WESTERN SCARLET-HEADED ORIOLE 237ICTERUS PUSTULATUS MICROSTICTUS GriscomWestern Scarlet-Headed OrioleHABITSThe scarlet-headed oriole is the most brilliantly colored of anyNorth American oriole that the writer has seen; except for the blackthroat, the head and neck of the adult male glow with intense orange,sometimes even "flame scarlet," the back is yellow streaked withblack, the rump and under parts are rich orange, the tail is black,and the black wings are marked with a broad white bar and edgings;altogether it is a gorgeous bird. The species ranges widely in westernand southern Mexico. The subspecies under discussion ranges fromJalisco to Chihuahua and Sonora, in Mexico, and has been taken asa straggler in San Diego County, Calif. Ludlow Griscom (1934)describes this race as "differing from typical pustulatus (Wagler) inhaving the spotting on the back greatly decreased in adult malessmall narrow lance-ovate ones instead of large round spots; thisdecrease in spotting equally evident in females, which are so smallas to be very obscure."Laurence M. Huey (1931) describes the capture of the record speci-men as follows: "On May 1, 1931, a male Scarlet-headed Oriole(Icterus pustulatus), in first year plumage, was collected at MurrayDam, near La Mesa, San Diego County, California, by FrankF. Gander, a member of the staff of the San Diego Natural HistoryMuseum. * * *
"Questioning the collector regarding the capture of this unusualmigrant, the writer was informed that the bird was uttering notesnot unlike those of Icterus bullocki [i] bullocki [i], which it was believed tobe, and that its position in the sycamore tree and manner of perchingwere typical of that Oriole."George N. Lawrence (1874) quotes Col. A. J. Grayson on thehabits of the scarlet-headed oriole as follows:Of the numerous species of orioles inhabiting the Tropics, this one is the mostfamiliar about the locality of Mazatlan, and indeed all of Western Mexico. Ifound it as far south as Tehuantepec, Guadalajara, Tepic, and other places,where I always met with it as a well-known and common species. Its longpensile nest, its sprighly little song, and more especially the gay plumage of afully adult male, renders it a conspicuous bird among the feathered songstersof its native woods.The nests are generally suspended from a tough, slender branch or recumbenttwig of the acacia tree, protected from the intense rays of the sun by the beautifulcanopy of its fringed foliaged branches. Such a tree as the tamarind acacia isoften selected, and one or two nests are sometimes seen swaying in the breeze,beneath the generous shade of this perennial beauty of the forest. The nest iscomposed of the thread-like or elastic fibres of the maguey plant. I have seen
238 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211some in which cotton thread and twine were component parts of its elastic andfirm structure. The nests are of various lengths, conformable to the materialat hand for the intricate formation of the warp necessary for the weaving ofthis unique and airy abode, in which to rear their little family. The inside bot-tom is lined with the downy substance of the tree cotton, intermixed with a fewfeathers. In one nest I found an entire skein of yellow silk, which it had doubtlesspicked up where some village brunette had dropped it.The eggs are generally five in number, rather long, of a pale blue ground, withnumerous hieroglyphic scratches confluent around the larger end.Plumages.?I have seen no small young of the scarlet-headedoriole, but Ridgway (1902) describes the young as "similar to thewinter female, but without any black on throat, etc.; streaks on backobsolete, and colors duller. * * * Immature males resemble adultfemales in coloration." I have seen first winter birds, with the graybacks, taken in October, January, and March, and one as late asJune 2.He describes the adult male in winter plumage as "similar to thesummer plumage, but white edgings to wing feathers much broader,often strongly tinged with gray; orange or yellow of back, rump,etc., more or less tinged with olive, the back often tinged or suffusedwith gray."He says of the winter plumage of the adult female: "Similar to thesummer plumage, but upper parts much tinged with gray, especiallyon back, and grayish white or light gray wing-edgings broader."Enemies.?Friedmaim (1933) mentions several instances of thebronzed cowbird (T. a. aeneus) laying its eggs in nests of this oriole.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The western scarlet-headed oriole is resident from centralSonora (Hermosillo, Ures), southwestern Chihuahua, western Du-rango, and Jalisco (Bolanos, Guadalajara) ; south to Sinaloa (Mazatlan,Escuinapa), Nayarit (San Bias, Topic), and Jalisco (Barranca Ibarra,Zacoalco).Casual records.?Accidental in California (La Mesa) and Arizona(Tucson).
SCOTT'S ORIOLE 239ICTERUS PARISORUM BonaparteScott's OriolePlates 16 and 17HABITSThe adult male Scott's oriole is a handsome bird in its striking colorpattern of clear black and deep lemon yellow, but we miss the richorange colors of some of the other beautiful orioles. In the dull-colored semidesert areas in which it largely spends the summer, how-ever, it is one of the most attractive birds that we meet on the dryyucca plains; and not the least of its attractions is its rich melodiussong, which greets us almost constantly during the nesting season.It breeds over a wide range, from the interior of southern California,central-western Nevada, southwestern Utah, central-eastern NewMexico, and central-western Texas southward to the tip of BajaCalifornia and to Michoacan, Hidalgo, and Veracruz, in Mexico.Scott's oriole has been called the mountain oriole, and again it hasbeen referred to as a desert bird; as a matter of fact it is not strictlyeither, for it occupies a more or less intermediate zone, or zones, suchas the pinyon-juniper belt in the foothills, the desert slopes of themountains, or the more elevated, semiarid plains between the mountainranges, where the yuccas are widely scattered; but it seems to avoidthe real desert, where the chollas and other cacti grow profusely.Ralph Hoffman (1927) says: "The bird often ranges among the juni-pers and pinyon pines that mingle with the tree yucca in the stonycanyons along the edge of the desert, and in the Washington palmsalong the western edge of the Colorado Desert."W. E. D. Scott (1885) describes an interesting canyon resort ofScott's oriole as follows:There is a canon that begins high up in the Santa Catalinas, and, dividing thehills and table lands on either side of it by its deep furrow, it extends for two milesor more, where it joins the valley of the San Pedro River. It is the upper andmore elevated part of this cation with which we have to do, at an altitude varyingfrom four thousand to five thousand feet. The hills on either side are high, thecanon generally quite narrow. Live oaks are the trees of the hills and hillsides,and reach in places to the bed of the canon. Here in parts are groves of cotton-woods and sycamores, and some cedars, and, with the exception of the very bedof the cafion, where for a part of the year is a brook, the grass covers the surfaceof the ground. The brook begins to dry up in its exposed parts early in May,but all summer long there is running water for at least a mile in the Cottonwoodgrove, and in a number of places, even during the driest part of the year, the waterrises to the surface, making "tanks," as they are called. Along this running waterand about the "tanks," bird life is very abundant, and here, surely no desert, is thesummer home of many Scott's Orioles. There is very little cactus, and none of
240 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the "chollas" that are so very characteristic of the deserts of the neighboringregion.We found Scott's orioles breeding most commonly on the semiaridvalley plains between Bisbee and Tombstone, Cochise County, Ariz.These flat or rolling plains of hard, gravelly soil were bare of vegeta-tion except for the low, scraggly, omnipresent creosote bushes so char-acteristic of much of the region between the mountains and the deserts.The chief attractions in this desolate region for the orioles were thewidely scattered specimens of what we called the soapweed yuccas,the picturesque plants in which they were nesting.Spring.?Scott's oriole is only a summer resident north of theMexican border, where it arrives during the first half of April andsometimes before the end of March; the brilliant plumage of the malesand their rich song make its arrival most conspicuous.Laurence M. Huey (1926) makes the following observation on themigration in northwestern Baja California:Many were observed on migration five miles northeast of San Quintin, February25, 1925, although the birds were extremely shy as usual. The presence of thisOriole in numbers so near the Pacific coast offers a problem in migration routing;for the species is of extremely accidental occurrence along the coast further north,in the vicinity of San Diego, whereas inland, on the desert slope of the mountainseast of San Diego, it passes regularly. Further observation of these birds willprobably determine that they range up the peninsula, equally distributed fromcoast to coast, as far as the southern extremity of the Sierra San Pedro Martir, andthat here they swing toward the Pacific, then northeastward again to the easternslope of the mountains in southern California. A semi-arid highway, such as theScott's Orioles prefers, is thus provided.Harry S. Swarth (1904) says of its arrival in the Huachuca Moun-tains :The earliest date at which I have seen any was March 31, 1903, when a male wassecured; no more were seen until April 5, after which date they were abundant.Until nearly the end of April small flocks of from six to a dozen birds could befound along the canyons, usually below 5,000 feet, feeding in the tops of the trees,where, in spite of the brilliant plumage and loud, ringing whistle of the male birds,they were anything but conspicuous." * * * The first to arrive were the old,bright plumaged males, then a week or so later some females began to come in,and finally toward the end of April, what few flocks were seen were composed offemales, and males presumably of the previous year, in every stage of plumage,most of them indistinguishable from the more highly colored females.Nesting.?Throughout its wide breeding range Scott's oriole buildsits nest in a variety of situations, depending on the environment.William Brewster (1902) records a nest, found by Frazar in the Caperegion of Baja California, that was placed "among the densest foliageof a fig-tree at a height of about 8 feet, and rested on a few smalltwigs, but seemed to be fastened only to some twigs above, fromwhich it was suspended." Farther north, it is said by Walter E.
SCOTT'S ORIOLE 241Bryant (1890), on the authority of A. W. Anthony, "to prefer the low-hills near the coast south of San Quintin, where it nests in the thornybranches of the candlewood (Fouquiera columnaris) ."Scott (1885) found five nests of this oriole in the locality describedabove, in Pinal County, Ariz. All the nests were within 10 4 minutes'walk of the house in which he lived, and all but one of them were inyuccas (Yucca baccata), within 10 feet of a road and^about 4 feet fromthe ground. He gives detailed descriptions of each of (them, but, asthey were all much alike, the following description will suffice:Nest of May 24. Built in a yucca, 4 feet from the ground. Sewed to the edgesof five dead leaves which, hanging down parallel to trunk of the plant, entirelyconcealed the nest. Semi-pensile. Composed externally of fibers of the yuccaand fine grasses. Lined with soft grasses and threads of cotton-waste throughout.The walls are very thin, at bottom not more than half an inch, and on the sidesfrom one-eighth to a quarter of an inch thick. The whole nest was rather closelywoven and very strong. Inside depth, ZYi inches. Inside diameter 4 inches.The whole cup-shaped. * * * I have called this nest semi-pensile, as the edgesof the yucca leaves are not simply attached to the rim or top edge of the nest,but are "sewed" to the sides of the structure?one blade for 3 inches, three for 4inches, and the other two for more than 2% The nest is sewed to the blades orleaves about 7 inches from where they join the trunk of the plant, and the bladesare about 22 inches long.He describes another nest that was not so pensile, as it rested onsome slanting leaves. "Inside it is lined to within half an inch of therim with small pieces of cotton batting, some cotton twine, and a littlevery soft grass. * * * The walls on the sides are an inch, and at thebottom an inch and a half thick."His fifth nest was built "in a sycamore tree, about 18 feet from theground. Pensile, being attached to the ends of the twigs. It is com-posed externally entirely of the fibers of the dead yucca leaves, andthere are hanging to and built into the walls four rather small deadleaves of this plant, that are partly frayed, so that the fiber is used inweaving them into the structure. The interior is lined with soft finegrasses, and only two or three shreds of cotton-waste appear here andthere in the lining."Frank Stephens wrote to Bendire (1895) : "In Arizona I have seenits nest in the yucca, sycamore, oak, and pine trees ; one nest found in anoak was not even semipensile, being supported at the sides and belowby the upright branches between which it was placed."Bendire saw some nests in the tall tree yuccas, or Joshua trees.One "was placed fully 10 feet from the ground, and the only way Icould reach it was to stand on my horse, which I did, and secured theeggs, three in number, in which incubation had commenced. Thenest was so securely fastened to the surrounding bayonet-shapedleaves that I could not pull it away, and only succeeded in cutting myhand severely in trying to do so. The nest was composed of yucca
242 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211fibers, sacaton, and gramma grass, and lined with a little horsehair."Another nest, taken by A. K. Fisher, in "Coso Valley, California,on May 11, 1891, was situated on the under side of a horizontal limbof a giant yucca (Yucca arborescens) , about 6 feet from theground. * * * Externally the nest measures 3% inches in depth by5 inches in its longest diameter and 4 inches at the narrowest point.The inner cup is oval in shape, 2% inches deep and 3% by 3 incheswide." He mentions junipers as being used to a considerable extent,and says that, in Baja California, Xantus reports it breeding "inbunches of moss and in hop and other vines suspended from cacti.He mentions finding one nest in a bunch of weeds growing out of acrevice in a perpendicular rock."On June 1, 1922, we found four nests of Scott's oriole in the Valleybetween Bisbee and Tombstone, as described above, each nest con-taining four fresh eggs. The nests were all in soapweed yuccas (Yuccabaccata?) at heights ranging from 5 to 7 feet above ground. The yuccaswere widely scattered over the open plain, which was sparsely coveredwith small creosote bushes. These picturesque plants (plate 16)support a dense growth of long, stiff, sharp-pointed leaves at the topof the sturdy trunk, but little higher than a man's head, and a tallflowering stalk that rises to a height of 12 or 15 feet, above the trunk.The dead, and some of the green, leaves hang down below the maincluster of living daggers, close to and parallel with the trunk or at anangle of about 45?. It is in these pendent leaves that the orioles con-ceal their nests, where they are protected against predators andshielded from sun or rain. The locations and the compositions of thenests were so much like those described above by Mr. Scott that itdoes not seem necessary to describe them further here, except thatour nests were lined with fine grasses and plant down, with no cottonnor cotton-waste.In one nest we found an egg of the bronzed cowbird.Eggs.?Bendire (1895) describes the eggs as follows:From two to four eggs are laid (usually three), and probably two broods areraised in the more southern parts of their range in a season. They are ovate andelongate ovate in shape. The shell is thin, rather close grained and without luster.The ground color is pale blue, which fades considerably in the course of time,and this is blotched, streaked, and spotted, principally about the larger end of theegg, with different shades of black, mouse, and pearl gray in some specimens, andand with fine claret brown, russet, ferruginous, and lavender dots and specks inothers.The average measurement of 25 specimens in the United States National Museumcollection is 23.86 by 16.98 millimetres, or about 0.94 by 0.67 inch. The largestegg in this series measures 26.67 by 17.27 millimetres, or 1.05 by 0.68 inches;the smallest, 23.11 by 15.49 millimetres, or 0.91 by 0.61 inch.Young.?Incubation is performed by the female alone, and issaid to last about 14 days. Probably the young remain in the nest for
SCOTT'S ORIOLE 243
about 2 weeks, where they are fed by both parents. Mrs. Wheelock(1904) writes: "Oriole nestlings in general are proverbial cry-babies,and Scott Orioles are no exception. Insects of all sorts in all stages ofdevelopment, fruit, and berries are served to them in such quick succes-sion as to leave small time for the parent to hunt any for himself. At firstthe feeding is by regurgitation, but on the fourth or fifth day thismethod gives place to the more commonly observed one." She saysthat a second brood is reared in a new nest in another tree.Plumages.?In juvenal plumage, according to Brewster (1902),
"both sexes resemble the plain olive phase of the adult female, fromwhich they differ only in having the upper parts browner, the lightedging on the wing coverts and secondaries much broader and moreor less tinged with yellowish." Chapman (1923b) says: "Nestlingbirds of both sexes are olive-green above, yellower below, with notrace of black. At the postjuvenal (first fall molt) the male usuallyacquires a black throat and the back is more or less streaked. Thesemarkings, particularly above, are more or less fringed with grayishand olive, and are not fully revealed until, with the advancing newyear, the feathers become worn and we have the first breeding plum-age." In his plate illustrating this plumage, the wide black throatpatch extends upward to include the sides of the head and the fore-head; the crown, hindneck, back, and lesser wing coverts are olive,spotted or streaked (on the back) with black. This plumage wasevidently acquired by a partial postjuvenal molt involving all thecontour plumage and the wing coverts, but not the rest of the wingsnor the tail. The molt occurs in late July and August. There isapparently no prenuptial molt of consequence.At the first postnuptial molt, the next summer, which is completethere is a decided advance toward maturity, but at least another yearis required to assume the fully adult livery. During the spring migra-tion in Arizona, Swarth (1904) secured a number of specimens of malesin every stage of plumage, from those indistinguishable from the morehighly colored females to those in fully adult plumage, all of whichhe describes in more or less detail.The molts and plumages in the female are similar in sequence tothose of the male, usually without much visible change, but someyoung birds acquire a little black on the throat at the postjuvenalmolt, and some adult females have as much black on the throat asyoung males.Food.?Like other orioles, Scott's must feed largely on insects andtheir larvae, but there is considerable evidence that it eats some fruitand consumes the nectar from flowers, as some other orioles are knownto do. Mrs. Kate Stephens (1906) says: "In front of our sitting-room window and six feet distant are several aloes of a small species,
244 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211bearing panicles of tubular orange flowers on stems about three feethigh. In the latter part of April a male Scott oriole (Icterus pari-sorum) alighted many times on these stems, most frequently morn-ings. He would thrust his bill deeply into the blossoms and appearedto suck the nectar. * * * I got the impression that he did not gatherany insects."Bendire (1895) writes: "Their food consists mainly of grasshoppers,small beetles, caterpillars, butterflies, larvae, etc., as well as of berriesand fruits. * * * I have seen them eating the ripe fig-like fruit ofthe giant cactus."Grinnell (1910) says that an "apricot orchard near Fairmont wasfreely patronized by the Scott Orioles from the neighboring yuccas.Two shot there had their gullets distended and faces smeared withapricot pulp." And Frank Stephens (1903) found them "feeding onfigs and peaches in the orchard" at Beale Spring.A. W. Anthony (1894) writes: "In January, 1894, I found thisOriole wintering in the foothills just east of San Quintin, Lower Cali-fornia, and feeding extensively, if not altogether on the ripe fruit ofthe 'pitahaya' cactus (Cereus gunnosus). This fruit is about the sizeand shape of a small orange, bright scarlet when ripe. The flesh issimilar to that of a ripe watermelon but much darker with an abund-ance of very small dark seeds. In flavor it is not unlike raspberries,but rather acid. Unless the fruit is abundant it is almost impossibleto find any that has not been torn open and the inside eaten by thebirds."Swarth (1904) says that "in feeding they sit quietly on the limbsprying and peering into such buds as are within reach, any necessarychange of position being accomplished by clamboring along thebranches with hardly any fluttering of the wings; and as their plu-mage, though bright, harmonizes exceedingly well with the surround-ing foliage, they could be easily overlooked were it not for the loudnotes to which the males give utterance at frequent interval."Song.?When writing his account of this oriole Scott (1885) wasimpressed with the persistence of its vocal efforts. "Few birds singmore incessantly, and in fact I do not recall a species in the Easternor Middle States that is to be heard as frequently. The males are,of course, the chief performers, but now and again, near a nest, * * *I would detect a female singing the same glad song, only more softly.At the earliest daybreak and all day long, even when the sun is at itshighest, and during the great heat of the afternoon, its very musicalwhistle is one of the few bird songs that are ever present." In PinalCounty, Ariz., he observed that this bird arrived about the middle ofApril, and from then until July 29 he heard the song daily, even hourly,
SCOTT'S ORIOLE 245and during the height of the breeding season often many were singingwithin hearing at the same time."Dawson (1923) refers to it as "a golden song which poured downfrom a sycamore tree hard by. Ly ti ti tee to, ti ly ti ti te to, came thecompelling outburst. I took it for a freak Meadowlark song at first,but once thoroughly aroused, knew it for an Icterine carol
?
ly ti titee to, ti ly ti ti tee to?molten notes with a fond thrill to them, morerestrained than the clarion of the Meadowlark, smoother and sweeterthan the tumult of a Bullock Oriole, and, of course, with the doublerepetition, a much longer song than either."Grinnell (1910) says of it: "The song was loud and full, betterthan that of the Bullock Oriole. It reminded me of the best effortsof the latter bird, and yet bore a strong resemblance in its qualityto the song of the Western Meadowlark." Others hcve noted thisresemblance, which is a high compliment.Field Marks.?The brilliant male in full plumage is stronglymarked; the entire head, throat, neck, back, and the terminal part ofthe tail are black; the wings are mainly black, with yellow lessercoverts and broad white bands on the median and greater coverts;the breast, rump and much of the lateral tail feathers are bright lemonyellow, not orange as in most other orioles.The female is yellowish olive above, mottled with dusky, and paleryellow below, but she has a black throat and two white wing bars.Other details are mentioned under plumages.Fall.?As is the case with most other orioles, Scott's oriole is notmuch in evidence after the young are on the wing, and with the waningof the summer it seems to disappear from its breeding haunts. Mr.Scott (1885) writes: "After August 7 I missed the song, although thebirds were abundant until the 10th of that month, and I saw a singlebird or so for the following three days. Then I supposed they wereall gone, but on the 14th of September, about dusk, I started one, anadult male, from a yucca where he had evidently gone to roost. Hescolded angrily at me from the dead limb of a cedar near by for a fewmoments, when I left him to go to bed. Again, on the 18th of Sep-tember, I heard a male in full song, and going closer found a partyof four together, three old males and a young one of the year. Thisis my last note of their occurrence at this point."Winter.?Scott's oriole spends the winter south of our border, incentral and southern Mexico, as far south as Veracruz, Guerrero,Puebla, and the Cape region of Baja California.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Nevada, Arizona, and western Texas to central Mexico.Breeding range.?Scott's oriole breeds from southern Nevada
246 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211(White Mountains, Charleston Mountains), southwestern Utah(Beaverdam Mountains), north-central Arizona (Wupatki NationalMonument), north-central New Mexico (San Miguel County,Montoya), and western Texas (Guadalupe Mountains, ChisosMountains) ; south through southeastern California (Inyo Mountains,Campo) to southern Baja California (Cape San Lucas, VictoriaMountains), central-northern and southeastern Sonora (Nogales,Rancho Santa Barbara), and southeastern Coahuila (Las Delicias).Has nested recently in central-western Nevada (Stillwater) andnortheastern Utah (Powder Springs).Winter range.?Winters regularly north to northern Baja Cali-fornia (San Quintin, San Fernando) and southern Sonora (San Josede Guaymas, Camoa) ; casually to southwestern California (Garnsey,San Diego); south to southern Baja California (Miraflores), centralMichoac&n (Patzcuaro), Guerrero (Chilpancingo) and Puebla (SanBartolo) ; east to western Nuevo Leon (Santa Catarina) and Hidalgo(Cuesta Texcueda, Pachuca).Casual records.?Casual in coastal California (Santa Barbara,San Diego), and in east-central Utah (25 miles east of Hanksville).Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Chihuahua?Car-rizalillo Mountains, April 18. Texas?El Paso, April 10; GlassMountains, Brewster County, April 13. New Mexico?CarlsbadCave, April 6; Silver City, April 19. Arizona?Patagonia, March9; Tucson area, March 15 (median of 11 years, March 25). Utah
?
Washington County, May 6; Powder Springs, May 8. CaliforniaSan Felipe Canyon, March 22; Reche Canyon near San Bernardino,April 1. Nevada?Searchlight, May 5; 10 miles east of Stillwater,May 11.Late dates of spring departure are: Michoac&n?Chupicauro,April 29. Hidalgo?Cuesta Texquedo, April 7. Sonora?TiburonIsland, April 11.Early date of fall arrival: Baja California?San Andres, September21.Late dates of fall departure are: California?San Diego, September2. Arizona?Huachuca Mountains, October 9 (median of 4 years,Cochise County, October 5). 1 Texas?Hueco Mountains, El PasoCounty, October 17; Guadalupe Mountains, October 11.Egg dates.?Arizona: 11 records, May 15 to June 28; 6 records,May 22 to June 4.California: 75 records, April 24 to June 25; 40 records, May 9 toMay 22.
1 October 26, 1909 (Bird-Lore, vol. 25, p. 389), is a typographical error.
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 247ICTERUS GALBULA (Linnaeus)Baltimore OriolePlates 18 and 19Contributed by Winsor Marrett Tyler 'HABITSHere in New England, during the long-drawn-out spring migration,there are several red-letter days. The first of these is the day,sometimes late in February, when the wintering song sparrows, whichhave been long silent in the shrubbery, begin to sing their springsong, a tinkling melody which foretells the ending of winter. As theyear advances, there is another welcome day, the real beginning ofthe migration, when the bluebird, flying over the brown fields ofMarch, comes back to his summer home, and we hear the softest,sweetest voice of all our birds?"the herald offspring," AlexanderWilson calls him. But the greatest day of the whole year is in earlyMay when the season is well established, when the apple blossomsare opening. Many of the birds are already here and have beensinging for days. On this day, not far from the 8th of the month,the Baltimore oriole makes his dramatic entrance into New England.On every hand, in our orchards, among the high branches of ourroadside elms, the little trumpeter is heard blowing his tiny bugle;all out-of-doors is animated by his buoyant personality.Spring.?Bendire (1895), speaking of the return of the bird to itsbreeding ground, says: "The Baltimore Oriole usually arrives in thesouthern New England States, in central New York, and Minnesota,with almost invariable regularity, about May 10, rarely varying aweek from this date; it arrives correspondingly earlier or later farthersouth or north. About this time the trees have commenced to leaf,and many of the orchards are in bloom, so that their arrival coincideswith the loveliest time of the year. The males usually precede thefemales by two or three days to their breeding grounds, and the samesite is frequently occupied for several seasons. * * * It is very muchattached to a locality when once chosen for a home, and is loath toleave it."The orioles come home with a stirring fanfare, but as each bugleis playing a different tune and the tunes are so distinctive, so charac-teristic of the individual bird, we can almost verify Major Bendire'sstatement that the birds come back to their old homes. If we takenote of the peculiarities in the song of the oriole which we hear from
1 Dr. Tyler died Jan. 9, 1954, at the age of 77. He assisted Mr. Bent with these life histories in variousways beyond the contribution of 37 complete histories.380928?57 17
248 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
our windows, we can recognize him, provisionally at least, as thesame bird year after year until, after a time, he is replaced by anotherbugle, playing a different tune.There is a banding record, however, which proves absolutely thatan oriole returned three times to its breeding ground. A. Milliken(1932) banded in 1929 a female Baltimore oriole captured in an open-top Chardonneret trap baited with string and yarn. She returned in1930 and 1931. "The bird nested very near the same place for threesuccessive years, though the exact spot is not known."There is a businesslike air in the returning orioles. The malesgo directly to our orchards, visiting the open apple and cherry blos-soms, where they find food, and to the elm trees, where their nestswill soon hang. The females, too, when they arrive a few days aftertheir mates, seem eager to undertake at once the duties of the newseason and begin to build so promptly that the breeding cycle is wellunderway, here in New England, by the end of May.Very seldom, in a long series of years, have the orioles arrivedbefore the Massachusetts apple trees blossom. The birds then seektheir food nearer the ground, among sweet fern or other small plants.Courtship.?We note the courtship of the Baltimore oriole chieflyin the brief period between its arrival and the laying of the eggsin early June. Forbush (1927) speaks of its behavior thus: "Whentheir modest consorts arrive, the ardent birds soon begin their wooing.In displaying his charms before the object of his affections the malesits upon a limb near her, and raising to full height bows low withspread tail and partly-raised wings, thus displaying to her admiringeyes first his orange breast, then his black front and finally in brightsunlight the full glory of his black, white and orange upper plumage,uttering, the while, his most supplicating and seductive notes."Francis H. Allen (MS.) says: "A male courting a female uttered asuccession of low sweet whistling notes, rather monotonous and inanything but the typical oriole tone," and of another bird he says:"A male courting a female flitted about in an affected manner andsang on the wing in a longer flight."Some years ago, after watching the courting action of a maleoriole, I (Tyler, 1923) made an attempt to construct in my mind'seye how his display would appear to the eye of the female from hervantage-ground on the perch in front of him:A male Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) of strikingly brilliant plumage wassinging loudly in a maple tree when a female Oriole took a long flight and alightedin the same tree. The male flew to her, placed himself directly before her, facingher at a distance of a few inches and here struck successively two attitudes; inone his body was nearly upright, straight and tall, in the other it was bowed down-ward and forward with the head at the level of the feet. The wings were heldclosely at the sides. In passing quickly from one attitude to the other, over and
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 249
over again, he moved up and down with a sharp jerk, rather than in an easysweeping motion, and he made a very short pause each time before changingdirection.This is a very simple motion, one may say?just an exaggerated bowing
?
not very different from the bowing, nodding, or swaying of many birds in theexcitement of their courting displays. True enough, and it is not until we look atthe action from the point of vantage of the female bird and see in our mind'seye, as nearly as we can, just what she sees, that we understand its significance.In the first position noted above, the orange of the breast glows before her, andso near her that it fills a wide arc with blazing color. Then, as the male birdbends swiftly forward, and the head comes down, the orange is blotted out byblack, as by a camera shutter, and immediately, as the bird continues to bendforward, out flashes the orange color again, now on the rump. Witnessed atclose quarters, the appearance of this maneuver must be as the bursting out ofa great sheet of flame, its instantaneous extinction into darkness, a flaring upagain?then darkness once more.Nesting.?In constructing its nest, a woven, hanging pouch, theoriole is perhaps the most skilful artisan of any North American bird.In southern New England we think of the little cradle as hanging mostoften high in the air near the end of a long drooping branch of anelm tree, where it swings and tosses in the wind, but the bird oftenbuilds here in poplars, maples, and even in the apple and pear trees ofour orchards, where it is anchored to a more stable branch.Speaking of nests in Hatley, Quebec, Henry Mousley (1916) states:"The usual nesting site selected here is near the top of some fairsized tree, generally a maple." Knight (1908) reports that in Maine,although the elm is the oriole's favorite tree, "occasionally nests areplaced in maples, locust, cottonwood, poplar or other hard woodtrees." Eaton (1914) writing of New York State, says: "I havefound this oriole's nest hanging from Norway spruce, hemlock, andhorsechestnut which one would naturally expect he never wouldselect. In different villages of western New York the preference seemsto be in this order: white elm, silver maple, sugar maple, and apple."Farther west, in Minnesota, Edmonde S. Currier (1904) remarks:"Common about the lake [Leech Lake]. * * * All the nests seenwere in birch trees." A. D. DuBois (MS.) speaks of a nest in Illinois
"in an oak tree, hung in a cluster of leaves at the topmost end of abranch, hidden so effectively that I should not have discovered it ifI had not seen the male fly to it and chase away sparrows and otherbirds." M. G. Vaiden (MS.), in a letter from Mississippi, mentionspecans, sycamores, and elms as nesting sites, and includes this interest-ing record: "In my yard the pecan trees grow to a height of 50 to 75feet, some of them even higher. Virginia creeper vines run up thetrunk and out on most of the limbs. On May 22, a Baltimore orioleselected as a nesting site a limb of a tree which had fallen off, pullingthe creeper with it and was hanging suspended in the air, the nest
250 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211being attached to the creeper as well. After three eggs were laid thelimb fell to the ground, but the bird, not to be outdone, built anothernest in the dangling remains of the creeper, from which she fledgedher young."Usually the Baltimore oriole hangs its nest high over our heads;Eaton (1914) estimates the average height as 25 to 30 feet and he hasseen a nest 60 feet above the ground. On the other hand, A. D. Du-Bois (MS.) reports "the lowest nest that has ever come to my atten-tion was in a burr oak 7 feet 8 inches from the gound." Thomas D.Burleigh (1931) cites a still lower nest in Pennsylvania, "but six feetfrom the ground at the extreme end of a limb of an apple tree in anorchard."The nest is a deep pocket hanging generally from the rim ; the open-is usually at the top, rarely at the side. Bendire (1895) gives thedimensions of a nest from Ontario as follows: "It is externally 5 inchesdeep, and the entrance, which is oval in shape, measures 3% by 2inches in diameter. The cup is 4% inches deep by 2}{ inches wide."Henry Mousley (1916) says of nests in Quebec: "The nests varysomewhat in depth, which in some cases may be as much as six inches,whilst one built in a maple opposite my house only measures three andone-half inches." M. G. Vaiden (MS.) records a nest over 8 inchesdeep.The framework of the nest is made of long, pliable strips of dryplant fibers, grapevine bark, Indian hemp, silk of milkweed, and suchmaterials as are capable of being closely woven into a fabric. Neardwellings and on farms where string, horsehair, and bits of cloth areavailable, these are used commonly. The nests over the streets ofour country towns contain many white strings, which soon bleachto a soft gray color when exposed to the weather. At the bottom,the nest may have a lining of hair, wool, or fine grasses. Forbush(1927) speaks of an aberrant nest "chiefly composed outwardly ofjet black hair from the manes and tails of horses. This nest, placedlow down in a pear tree, was very conspicuous among the green leaves."John B. Semple (1932) explains that the oriole has adapted itselfto the scarcity, almost the complete absence in recent years, of horse-hair. He says:Thirty years ago the nests of the Baltimore Oriole, and those of the ChippingSparrow as well, contained in their makeup a large percentage of long hairs fromthe manes and tails of horses. This material was then easily obtained along theroads and in the pastures. Even ten years ago an oriole's nest found on a farm inMonroe County, Pennsylvania, where horses were used, contained a good pro-portion of horsehair. But now, since automobiles and tractors have broughtabout a disappearance of horses which is almost complete, it has become a matterof curiosity to find out what the orioles would do. A nest taken this autumn fromthe same tree on a farm in Monroe County, in which the nest of 10 years ago had
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 251been built, was found still to contain a few horsehairs. These must have beenquite difficult for the bird to find, for the farm is now worked only by tractors.And in a nest taken this autumn in Sewickley no horsehairs whatever were to befound. The nest was composed chiefly of fibres of the bark of Indian hemp(Apocynum). Felted in toward the bottom of the nest were the hair-like pappiof dandelion seed; over this was laid the fluffy, cottony covering of willow seeds(the nest was in a weeping willow tree) ; and the lining of the bottom of the nestwas of rather stiff fibres of grape-vine bark.Audubon (1842) says that in Louisiana the bird uses Spanish mosschiefly as a building material. In this warm climate, it weaves thewalls so loosely that they permit the passage of air, and little lining isadded.It has long been a matter for wonder among naturalists how theoriole can accomplish such a finished piece of workmanship in con-structing its nest, work which seems to demand a conscious planningfar beyond the resources of a bird's mind. The older writers speakrather vaguely of the weaving process and have little to say about howthe bird employs what Audubon calls his "astonishing sagacity."Francis Hobart Herrick (1935) has recently made a careful, in-tensive study of nests of the Baltimore oriole, watching their construc-tion from the tying of the first string to a branch until the nests werecompleted. The following summary embodies the main steps in theworkmanship of the bird as described in Dr. Herrick's account, acomprehensive paper of absorbing interest. He says:The first strands of bast, which are apt to be long, are wound about the chosentwig rather loosely with one or more turns, or perhaps they are passed only onceacross or around the branch; but subsequent modes of treatment tend to drawthese threads tighter, and as their free ends are brought together, other fibers areadded. From such simple beginnings a loose pendant mass or snarl of fibrousmaterial, which I have called the primary nest mass, is slowly formed, but it is along time before it takes on the semblance of a nest or nest-frame. * * *Behavior at each visit, after a certain number of strands had been laid and joined,was essentially the same, the oriole usually bringing in but a single fiber and carry-ing it around the support and working it into the nest mass by what I have calledshuttle movements of the bill. Clinging to the principal twig, hanging often withhead down, and holding the thread, the bird makes a number of rapid thrust-and-draw movements with her mandibles. With the first thrust a fiber is pushedthrough the tangle which soon arises and forms the growing mass, and with thenext either that or some other fiber is drawn loosely back. * * *While these shuttle movements are, first and last, very similar, and almostequally rapid at all times, the number made at each visit tends to increase withthe growing complexity of the product. At least one hundred shuttlemovements were sometimes made at a single visit, but these were often so rapidthat it was impossible to count them, and many of them must have been abortive.In all this admirable work there was certainly no deliberate tying of knots,yet, as the sequel will show, knots were in reality being made in plenty at everyvisit. There certainly was no deliberate directing of the thread, as when a coatis mended or a hammock is woven in a certain way by human hands. The workwas all fairly loose at first, yet naturally some of the threads became drawn more
252 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
tightly than others. I do not wish to imply that the same thread that is firstthrust through the nest mass or the nest wall is immediately drawn back, butonly that some thread or other is blindly seized by the bill and withdrawn. * * *The irregularity of the weave of the finished work shows conclusively that thestitching is a purely random affair, though, for all that, none the less effective.Thus in the course of 2 or 3 days' work, a loose, tangled mass offibers, which will ultimately become one side of the nest, hangs fromthe supporting twigs. Many long strands dangle from this mass,their ends hanging free. When this stage of the construction isreached, the bird, working from what is to become the inside of thenest, and as Herrick describes her actions, working with "decisionand feverish rapidity, with strokes of her bill pushing the threadsthrough the nest body and then catching up the free ends of otherstrands and drawing them in the opposite direction; with one footgrasping a twig and the other the nest mass, thrusting and pulling,she is now astride the mass and balancing herself with spread wings,now working from above, from below, or at either side; and at eachvisit she is not only incorporating any new strands that are brought,but gathering up many others which, though fixed at one end, are stillhanging free."Finally, the bird takes in another twig, or other twigs, for support,outlines the framework of the other side, and then fills it in by weavingwith the shuttle movements as before. The long streamers areultimately worked into the wall of the nest. Herrick speaks of thefinished nest as "an indescribable chaos of looped and knotted fibers"that is, nevertheless, "strong, durable, and adaptive." In construct-ing these nests "the female was the chief builder, but the male wouldoccasionally take a share."In the late stages of construction "the bird settles down in the nestand shakes all over in an effort to bring the pressure of the breast tobear upon its inner surface; he [in this case the bird was assumed tobe the male] rises, turns, settles, and shakes again. These are thetypical molding movements, and they are applied all over the lowerparts of the pouch, their violence at times being such that the sur-rounding leaves, and even the slender tree itself, are all a-tremble."One of Herrick's nests was completed in 4% days. Harry C. Ober-holser (1938) sa3^s the nest "is usually completed in not more than 6days"; Bendire (1895) says: "From 5 to 8 days are usually requiredfor its completion"; while Knight (1908) states that "nest buildingrequires about 15 days."The oriole begins to build so soon after its arrival on its breedingground that the elms, a favorite tree, are barely leafing out when thenest is building. But soon, as the season advances, the leaves affordboth protection and some concealment to the nest. In January 1946
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 253A. C. Bent showed me a nest hanging, as plain as a rag on a clothes-line, on one of the elm trees in his garden. "Last summer," he said,
"that nest was completely hidden in the dense foliage at the end ofthat long, pendant limb; I could not see it from any angle, although Ioften tried and knew just where it was. All the other nests I havelocated have been visible, from some angle at least."It is the bird's custom to build a new nest each year. This habit isevidenced by the remains of former nests, in varying degrees ofdilapidation, which sometimes hang in the same tree. An apparentexception to this rule is reported by George F. Tatum (1915) who tellsof a female Baltimore oriole repairing a last year's nest. He concludes
"that the old nest had been reconstructed, the only evidence of theformer one being the black (old) fiber now interwoven with a little ofthe light (new) fiber, which bound the edge of the nest to the branch."When we consider the sequence of steps taken in the constructionof the oriole's nest, as outlined by Herrick, and recall the propensityof birds to follow a cycle in their behavior, one act following anotherin orderly succession throughout the year, we can conceive that it maybe more in accordance with the bud's nature to progress straightthrough the making of a new nest from beginning to end, rather thanto patch up an old nest in ill repair.Eggs.?Bendire (1895) writes:From four to six eggs are laid to a set, most frequently four, though sets of fiveare not uncommon, while sets of six are rather rare. One is deposited daily, andonly one brood is raised in a season. * * *The ground color is ordinarily pale grayish white, one of those subtle tints whichis difficult to describe; in a few cases it is pale bluish white, and less often theground color is clouded over in places with a faint, pale ferruginous suffusion.The egg is streaked, blotched, and covered with irregularly shaped lines andtracings, generally heaviest about the larger end of the egg, with different shadesof black and brown, and more sparingly with lighter tints of smoke, lavender, andpearl gray. In a few instances the markings form an irregular wreath, and oc-casionally a set is found entirely unmarked.The average measurement of 56 eggs in the United States National Museumcollection is 23.03 by 15.45 millimetres, or about 0.91 by 0.61 inch. The largestegg of the series measures 25.91 by 16.76 millimetres, or 1.02 by 0.66 inches; thesmallest, 20.83 by 14.99 millimetres, or 0.82 by 0.59 inch.Young.?The nestling orioles are comparatively safe for the first2 weeks, or thereabouts, of their lives, during the time they remainconcealed in their little, woven pocket well above the ground at theend of a slender branchlet. Young orioles seem very quiet as nestlings;at all events we do not hear their voices until just before they leavethe nest. At this time, near the summer solstice in southern NewEngland, they begin their characteristic cry. On a certain day, overa whole township we hear it, over and over all day long, and for a weekor more it continues hour after hour, a monotonous series of five or six
254 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
notes, falling in pitch a little, with a ringing or resonant quality. Itis a pathetic little childish cry or complaint, beseeching, yet insistent,half way between entreaty and demand, dee-dee-dee-dee-dee. Thepitch is about F sharp, on the top line of the musical staff. This notehas given the fledgling oriole the epithet "cry baby."William Brewster (1937) gives his impression of the young oriole'snote. He says: "As she [the female parent] came flying back, I wasstruck by the tone of mingled anxiety and interrogation of her low call.1 Where? Where? 1 she seemed to say. (Here-we-are, here we are' (fallinginflection), both young would promptly drawl in answer and then, asshe alighted near them, would repeat and extend this to: 'Here-we-are,mam-ma, here we are, mam-ma' . It really required almost no imagi-nation to fit these words to the calls in question and now that theyhave occurred to me the calling of young Orioles will no longer be tomy ears, as it always has been, a disagreeable sound."He adds in a footnote: "A week later when this call had becomelouder and mellower, it often bore a strong resemblance to the whistleof the Greater Yellow-leg, the form being almost exactly the same."Audubon (1842) remarks: "A day or two before the young are quiteable to leave the nest, they often cling to the outside, and creep in andout of it like young Woodpeckers. After leaving the nest, they followthe parents for nearly a fortnight, and are fed by them." WilliamBrewster (1906) says: "After the breeding season is over both old andyoung resort more or less freely to bush-grown pastures and the edgesof woods. On July 19, 1889, I saw upwards of forty collected withinthe space of half an acre in Norton's Woods, and I have met withsmaller flocks at Rock Meadow and in the Maple Swamp."Small companies of orioles in immature or female plumage are fre-quent here in New England up to the time when the species departsin late August. As a rule, however, there are no adult male birds inthese gatherings.Forbush (1927) and Bendire (1895) give the incubation period as14 days; Eaton (1914) gives it as about 12 days, and DuBois (MS.)as 12 days. Bendire (1895) says that the young birds remain in thenest about 2 weeks; DuBois (MS.) reports a case in which they leftin 11 or 12 days.Plumages.?[Author's note: Jonathan Dwight, Jr. (1900), de-scribes the juvenal plumage of the Baltimore oriole, in which thesexes are alike, as follows:["Above, olive-brown, slightly orange tinged, brightest on headand upper tail coverts. Wings clove-brown, the primaries narrowly,the tertials broadly edged with dull white, two wing bands at thetips of greater and median coverts pale buff. * * * Tail chiefly gall-stone-yellow, centrally much darker and brownish. Below, including
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 255
'edge of wing' ochre-yellow, sometimes orange with ochraceous tinge,palest on chin and middle of abdomen, brightest on breast and cris-sum."[A partial postjuvenal molt, involving the contour plumage andthe wing coverts but not the rest of the wings nor the tail, beginsearly in July and produces the first winter plumage. Dwight saysof this plumage, in the young male: "Similar to previous plumagebut dull orange brown above and much brighter orange below, al-though lacking the black areas of the adult. The greater and medianwing coverts become dull black, white tipped, the latter and thelesser coverts orange tinged."[The first nuptial plumage is acquired by an extensive prenuptialmolt involving most of the plumage except the primaries, theircoverts, and the secondaries. The full orange and black body plumageis assumed at this molt, the tertials and wing coverts being broadlyedged with white, and the black and yellow tail is acquired. Wornbrown primaries remain to distinguish young birds from adults.[A complete postnuptial molt occurs in July, producing the adultwinter plumage. This is practically the same as the adult nuptialplumage, but the "feathers of the back are narrowly edged with dullorange (absent in older birds), which also suffuses the median andlesser coverts. The greater coverts, secondaries and tertiaries arebroadly edged with white."[The adult nuptial plumage is acquired by wear, during which thewhite edgings in the wings largely disappear and the orange edgingson the back are lost, producing the bright, clear orange and blackspring plumage of the male.[In the female, the molts are similar to those of the male, but thereis no striking change in the color pattern from one season to another.The upper parts are yellowish olive, the wings dusky with whitetipped coverts and white edged flight feathers, and the under partsare dull orange or yellowish. There is often more or less black onthe chin or throat, but it is usually very restricted in extent. How-ever, in Manitoba we collected a breeding female, now in my collec-tion, in which the throat is wholly black, as in a male, and the wholehead and neck are mainly black.]Food.?Waldo L. McAtee( 1926) gives the following comprehensivesummary of the Baltimore oriole's food:Caterpillars are the most important single element of the Oriole's food, formingover a third of the total. The Baltimore is one of the birds that decidedly arenot afraid of spiny or hairy caterpillars and it has a good record against suchwell-known pests as the fall webworm {Hyphantria lextor), spiny elm caterpillar{Euvanessa antiopa), tussock caterpillar (Hemerocampa leucosligma) , forest tentcaterpillar (Malacosoma disslria), and larvae of the gipsy moth (Porthetria dis-par), and browntail moth (Euprociis chrysorrhea). Orioles of this species have
256 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211been known to destroy entirely local infestations of orchard tent caterpillars(Malacosoma americana)
.
Beetles, ants, parasitic wasps, bugs, grasshoppers, spiders, and snails are theprincipal additional components of the Hangnest's animal food. Among formsinjurious to woodlands that are known to be preyed upon by the bird are treehoppers, lace bugs, scale insects, plant lice, leaf chafers, junebugs, nut weevils,adults of flat-headed and round-headed wood borers, leaf beetles including thelocust leaf miner, click beetles, oak weevil (Eupsalis minula), and sawfly larvae.The wild fruits eaten by the Baltimore Oriole are mostly June berries, mul-berries, and blackberries. A few vegetable galls also are consumed.The Oriole does some damage to cultivated peas and small fruits, but has suchpraiseworthy food habits in general that it certainly is the best policy to takespecial measures to prevent access to the peas and fruits, rather than to get legalpermission to destroy the birds.Bendire (1895) eulogizes the bird's feeding habits even more en-thusiastically: "Aside from its showy plumage, its sprightly andpleasing ways, its familiarity with man, and the immense amount ofgood it does by the destruction of many noxious insects and theirlarvae, including hairless caterpillars, spiders, cocoons, etc., it nat-urally and deservedly endears itself to every true lover of the beautifulin nature, and only a short-sighted churl or an ignorant fool wouldbegrudge one the few green peas and berries it may help itself towhile in season. It fully earns all it takes, and more too, and es-pecially deserves the fullest protection of every agriculturist."Additional items in the bird's diet are mentioned by Ellison A.Smyth, Jr. (1912), who says: "They frequent the potato patcheswith the fledged young and feed freely on potato beetles"; and A. D.Du Bois (MS.) reports seeing the bird "in a sycamore tree, picking topieces one of the seed balls?holding it against a branchlet with hisfoot and apparently eating the seeds." William Youngworth (1931)notes an "unusual food"; he says: "While looking from a windowon July 23, 1930, the writer saw three immature Baltimore Orioles{Icterus galbula) clinging to the tall hollyhock stocks that were growingalong the side of the house. Close watching showed that these birdswere pecking into the newly formed pericarps of the hollyhocks andwere greedily eating the soft, tender seeds." Samuel Lockwood(1872) gives good evidence that Baltimore orioles decapitated count-less numbers of the stingless male carpenter-bees (Xylocopa Carolina)which were collecting honey in horsechestnut trees, and sucked outthe honey. Elisha Slade (1881b) reports that he "detected a Balti-more Oriole eating the leaves [of the American aspen] with evidentrelish. The bird stood on a branch and picked at and tore off theleaves, eating them with as much apparent enjoyment as our domesticfowls eat the leaves of the plantain." He noted the same performancethe following year. In both years the observations were made latein May.
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 257Irene G. Wheelock (1905) gives evidence concerning the food givento the nestling orioles. She says:On the first day, feeding by regurgitation took place at intervals averagingtwenty minutes for each nestling. As the nest was not more than three feetfrom the window, it was possible to watch just what was being done and to makeexamination of the young as often as seemed expedient. * * * The food givenwas the soft part of grasshoppers and dragon flies, and the larvae of differentspecies of insects mixed with green leaves?all thoroughly macerated and partiallydigested. No traces of fruit were found. On the third day, the male was seento give the soft part of a dragon fly, having removed the wings in full view of theobserver, without first swallowing it himself. After the fourth day all food re-corded was given in a fresh condition. In the case of this brood no fruit was fedthe nestlings, possibly because of the difficulty of procuring it.Gordon Boit Wellman (1928) adds another item of food to theoriole's diet, and describes the skillful way in which the bird obtainedit. He writes:On May 13, 1928, I found a pair of Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) feedingon the larvae of a needle miner, probably Paralechia pinifoliella, in a pitch pine(Pinus rigida). The tree could be observed closely from my study window andthe Orioles were seen feeding there each day until the twenty-second of the month.Both birds worked alike; resting on one foot, the bird would pull down a needlewith the other foot, tuck it under the supporting foot with the bill, remove thelarva and continue to feed in this manner until the five or six needles withinreach were opened and held under the foot, then a new position would be taken.The larvae were to be found about halfway down the needle, invisible from theoutside. The operation of removing the larva from a needle was done with suchskill that in no case did I find a needle broken or permanently bent.In regard to the birds eating fruit and vegetables, Walter B.Barrows (1912) says: "It is true that it has a special fondness forgreen peas, sometimes stripping the pods so freely as to cause con-siderable complaint. It also punctures ripening grapes whenever ithas opportunity, but particularly where vines have run up into treesor over arbors or shrubbery in such a way as to hide the bird while atwork. It is rare to hear complaints from grape growers, for wherethe vines are numerous and properly pruned the Oriole seldom injuresthem. Occasionally it attacks early apples and pears, digging holesinto the soft pulp and of course ruining each apple attacked.""By watching an oriole which has a nest," says F. E. L. Beal (1897),"one may see it searching among the smaller branches of some neigh-boring tree, carefully examining each leaf for caterpillars, and occa-sionally trilling a few notes to its mate." Francis H. Allen (MS.) hasseen this oriole catch flies in the air; he has also watched the birdstaking nectar from trumpet creeper flowers. "They would peck intothe base of the corolla and into the mouth of the calyx after the corollahad fallen. I could see the nectar glistening between their mandibles."William Brewster (1937) speaks of an adult female oriole eating
TJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
cherries: "She operated on them in a deliberate, somewhat fastidiousmanner, piercing the skin with her sharp bill and then slowly tastingand swallowing the juice and perhaps some of the pulp also. In noinstance was the cherry removed from the stem. This was in markedcontrast to the behavior of the greedy Robins about her, the Robinsfirst plucking the cherry and then swallowing it whole, not withoutsome difficulty."Late in July, when cherries are ripe, the now fully grown youngorioles come to the cherry trees alone or with their parent. Here theylean downwards, draw up a cherry and, steadying it in some way,appear to pick out mouthful after mouthful without detaching thefruit from its stem or the branch. They eat cahnly and daintily, asa rose-breasted grosbeak eats a cherry, not like a robin who snatchesit off and bolts it down. But the orioles swallow the little cornelberries whole.Alexander F. Skutch (MS.) sends to A. C. Bent the following ac-count of the bird's food during the winter: "While in Central America,the Baltimore orioles subsist upon a considerable variety of bothanimal and vegetable foods. In humid regions, where the boughs ofthe trees are thickly overgrown with moss and lichens, they find manysmall creatures in the mossy covering. In the dry months of Februaryand March, when the madre de cacao trees (Gliricidia sepium), whichare planted for living fence posts, have shed their foliage and coveredtheir long, slender branches with delicately pink, pealike blossoms, theorioles spend much time probing the flowers. The bright orange-and-black birds are a lovely sight amid the cluster of pink blossoms.Whether they seek chiefly the nectar or the small insects of varioussorts that swarm about the flowers, I do not know. When the wingedbrood of the termites fills the air at the end of an afternoon shower,the Baltimore orioles, along with a host of other birds of the mostvaried kinds, take advantage of this manna and snatch the slow-flyingcreatures from the air. But with their slender bills they are not par-ticularly adept at flycatching, and often miss their intended victim.During the early months of the year, when succulent fruits are notabundant among the forests of southern Costa Rica, the Baltimoreorioles eat the dry green fruits of the Cecropia tree, clinging to theslender branches of the dangling inflorescence and tearing off smallbillfuls; in this feasting they are joined by many kinds of toucans,honeycreepers, tanagers, thrushes, and even flycatchers.
"For several years I have maintained a feeding shelf in a guava treebesides my house in southern Costa Rica, daily placing there ripebananas or plantains. The Baltimore orioles were not so quick tofind this new source of food as some of the resident birds; but oncethey made the discovery they became regular patrons, and for the
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 259past two winters have continued to visit the table in increasing num-bers. They made particularly good use of it during the fortnight ofalmost continuous rain at the end of October 1944, when many of thelocal birds seemed to experience difficulty in finding enough to eat.Then birds of a dozen species came in colorful crowds and consumedthe bananas and plantains faster than they ripened. In 1945, the lastBaltimore oriole of the season was seen at the feeding shelf on April 20."Behavior.?To many of us who live in the Northern Statesthe Baltimore oriole represents the spirit of spring. He arrives at thehigh tide of the season's beauty when he is at the peak of his magnif-icent spirits. But how soon his spirits fade! A month, and he beginsto step back from the footlights, leaving the stage to less dominantpersonalities, as the red-eyed vireo and the robin.The oriole fits easily into the community of the breeding birds abouthim, often building in the same tree with one of his neighbors. M. G.Vaiden (MS.) tells of a large pecan tree in which a wood pewee, ared-eyed vireo, a wood thrush, an orchard oriole, and two Baltimoreorioles had nests at the same time and lived "a fairly agreeable lifetogether." A. D. Du Bois (MS.) reports that "a pair of kingbirdshad a nest in a burr oak only 5 or 6 yards from an oriole's nest, andthe two species seemed to live amicably as close neighbors."E. H. Forbush (1907) presents a dark side of the oriole's character:The bird, a valiant fighter, does not hesitate to attack its enemies with itssharp beak,?a weapon not to be despised. It does the fierciest battle with theKingbird, and may be seen sometimes struggling in mid air with this doughtyadversary, until both birds fall to the ground breathless and exhausted. Itsometimes succumbs, however, to the swarming numbers and extreme pugnacityof the "English" Sparrow, and where the Sparrows become most numerous theyoften drive out the Orioles. The Oriole itself, however, is not always guiltlessin respect to other birds. Occasionally it destroys other nests, either to getmaterial for building its own, or out of pure mischief. Mr. Mosher observed amale Oriole attempting to drive another away from its nest. The stranger wouldmake a rush at the nest, and then the owner would grapple with him. Thisrunning fight was kept up for fully 3 hours. In the meantime the rogue Oriolewent to a Redstart's nest, threw out the eggs, and threw down the nest. Thenext day an Oriole, probably the same bird, was seen to throw out an egg from aRed-eyed Vireo's nest, when he was set upon and driven away by the owners.Three other instances have been reported to me by trustworthy observers whohave seen Orioles in the act of destroying the nests or eggs of other birds; but sofar as I know, few writers have recorded such habits, and they are probablyexceptional.M. G. Vaiden (MS.) remarks: "The Baltimore is a very good watch-man; he defends his territory with great vigor and daring. Most ofhis fighting is with our red squirrels, jays, and mockingbirds, butoccasionally he attacks other birds when near its nest."Audubon (1842) speaks of the migration thus: "During migration,
260 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the flight of the Baltimore Oriole is performed high above all thetrees, and mostly during the day, as I have usually observed themalighting, always singly, about the setting of the sun, uttering a noteor two, and darting into the lower branches to feed, and afterwardsto rest. To assure myself of this mode of travelling by day, I markedthe place where a beautiful male had perched one evening, and ongoing to the spot next morning, long before dawn, I had the pleasureof hearing his first notes as light appeared, and saw him search awhilefor food, and afterwards mount in the air, making his way to warmerclimes."Last year I was reminded of this observation of Audubon. Onemorning, about 10 o'clock, late in August, a male Baltimore wassinging in a maple tree across the way. He had separated from hisfamily, which had been fledged weeks before from a nest a little wayclown the street, and he had been singing alone each morning for a week.As I watched him, he left the tree and, rising well above the sur-rounding buildings, held an undeviating course slightly to the westof south until he disappeared in the distance. I did not see or hearhim again.Frank L. Farley (MS.), of Alberta, Canada, sends to A. C. Bentthis interesting note: "The Baltimore oriole is one of the many speciesof birds that have greatly extended their range in western Canadaas a result of the settlement of the country. On my arrival in centralAlberta in 1892, this bird was found in fair numbers in the woodlands,and along the rivers and smaller streams where trees were present.However, on the treeless plains of the eastern half of the province itwas entirely absent, except in isolated spots where trees had beenspared from the ravages of prairie fires which each spring or fallswept over the country."At the beginning of the present century great numbers of settlersmoved into this open country lying eastward of the parklands, andtook up land. Shortly thereafter, large areas of the prairies werebrought under cultivation, and many of the road-allowances wereplowed up. Such acts spelled doom to the fires, and it was not longbefore small clumps of willow-poplar and various kinds of shrubsappeared. As a result, the country took on an entirely differentaspect. The trees and bushes were in most cases jealously guardedby the farmers, and they grew rapidly. In a few years these oasesbecame the home of many summer birds that until now were entirestrangers to the region. Shelter, food, and nesting sites were nowafforded to thrushes, flycatchers, vireos, warblers, and many otherkinds of forest-loving birds. The Baltimore oriole was not long inaccepting this opportunity of extending its range, and in a few yearsit was well represented in many of the settled districts. Even before
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 261the saplings were large enough to offer suitable branches for thesuspension of their nests, the orioles learned to build them attachedto small limbs close up to the main stem of the tree. On severaloccasions I have found them within 8 feet of the ground."Voice.?The song of the Baltimore oriole possesses little purebeauty but it stands out prominently in the spring chorus. We arenot attracted to the song as we are to the rose-breasted grosbeak'sby syrupy sweetness, nor by the robin's cheerfulness, the woodpewee's artistry, or by the red-eyed vireo's almost endless singing, butby its vigor?a sort of robust manliness. Another feature of the songwhich attracts our interest is its infinite variety: no two orioles, wesay, sing the same tune, but each bird, in the main, sticks to his owntheme. It is one of the songs which, if you note it down, you mustpunctuate at the end with a period; the bird has said his say andstops; he has finished, for the moment anyway. The song clearlycorresponds to a short sentence of half a dozen syllables or so. Apoint of difference between it and the songs which resemble it some-what is that many of its single notes, often most of them, are inflectedsharply downwards, as the pitch of our voice falls in pronouncing theword "yolk." We notice the same peculiarity in the loud, vibrantcall of the evening grosbeak.In the simplest form the song consists of a short series of notes onthe same pitch, like blasts from a tiny trumpet, or there may be buta single blast, scarcely a song. The longer songs, with their changesin pitch and short pauses between the notes, often form rather prettyphrases, although somewhat jerky because the notes are not runtogether smoothly. These songs give the impression of exclamations.Francis H. Allen (MS.) speaks of "a beautiful and unusual song, alow, sotto voce warbling, interspersed with snatches of the character-istic chattering note," and of another, "an uncommonly pretty song,containing a trill near the end, a full-voiced song, not the low warblewe sometimes hear, but longer than the song usually is."Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) sends to A. C. Bent the following analysis:"The song of the Baltimore oriole is loud, clear and of flutelike quality.It consists of a series of short notes and 2-note phrases, with shortpauses between them, and commonly a somewhat longer pausesomewhere in the middle of the song. It is so exceedingly variablein form that one cannot pick out any one song, or even several songs,that could be said to be more typical of the species than others. Thenumber of notes in a song varies, according to my 102 records, from4 to 19, but as only 1 record has 19 and no others more than 16; the19-note one is quite unusual. The average song is about 8 notes long.It is a common habit of the bird, however, to sing single notes or short
262 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2112-note phrases between songs, and if one considered these to be separatesongs, there would be many 1- or 2-note songs."The pitch of the songs varies from F" to A'"'. The range in pitchof single songs varies from 1 tone to 6 tones, or an octave. Theaverage range is 3% tones. It is interesting to note that the only recordI have that is definitely the song of a female bird has a range of only1 tone.
"In time, songs vary from % to 2% seconds. Though all of the notesare rather short, there is often considerable variation in the lengthsof the notes of a song, so that, though the song has a rhythm, it isnot often an even rhythm."The bird not infrequently sings while on the wing in early spring,and occasionally in August.Ralph Hoffmann (1904) says: "The female during the mating seasonwhistles two or three notes similar to the male's," and Tilford Moore(MS.) has heard a female sing "short, finished songs." Both sexesgive a long grating chatter which often seems to indicate anxiety, andthis is sometimes incorporated into the song.The period of singing is short. The bird arrives on its breedingground in full song and continues to sing all day long during themating and nest-building stage of the cycle, but by the end of Junethere is a noticeable falling off in the singing, and during the molt themales are almost silent. Then, about mid-August, a fortnight beforethey leave, the males sing freely again, chiefly in the early morning.Brand (1938) gives the approximate mean vibration frequency ofthe Baltimore's voice as 2,500 cycles per second, slightly below thatof the robin and not far from that of the bluebird.Enemies.?Elon Howard Eaton (1914) speaks thus of the Balti-more oriole's enemies: "In spite of the skilful placing of the oriole'snest, it is frequently visited by plunderers. I have seen crows onseveral occasions succeed in getting young birds from the nest andthe home of the Screech owl very often shows that the young orioleshave been taken and fed to the owlets. Red squirrels also descendto the nest to get the eggs and young birds, and I have seen the graysquirrels do this on one or two occasions. Generally, however, theyoung are reared successfully and I am inclined to think that dangersin migration and severe weather are the principal checks to the in-crease of this species." Referring to the incessant calling of the youngbirds, he says that from their notes the young "are unquestionablylocated by many predaceous animals and thereby destroyed."Forbush (1927) tells of a case in which nine bronzed gracklesattacked a pair of orioles, "but after two minutes of swift action theGrackles retired from the combat, leaving the 'orioles' the victors."John T. S. Hunn (1926) reports "An Oriole Tragedy." The male
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 263
oriole "was caught by a small cord firmly woven into the nest structure,and so tightly twisted about his neck that he strangled to death."The following is quoted from Herbert Friedmann's 'The Cowbirds'(1929):An uncommon victim. Bendire, (1895, p. 486), says "this species is rarelyimposed upon by the Cowbird."Gregg, in Chemung County, New York (Proc. Elmira Acad, of Science, vol. I,no. 1, June, 1891, p. 26), records finding a nest of this bird with two young Orioleshardly fledged and one young Cowbird big enough to fly.S. E. Parshall, (Orn. and Ool. IX, no. 11, Nov. 1884, p. 139), found a desertednest containing three eggs of the Orioles, and three of the Cowbird and threemore of the Cowbird covered up.B. H. Warren (Birds of Pennsylvania, 1890, pp. 209-210) writes that, * * *on three occasions I have discovered the shattered remains of these eggs (Cow-birds), directly beneath the pendant nests of Baltimore orioles * * * It maybe that this species sometimes * * * tosses out alien eggs."There are other records from Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan.Fall.?Walter Bradford Barrows (1912) summarizes the behavior ofthe Baltimore oriole in late summer:Before the middle of July both old and young have disappeared from garden,orchard and park, and except for an occasional almost silent individual at rareintervals, none are seen again until about the middle of August, from which timeuntil their departure for the south in September they are fairly common and themale frequently sings almost as sweetly as in May. This disappearance for amonth or more is rather apparent than real, for a careful search of the woodsand swamps will reveal a fair number of orioles, spending most of their time,however, in the leafy crowns of the higher trees, where they are hardly visible,and being almost silent are pretty sure to be overlooked. They may also befound at this season about wild cherry and service berry trees, feeding on theripening fruit.Francis Beach White (1937) remarks: "In July, a few Orioles areabout till the second week, and occasionally a pair is seen, or anadult with young; but after that they are very scarce. These latebirds are likely to be seen low hi thickets?where, indeed, they spenda good deal of time feeding in the breeding season?but once in awhile one will silently flash across from one tree to bury itself in thefoliage of another."Apparently the old males do not remain with their families verylong after the breeding season. I find in my notes these referencesto this subject: "July 30, 191G?Mr. Faxon and I saw nearly adozen birds all in female or juvenal plumage more or less associatedand not a single adult male among them. I recall noting the samething in past seasons," and "August 13, 1917?Two male orioleswere feeding silently this morning in the locust trees, where theyfound a small, green larva. These birds, although near each other,380928?57 18
264 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211did not follow one another about and they acted as if perfectly inde-pendent of each other. Yesterday I saw an adult male in anotherpart of the town, feeding alone. This appears to be a habit of themale at this season, to separate himself from his family and remainalone."Winter.?There are several references in the literature to oriolesfound in winter, stranded far to the north of their normal winterrange. Two of these birds, one in Virginia, the other in Ohio, werefeeding on apples. Doubtless most of these lost birds perish, butRobie W. Tufts (MS.) reports on an immature female bud found inNova Scotia in such a weakened condition that he captured her onDecember 13, and kept her indoors over the winter, "during whichtime she ate chiefly grapes"; he liberated her on the following May.Alexander F. Skutch (MS.) supplies this comprehensive report ofthe bird on its winter quarters: "The Baltimore oriole arrives inCentral America during the second week of September, but does notbecome abundant before the end of the month. During the north-ern winter, it resides throughout the region from Guatemala to theIsthmus of Panama^ on both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts andhigh up into the mountains. Scarcely any other winter visitant isso widely and uniformly distributed throughout the area."To appreciate the wide tolerance of environmental conditionsimplied in the winter distribution of the Baltimore oriole, one mustbe familiar with the local variations in climate and the correspondingdifferences in the nonmigratory section of the avifauna. Thus thearid coast of El Salvador, where I found these orioles abundantamong cacti and low thorny trees early in the parched month of Feb-ruary, has exceedingly few resident birds in common with the humidcoastal districts on the opposite side of the continent, in Hondurasand Guatemala, where also the Baltimore orioles pass the winter inlarge numbers, amid lofty rain-forests, lush thickets, and extensivebanana plantations. And very few of the birds which breed in thelowlands on either coast are found in the highlands above 5,000 or6,000 feet. Yet in December 1933 I found a few Baltimore orioleswhich had apparently settled down for the winter among the oaks,pines, and alders on the Sierra de Tecpan in Guatemala, at an alti-tude of 8,500 feet above sea level, where at this season nights werepenetratingly cold, and every clear dawn revealed all the open spaceswhite with frost. Thus, in Central America, this adaptable birdmakes itself at home, for a period covering half the year, almosteverywhere that trees supply fruits, and insects lurk amid the foliage.It is especially fond of plantations, orchards, and pastures withabundant shade trees; but it also hunts through the treetops of thetall rain-forests, although it never, in my experience, descends into
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 265the deeply shaded lower regions of the forest, and so is not often seenby the bird-watcher who wanders through the heavy woodlands.
"During the winter months, the Baltimore orioles roam aboutsingly, or in small groups of two, three, or four, more often than inlarger groups. Although a dozen or so may at times be seen feastingtogether in some especially attractive flowering or fruiting tree, ormay share the same roost, the birds are only slightly gregarious duringthis season and form no big, closely knit flocks like those of winteringdickcissels and cedar waxwings. Adult males pass the winter inbrightest orange-and-black plumage, and are excelled in beauty byfew even of the most brilliant of the native birds; but females andyoung males predominate.
"Although less songful while in Central America than the orchardorioles, Baltimore orioles often voice their clear, full whistles, espe-cially during the first weeks following their arrival in the fall, andwith greater frequency for a month or so before their northwarddeparture in the spring. Rarely, as when the sun breaks through theclouds at the end of an afternoon shower in April, they charm thehearer with a somewhat sustained performance ; but for the most partthey utter only single notes and brief fragments of song?tantalizingsuggestions of the full, mellow verses they will soon be broadcastingfrom northern elm trees. A sharp churr is the oriole's most frequentutterance while in its winter home.
"I have often discovered the sleeping places of the Baltimoreorioles, and found them as catholic in their choice of a roosting siteas of habitat and food. In the cleared portion of the LancetillaValley in northern Honduras, a number of them roosted, during thewinter of 1930-31, in an extensive stand of tall 'elephant grass'(Pennisetum purpureum), a tangled and impenetrable gramineousjungle higher than a tall man's head. Here they slept along withwintering orchard orioles, resident Lesson's orioles (Icterus prosthe-melas), four species of small resident finches, and migrating kingbirdswhich rested here for a while before continuing southward. In thehamlet of Buenos Aires in southern Costa Rica, Baltimore oriolesroosted among the broad, close-set foliage of the tall Dracaenafragrans?a tree of the lily family?that bordered both sides of thepath leading up to the little church. The orioles began to gathershortly before sunset, and as the day waned continued to fly in, oneor a few at a time. They darted into the trees very suddenly and fromall sides, and then sometimes shifted about from tree to tree beforethey became comfortable for the night. This manner of going toroost made it impossible to make an accurate count of their numbers,but certainly a score of the orioles took shelter in these trees. Whenfinally they had settled down, they were completely screened from my
266 T7. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
view among the broad bases of the leaves; even the glowing orange ofthe adult males failed to shine forth from the dark green foliage.Taken together, observations show that, in one place or another,Baltimore orioles share roosts with a large variety of other birds.Their relations with their neighbors seem always to be amicable, andI have never seen quarrels among them."About my home in southern Costa Rica Baltimore orioles roostamid the dark, abundant foliage of the orange trees. Sometimes theyslumber upon so low a perch that I might touch them while standingon the ground. They are not always careful to conceal themselvesamid the leafage. Viewed by the light of an electric torch, with theirheads turned back and buried in their outflufFed plumage, they looklike brighter oranges scattered among the dark, glossy leaves. Inaddition to the orioles that roosted in the big trees, during the earlypart of the year 1943, three slept in a small tree south of the house.One of these was a male in exceptionally deep orange plumage; hiscompanions were an adult male in more yellow plumage aad a femaleor young male. At dawn on April 15, the three birds were in thetree as usual; but during the day two apparently began to migrate;for that evening the more brilliant male came alone to the orangetree. For a week after the departure of the others, he roosted alonehere, where he was seen for the last time that spring at daybreak onApril 22. After his disappearance, I saw no others of his kind untilthe following September 10, an unusually early date, when a femaleor young male appeared in the trees in front of the house. At day-break on October 10, there was an unusually handsome male hi theorange tree south of the house, where apparently he had roosted.That evening he went to rest in this tree in company with an immaturemale. Although the bird was not banded, I like to think that he wasthe same brilliant male who had roosted in the same place during thepreceding spring. During those wet October days he whistled en-chanting fragments of song, just as he had done before his departurein April. May not the bournes of the long semiannual journeys ofthe Baltimore oriole be two trees?perhaps an elm tree in NewEngland, where he nests, and an orange tree in Costa Rica, where hesleeps during the winter months?"DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western and southern Canada to Colombia and Venezuela.Breeding range.?The Baltimore oriole breeds from centralAlberta (Lesser Slave Lake, Lac la Biche), central Saskatchewan(Emma Lake, Yorkton), southern Manitoba (Lake Saint Martin,Indian Bay), western Ontario (Malachi, Port Arthur), northern,Michigan (Houghton, Newberry), southern Ontario (Manitoulin
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 267Island, Lake Nipissing), southern Quebec (Montreal, Blue Sea Lake),central Maine (Avon, Dover-Foxcroft), central New Brunswick(Woodstock, Saint John), and central Nova Scotia (Berwick); souththrough southern Alberta (Midnapore, Brooks) , southern Saskatchewan(Sovereign, Lake Johnstone), northwestern and central North Dakota(Charlson, Tokio, Bismark), central South Dakota (Faulkton, WhiteRiver), Nebraska, central Kansas (Stockton, Pratt), and west-centralOklahoma (Woodward, Minco) to northeastern Texas (Marshall),northwestern, central, and southeastern Louisiana (Shreveport, NewOrleans), central Mississippi (Jacksoxi, Waverly), northern Alabama(formerly), north-ceutral Georgia (Atlanta, Washington), westernSouth Carolina (Greenville), western North Carolina (Asheville,Boone), central Virginia (Bedford, Charlottesville), northern Mary-land (Baltimore), and Delaware. Has bred in northeastern Colorado(Dry Willow Creek). Hybridizes extensively with /. bullockii inwestern Oklahoma and western Nebraska.Winter range.?Winters from southern Veracruz (Tres Zapotes,Cerro de Tuxtla) and Tabasco (San Juan Bautista), throughoutCentral America to northern and central Colombia (Rio Jurado,Chafurray, Ciicuta) and northwestern Venezuela (San Rafael,Santa Barbara). Rare in Cuba during migration. Recorded oc-casionally in winter, in southeastern Canada and eastern UnitedStates, from Toronto, Ontario, south to Louisiana, especially sinceabout 1951.Casual records.?Casual in central Ontario (Chapleau), northernMaine (Mount Katahdin, Presque Isle), Prince Edward Island,eastern Quebec (Seven Islands), Newfoundland, and Bermuda.Accidental in Northern Manitoba (York Factory) and Greenland(Sukkertoppen).Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Costa Rica?ElGeneral, March 15. Cuba?Havana, April 12. Florida?VolusiaCounty, March 23; Fort Myers, March 30. Alabama?Decatur,April 15. Georgia?Milledgeville, April 5; Kirkwood?April 15(median of 13 years, April 25). South Carolina?Spartanburg, April17. North Carolina?Weaverville, April 16. Virginia?New Market,April 19 (median of 25 April dates, April 25). West Virginia?Blue-field, April 10. District of Columbia?April 24 (average of 43 years,May 2) . Maryland?Dorchester County, April 9 ; Baltimore County,April 18. Pennsylvania?Beaver, April 19 (average of 25 years,April 28). New Jersey?Collingswood, April 13. New York?LongIsland, April 14; Altamont, April 19. Connecticut?Norwalk,April 23; Portland, April 30 (median of 46 years, May 5). RhodeIsland?Providence, May 1. Massachusetts?Falmouth, April 18;Harvard, April 22. Vermont?St. Johnsbury, April 21 ; Bennington,
268 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211May 1. New Hampshire?Manchester, May 1. Maine?Brunswick,April 17; New Vineyard, April 22. Quebec?Westmount, May 1.New Brunswick?Scotch Lake, May 12. Louisiana?Bains andThibodaux, April 3; Ouachita Parish, April 7. Mississippi?Ed-wards. March 30. Arkansas?Monticello, April 4. Tennessee
?
Nashville, April 7 (median of 11 years, April 15). Kentucky?Casky, April 3. Missouri?Independence, March 28; Columbia,April 2 (median of 17 years, April 22). Illinois?Hinsdale, March 27;Ohiey, March 28; Chicago region, April 19 (average, May 3). In-diana?Knox County, March 24; Logansport, March 28. OhioCanton, March 28; Buckeye Lake, April 24 (median, April 29).Michigan?Ann Arbor, April 11; Blaney Park, May 13. Ontario-Toronto, April 12; Ottawa, May 3 (average of 31 years, May 10).Iowa?McGregor, April 7. Wisconsin?LaCrosse, April 5; Superior,April 16. Minnesota?St. Cloud, April 20 (average of 34 years insouthern Minnesota, May 5) ; Stearns County, April 28 (average of22 years in northern Minnesota, May 10). Texas?Troup, March 30;San Patrico County, April 2. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City, March 28(median of 10 years, April 26). Kansas?Hays, April 18. Nebraska-Red Cloud, April 23 (median of 24 years, May 2). South Dakota?Yankton, April 26. North Dakota?Devils Lake, May 4; CassCounty, May 1 1 (average, May 16). Manitoba?Treesbank, April 30(average, May 18); Margaret, May 7. Saskatchewan?Sovereign,April 26; South Qu'Appelle, April 28. Colorado?Lamar, May 6.Wyoming?Guernsey, May 6. Alberta?Morrin, May 11; Camrose,May 14.Late dates of spring departure are: Colombia?Rio Frio, March 10.Panama?Jesusito, April 20. Costa Rica?El General, April 28(median of 11 years, April 20). El Salvador?Hacienda Chelata,April 27. Honduras?Tela, April 23. Guatemala?Quirigua, April17. Veracruz?Cuithihuac (20 miles southeast of), May 1. Ber-muda?Nonsuch Island, May 5. Florida?Pensacola, May 27 ; AmeliaIsland, May 13. Alabama?Woodbine, May 10. Georgia?Athens,May 22. South Carolina?Spartanburg, May 14. North CarolinaHighlands, June 6. District of Columbia, June 10. MarylandLaurel, June 12 (median of 6 years, May 19). Illinois?Chicago,May 31 (average of 16 years, May 25). Texas?Commerce, May 30
;
Dallas, May 18.Early dates of fall arrival are: Texas?Atascosa County, August 3.Minnesota?Minneapolis, July 2. Illinois? Chicago, August 4 (aver-age of 12 years, August 15). Connecticut?Middletown, June 30.New York?Brooklyn, July 2. Maryland ?Laurel, July 28 (medianof 7 years, August 8). Virginia?Naruna, August 24. North Caro-lina?Chapel Hill, August 23. Georgia?Young Harris, August 14.
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 269Alabama?Long Island, August 25. Florida?Pensacola, July 31.Bermuda?September 16. Guatemala?San Juan Atitlan, Septem-ber 9. Honduras?Truxillo, September 1. Nicaragua?EscondidoRiver, September 20. Costa Rica?El General, September 10.Panama?Changuinola, September 30. Colombia?Rio Frio, Octo-ber 13.Late dates of fall departure are: Alberta?Camrose, September 7.Wyoming?Yellowstone Park, September 4. Saskatchewan?IndianHead, September 20; Yorkton, September 6. Manitoba?Killarney,September 27; Margaret, September 20; Treesbank, September 5(average, August 30). North Dakota?Fargo, September 19 (aver-age for Cass County, September 3). South Dakota?Faulkton,September 24. Nebraska?Hastings, October 10; Scribner, Septem-ber 21. Kansas?Hays, October 24. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City,October 16 (median of 11 years, September 16). Texas?Victoria,October 31; Cove, October 9. Minnesota?Hutchinson, October 8;(average of 19 years in southern Minnesota, September 5) ; Elk River,September 11 (average of 8 years in northern Minnesota, August 31).Wisconsin?Elkhorn, October 25; Superior, October 18. Iowa-Marble Rock, October 15. Ontario?Point Pelee, September 20;Ottawa, September 16 (average of 15 years, August 25). Michigan
?
McMillan, September 26 ; Blaney Park, September 23. Ohio?Cleve-land, October 19 ; Buckeye Lake, September 17 (median, September 5).Indiana?Muncie, October 15. Illinois?Rantoul, October 4; Chi-cago region, October 2 (average, September 1). Missouri?Concordia,September 26. Kentucky?Bowling Green, September 17. Ten-nessee?Carter County, September 30. Arkansas?Dardanelle, Octo-ber 20. Mississippi?Edwards, October 6. Louisiana?Bienville,October 10. Greenland?Sukkertoppen, September 27. Newfound-land?Newfoundland banks, September 21. Nova Scotia?SableIsland, October 4. New Brunswick?Fredericton, August 24.Quebec?Hudson Heights, October 1. Maine?Topsham, Novem-ber 6; Bath, October 28. New Hampshire?Hanover, October 22.Vermont?St. Johnsbury, October 17; Rutland, September 19.Massachusetts?Edgartown, November 1; Groton, October 29.Rhode Island?Wakefield, November 19; Kingston, October 21.Connecticut?Hamden, November 17; Bloomfield, October 21. NewYork?Ithaca, October 28; Middleport, October 20. New JerseyPassaic, October 7. Pennsylvania?McKeesport, October 19. Mary-land ?Laurel, October 20 (median of 7 years, September 21). Districtof Columbia?October 15. West Virginia?Bluefield, October 29.Virginia?Charlottesville, October 2. North Carolina?Henderson-ville, October 18; Raleigh, October 4. South Carolina?Frogmore,September 20. Georgia?Atlanta, September 16. Alabama?Greens-
270 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211boro, September 23. Florida?Miami, November 8; Pensacola,November 2. Bermuda?October 12.Egg dates.?Illinois: 14 records, May 25 to June 14; 7 records,May 29 to June 10.Massachusetts: 31 records, May 23 to June 9; 17 records, May 30to June 5.New York: 19 records, May 25 to June 10; 10 records, May 31 toJune 4. ICTERUS BULLOCKII BULLOCKII (Swainson)Bullock's OriolePlate 20HABITSThis highly colored oriole replaces the Baltimore oriole in the westernhalf of North America, except for a narrow strip along the Pacificcoast from the San Francisco Bay region to northern Baja California.Its breeding range extends from the southern parts of British Colum-bia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to southern Texas and northernMexico, and from the western edge of the Great Plains and prairieregions to the Pacific slope. At the eastern border of its range, whereit meets that of the Baltimore oriole, these two closely related speciesappear to interbreed, producing an interesting series of apparenthybrids, to be referred to later.The favorite haunts of Bullock's oriole are in the growths of deciduoustrees, cottonwoods, willows, sycamores, etc., that line the streams orirrigation ditches in open country, in the prairie regions, and incultivated lands. The presence of water is not essential, for they areequally at home in some of the partially dry washes that extend downinto the grasslands from the mountain canyons, where there is someunderground moisture, or far from any water in the tree-claimsabout the ranches; they are also found living and nesting in thesemiarid mesquite groves in Arizona. It is, perhaps, less intimatelyassociated with human habitations than is the more sociable Baltimoreoriole, though it does nest to some extent in villages and near houses,especially about farms and ranches.Nesting.?Bendire (1895) describes this very well as follows:The nest resembles that of the Baltimore Oriole, but as a rule it is not quiteas pensile, and many are more or less securely fastened by the sides as well as bythe rim to some of the adjoining twigs. The general make-up is similar. Asmany sections where Bullock's Oriole breeds are still rather sparsely settled, lesstwine and such other material as may be picked up about human habitationsenter into its composition. Shreds of wild flax and other fiber-bearing plantsand the inner bark of the juniper and willow are more extensively utilized; these
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE 271
with horsehair and the down of plants, wool, and fine moss, furnish the innerlining of the nests. According to my observations, the birch, alder, cottonwood,eucalyptus, willow, sycamore, oak, pine, and juniper furnish the favorite nestingsites; and in southern Arizona and western Texas it builds frequently in bunchesof mistletoe growing on cottonwood and mesquite trees.The nests are usually placed in low situations, from 6 to 15 feet from theground, but occasionally one is found fully 50 feet up. A very handsome nest,now before me, * * * is placed among six twigs of mistletoe, several of thesebeing incorporated in the sides of the nest, which is woven entirely of horsehairand white cotton thread, making a very pretty combination. The bottom ofthe nest is lined with wool. Outwardly it is 6 inches deep; inside 4% inches.The entrance, at the top, is oval in shape, somewhat contracted, and 4 by 2%inches wide. Another peculiar specimen before me, taken near Yreka, California,May 29, 1860, is woven among and fastened to a bunch of needles of the long-leafed pine; this nest resembles an inverted cone, and is quite unique in structure.I have also seen double nests, one placed beside and fastened to one previouslybuilt that had for some unknown reason been abandoned.In the vicinity of Fort Lapwai, Idaho, it was especially abundant, and, althoughsuitable nesting sites were by no means scarce, I have seen three occupied nestsof this Oriole in a small birch tree close to a nest of the Arkansas Flycatcher,showing them to be very sociable birds. Near Camp Harney, Oregon, a Swainson'sHawk, an Arkansas Flycatcher, and a pair of this species nested in the same tree,a good-sized pine. A. K. Fisher tells me that he saw hundreds of these nests ina large row of cottonwoods, east of Phoenix, Arizona, in June, 1892.In Arizona, Herbert Brandt (MS.) found this oriole often nestingclose to an occupied nest of the western kingbird, in the mesquitechaparral. "At one place in a sycamore I saw them nesting withinthree feet of each other, and they could have used, if they wished,opposite sides of the tree, 30 feet apart. Twice they resided in thesame small mesquite." In Texas, he noted a similar associationbetween Bullock's oriole and the scissor-tailed flycatcher.Near the Huachuca Mountains, Ariz., we took a set of eggs of thisoriole, about 10 feet up in a sycamore, and a set of eggs of the westernflycatcher, about 20 feet from the ground in the same tree.On May 24, 1923, near Brownsville, Tex., I collected a set of fivefresh eggs from a typical nest of Bullock's oriole about 15 feet up ina large mesquite; R. D. Camp told me that this species does not breedthere, but, after watching for a long time, I plainly saw both birdsgo to the nest It is evidently not a common breeding bird there.C. S. Sharp (1903) has published an interesting paper, illustratedwith photographs, describing three distinct types of Bullocks' orioles'nests, one of which is wholly pensile, one semipensile, and one not atall pensile; his description of an especially beautiful pensile nestfollows:The twigs to which it was attached formed a fork, and a few inches above,another small twig extended downward in the same direction. The nest waswholly suspended from these, the twigs, with some of the leaves attached beingworked into it for a little distance down the sides and back. With these excep-
272 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
tions and two or three long horse hairs it was composed wholly of wild oats andrather loosely woven. A few of the oat heads show on the inside where theywere worked into the nest itself, but almost all are on the outside, the long stemsbeing worked in to their heads which stood out in a beautiful and graceful fringeall around and below for from one to three inches or more. The effect wasstriking and unusual. * * * The dimensions in inches are as follows: Depthoutside (extreme) 14; depth outside (front) to opening, 8; depth inside to opening5^; diameter outside, 7; diameter inside, 4; circumference 21.J. F. Illingworth (1901) writes:Until the season of '97 I have never known the Bullock's Oriole to use palm-fiber in the construction of its home, but I found a nest May 11, 1897, in a peachtree, composed entirely of this fiber. It was well lined with chicken feathers andplaced between several small branches. A pair of Bullock's Orioles built a nestthis year in an almond tree near the porch, and I had an excellent opportunity towatch them while they were at work. The place chosen was in a wide fork be-tween four small branches. Both birds worked on the nest and as soon as theyhad loosely formed the walls or framework, one of them worked inside and theother outside. The latter would bring a horse-hair or a piece of twine in itsbeak and pass the end through the wall of the nest to his mate inside who took theend and passed it out again through another place. In this way the nest wassoon woven quite smooth and looked as if it had been made with a darning needleby hand.Eggs.?Bullock's oriole lays from three to six eggs to a set; fourand five are the commonest numbers, but sets of six are not rare.Bendire (1895) describes them as follows:The eggs are mostly elongate ovate in shape, a few are ovate, and an occasionalset is almost wedge-shaped or cuneiform. The shell is close grained and onlyslightly glossy. The ground color is generally of the same subtle grayish-whitetint as that seen in the eggs of the Baltimore Oriole, but the proportion of thepale bluish white eggs is greater than with the latter. Occasionally the groundcolor is pale vinaceous buff. The markings are similar in color to those found onthe eggs of the preceding species [Baltimore oriole], but as a rule they are not socoarse, and the fine hair lines running in irregular tracings around the larger axisof the egg are more prevalent; they are also a trifle larger.The average measurement of 144 specimens in the United States NationalMuseum collection is 23.80 by 15.93 millimetres, or about 0.94 by 0.63 inch.The largest egg in the series measures 25.40 by 16.76 millimetres, or 1 by 0.66inch; the smallest, 21.34 by 15.24 millimetres, or 0.84 by 0.60 inch.Young.?Bendire (1895) states: "Only one brood is raised in aseason, and the duties of incubation, which are performed almostexclusively by the female, last about 14 days. I have often watchedthe sitting bird, and have never seen the male on the nest."Mrs. Wheelock's (1904) observations confirm this statement; andshe adds:Her mate is always within calling distance, keeping a vigilant watch for squir-rels, crows, and jays; and should any of these enemies appear, not only he but themother bird, joined by all the orioles and blackbirds within hearing, will fly atthe intruder and effectually banish him from the vicinity. When newly hatched,the young orioles are naked, pink babies with little tufts of thin white down on
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE 273head and back. For nearly a week after they are feathered the down wavesrakishly on either side of the crown and about the shoulders, gradually wearingoff as they brush about through the bushes.Like all oriole babies, these demand the constant attention of both parents,crying loudly for more the moment their mouths are emptied of the last mouthful,not in the least trying to help themselves, but following the adults about for aweek or two after leaving the nest. * * * I believe the families usually keeptogether until late in August, when the males join flocks of their own sex for theSeptember migration southward.Plumages.?The natal down of Bullock's oriole is white, long, andrather scanty. The sexes are practically alike in the juvenal plumage,though the female is usually rather paler; this plumage closely re-sembles that of the adult female, grayish olive above with yellowisholive tail and wing coverts and dull buffy whitish below; but there isno black on the throat or wings, and no orange on the head and neck.A postjuvenal molt occurs in late^'summer, involving the contourplumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings nor thetail; this produces the first winter plumage, in which the young maleacquires black lores and a narrowly black throat, but which is other-wise like the plumage of the adult female; young birds may breed inthis plumage. At the first complete postnuptial molt, the followingsummer, the adult winter plumage is acquired; this is like the adultspring plumage, but in the male the feathers of the back and underparts are margined with gray. Adults have a complete postnuptialmolt in summer, but apparently no spring molt, the spring plumagebeing acquired by wear.At my request, James L. Peters examined the large series of Bullock'sorioles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology and has sent me hisreport, from which I gather the following additional information:The postjuvenal molt begins about the middle of August and is com-pleted by about the middle of September. The amount of blackacquired in the throat and lores at this molt seems to vary considerablyand the time at which it is acquired also varies. Two males, takenSeptember 16 and October 10, both lack it; two males, taken October7 and 11, have whitish lores and throat patches of scattered blackfeathers; but a male, taken October 6, has fully developed black loresand throat patch. He says that the first prenuptial molt of the malevaries greatly; "in some individuals new black feathers with oliveedges appear on the crown; sometimes only half a dozen such are to befound; in others the crown is entirely covered; the first traces mayappear by the end of January. Some individuals acquire new scapu-lars and interscapulars between the end of January and the end ofMarch, but not over half of those examined did so."The sequence of molts in the female is similar to that of the male.There is considerable individual variation in the amount of black
274 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
acquired on the throat at the first prenuptial molt; out of 27 youngfemales examined by Peters, 14 did not acquire it at all, 10 acquiredonly traces, and only 3 had the black stripe complete.Food.?F. E. L. Beal (1910) examined the contents of 162 stomachsof Bullock's oriole, taken in every month from April to August, in-clusive. The contents consisted of 79 percent animal matter and 21percent vegetable
:
The animal food consisted mainly of insects, with a few spiders, a lizard, amollusk shell, and eggshells. Beetles amounted to 35 percent, and all except afew ladybugs (Coccinellidae) were harmful species. The coccinellids were foundin 9 stomachs, but the percentage was insignificant. Many of the beetles wereweevils, and quite a number belonged to the genus Balaninus, which lives uponacorns and other nuts. Ants were found in 19 stomachs, and 1 contained nothingelse. Hymenoptera other than ants were found in 56 stomachs, and entirelyfilled 2 of them. Including the ants, they amount to nearly 15 percent of the foodof the season. * * *One of the most interesting articles of food in the oriole's dietary is the blackolive scale (Saissetia oleae). This was found in 45 stomachs, and amounted to 5percent of the food. In one stomach these scales formed 87 percent of the con-tents; in another, 82; and in each of two others, 81 percent. * * * Hemipteraother than scales are eaten quite regularly. They amount to a little more than 5percent of the food. * * * They were mostly stinkbugs, leafhoppers, and treehoppers. Plant lice (Aphididae) were found in one stomach.Lepidoptera, moths, pupae, and caterpillars, are the largest item inthe food, amounting to 63 percent in April, only 8 percent in July, andaveraging a little more than 41 percent for the season. He continues:Perhaps the most interesting point in connection with the Lepidoptera is theeating of the pupae and larvae of the codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella).These were found in 23 stomachs, which shows that they are not an unusualarticle of diet. No less than 14 of the pupa cases were found in one stomach, andas they are very fragile, many others may have been present, but broken up be-yond recognition. It is curious that the oriole should find these insects. Dur-ing the greater part of their larval life they are concealed within the apple. Whenready to pupate they crawl out and at once seek some place of concealment, suchas a crevice in bark or among clods or rubbish, where they can undergo theirchanges. To find them, therefore, birds must hunt for them.Grasshoppers amounted to a little more than 3 percent for the season,but "2 stomachs, both taken in June, contained nothing else, andanother had 97 percent of them. * * * Practically all of the vegetablefood consists of fruit, which amounts to a little more than 9 percent.* * * It was found in 67 stomachs, of which 16 contained cherries;11, figs; 5, blackberries or raspberries; 1, elder-berries; and 34, fruitpulp not further identified. One stomach was entirely filled with thepulp and seeds of figs." Fruit amounted to nearly 40 percent in July.Herbert Brandt (MS.) watched a Bullock's oriole feeding forseveral mornings at the blossoms of bird of paradise shrubs in Arizona."The oriole came just at dawn. He would fly from flower to flower,
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE 275
often within a few inches of my face, and I could see distinctly by histhroat actions that he was drinking the nectar therefrom. Never didhe show indications of picking out insect life from the deep tubes. Allthe time he was feeding, which was usually long enough for a visit toeach flower, he kept talking to himself, uttering a musical peep note.Later in the day either this oriole or another of the same kind wouldsearch the crimson flowers of the ocotillos on the other side of thehouse in the same manner, but I never saw the oriole among the Birdof Paradise plants at any other time than its regular dawn visits.Evidently this exotic plant does not produce nectar in its cups duringdaytime."W. Otto Emerson (1904) observed these orioles feeding on honey inthe blossoms of the eucalyptus trees; one that he shot had its crop sofull of the honey that it oozed out of its mouth when he picked it up.Ridgway (1877) noticed that, in Nevada, in May, "they were thensubsisting chiefly on the tender buds of the greese-wood," as weresome other birds. Bullock's orioles also feed to some extent on apri-cots, persimmons, hawthorn berries, and probably many other wildfruits and berries.Claude T. Barnes writes to me from Utah: "For half an hour Istood beneath an elm tree observing a pair of Bullock orioles. Someof the leaves were so infected with lice that they were curled edge toedge, and each oriole was busy working its bill into leaf after leaf.When standing on a branch without eating, each bird uttered a chupevery second or so."These orioles are helpful in destroying the cotton boll weevil. A. H.Howell (1907) writes: "These orioles are rather abundant in theregions they inhabit, and in August and September visit the cottonfields in flocks of 10 to 20 individuals. About 27 percent of thoseexamined contained boll weevils, the largest number of weevils found inone stomach being 41. The total number of weevils eaten by 40birds was 133, an average of over 3 weevils to each bird."They do good work on the alfalfa weevil, also. E. R. Kalmbach(1914) says: "Although the alfalfa weevil in all its stages is foundmost frequently on or near the ground, it was present in each ofseven stomachs collected. Two birds taken in June had fed on it tothe extent of 8)i percent of their food, while in the following month itformed nearly twice that amount. One bird collected in July hadeaten no less than 21 adults, equaling 30 percent of its food. Nolarvae were taken by these birds even though this form of the insectwas in great abundance, so that the adults may have been capturedeither on the wing or upon branches of trees which had interceptedtheir flight."That these orioles can catch insects on the wing is shown by the
276 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211following observation by J. G. Tyler (1913) : "The small yellow butter-fly that is found in such numbers in alfalfa fields at certain seasonsseems to be especially attractive to the orioles, and countless dozensof them are devoured. I have seen this bird in the role of flycatcherat such times, flying from a fence wire and seizing a butterfly on thewing, a rather clumsy effort but serving the purpose."Economic status.?From the above account of its feeding habitswe must conclude that, although Bullock's oriole unquestionably doessome damage to cultivated fruits and berries, it more than pays forthis by the large number of harmful insects that it destroys, an actionthat is of real benefit to the agriculturalist. For this reason, andbecause the beauty of its gorgeous plumage and its charming songbring so much joy to so many people, it should be rigidly protectedand encouraged to live and breed about our farms, ranches, andgardens.Behavior.?As mentioned above, Bullock's orioles are most devotedparents and staunch defenders of their nests, eggs, and young.Clarence Cottam (MS.) sends me his observations of the bird in south-eastern Utah: "In this locality the orioles were quite numerous andwere in the midst of their nesting season. Magpies (Pica pica hudsonia)also were very common. One of these omnivorous feeders, a juvenileabout one-half to two thirds grown, was observed circling about anoriole's nest as though searching for a breakfast of eggs. The magpiesoon alighted in the tree in which the nest was hanging and began tocome closer and closer to the beautiful swinging structure. Almostat the instant the magpie settled upon the edge of the nest, the maleoriole, which apparently was but a few rods away, was heard to givean abrupt and angry call of warning. A moment later the enragedmale came with all his force at the intruder, striking it on the crownof the head. The magpie dropped to the ground, stunned to such anextent that I was able to pick it up, and only after 10 minutes could itregain sufficient strength to fly away."W. L. Finley (1907) made some observations on a pair of these ori-oles that nested near his house, saying:I never saw birds more in love than the orioles were. We watched them fromthe time they were first mated. They were always together in the trees about theorchard. * * * Just at the side of the house were three large cherry trees withwide-spreading branches almost to the windows. When the dark shades weredrawn the windows made a very good mirror. One day when the pair of orioleswere playing about the cherry trees I saw the female light on a low branch infront of the window. Then in a few moments she flew down and lit on the sash.The next day I saw both the orioles at the window. The male sat near on thebranches and the female on the sill. As I watched she fluttered up against thewindow, trying her best to hang on, till she slipped down to the bottom. Thenshe turned her head and watched in the glass. The more she looked the more
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE 277
excited she seemed to get, and she fluttered against the glass till out of breath.Then the mate flew down beside her. Time after time the birds were seen atthe window.Once a strange male oriole alighted in the nesting tree, but "the new-arrival had hardly lit when there was a flash of color, and the fatherof the nestlings darted at the intruder like a little fury. Throughthe branches, under trees, over the barn, and across the orchard therighteous pursuer and the invidious pursued darted."On another occasion, "a newly mated pair of orioles were livingabout a grove of trees, and the male bird was in such fine plumagethat a collector shot him for his cabinet. The next day the femaleappeared with a new husband, who was as bright and fine lookingas the bird she lost the day before. At the first chance this male wasalso shot, partly, it was said, because he was such a fine bird andpartly to see if the female would find another as readily. Two dayslater she appeared with a third husband, who went the way of thetwo former ones. The female then disappeared for a few days, butreturned again with a fourth suitor. These two began building in aeucalyptus tree and soon had a family of young birds."This incident clearly illustrates the well-known fact that the urgefor reproduction is very strong in birds, also that they do not grievelong over the loss of a mate, and that there are always enough unmatedbirds to fill in a gap caused by accident. Though this may have beenan extreme case, such happenings are very common.A. W. Anthony (1921) tells of the strange behavior of a captiveBullock's oriole that had never shown any fear of human beings, butshowed "absolute terror" whenever its mistress appeared in a newdress adorned with a string of dark beads; after the beads wereremoved, the behavior of the bird became normal.Voice.?Dawson (1923) writes: "The Bullock Oriole is eithermusical or noisy, but oftener both together. Both sexes indulge astirring rattle which seems to express nearly every variety of emotion.Upon this the male grafts a musical outcry, so that the whole ap-proaches song. A purer song phrase more rarely indulged in may besyllabized as follows: Cut cut cudut whee up chooup. The last notecomes sharp and clear, or, as often, trails off into an indistinguishablejumble. The questing note, or single call, of the male is one of thesweetest sounds of springtime, but an even more domestic sound,chirp trap, uttered while he is trailing about after his swinking spouse,appears ridiculously prosaic."Grinnell and Storer (1924) describe the song of the male as a
"slightly varying series of syllables, rhythmically accented, like hip-kip-y-ty-hoy-hoy , but with a peculiar quality impossible to describe(fide senior author) ; also a mildly harsh cha-cha-cha-cha, etc., in rapid
278 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
sequence, and a single clear note, kleek. Female and young givesimple harsh blackbird-like notes."Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says: "In late March or early April aflash of orange or black in the delicate green of cottonwoods, a charac-teristic chatter, or the kip, kit-tick, kit-tick, whew, wheet of the songannounce the arrival in southern California of the Bullock Oriole."Mrs. Wheelock (1904) writes: "Its call-notes and song resemblethose of the Baltimore, but have less sweetness and variety. Wherethe latter whistles half a dozen variations on his original theme offive notes, the Bullock is content to repeat the same phrase withfew modifications. Nor have I ever heard him give the love songthat is poured out by the Baltimore with such tenderness just atdawn when his mate is on the nest."Field Marks.?A brilliant pattern of orange, black and whitemarks the adult male Bullock's oriole. The top of the head, hindneck, upper back, central tail feathers, and tip of the tail are black;the lores, a narrow stripe behind the eye, and the throat are alsoblack. The wing coverts and edges of the secondaries are white.The rest of the plumage, including the forehead, a broad band abovethe eye, sides of the head and neck, and entire under parts are rich,brilliant orange; the rump, upper tail coverts, and the lateral tailfeathers are also orange. The female is much more soberly colored,olive above and buffy white below, but the sides of the head and neckare more tinged with orange than in other orioles, there is a duskystreak through the eye, some black on the throat, and two whitewing bars.Enemies.?The usual enemies of small birds?crows, magpies, jaysand squirrels?often attempt to rob the nests of eggs or young; thenests are often more accessible than are those of the Baltimore oriole,but the parents are good guardians and often succeed in driving therobbers away.Friedmann (1929) records the Bullock's oriole as a rather rarevictim of the dwarf cowbird, but says that this "species is frequentlyparasitized by the Red-eyed Cowbird." Major Bendire (1895) says;
"Bullock's Oriole may occasionally rid herself of the parasitic egg; atany rate I noticed the remains of one lying under a nest of this species,with portions of one of her own. This nest contained only three eggsof the rightful owner, and the bird was sitting on these."Fall.?Referring to the Fresno district of California, J. G. Tyler(1913) writes: "The great majority of our orioles depart about thetwentieth of July, or at the close of the nesting season. No doubt ascarcity of food during the hot, dry months of August and Septemberis responsible for the short stay of these birds. Probably they scatterout and range up into the higher hills, as many summer residents do
BULLOCKS ORIOLE 279in the southern part of the state. This species has been noted insmall numbers along the San Joaquin River during August."The fall migration in Arizona is referred to by Swarth (1904) asfollows: "The only time at which I have seen Bullock Orioles at allabundant in the Huachuca Mountains was in August 1902. Aboutthe middle of the month flocks of from ten to twenty, nearly allyoung birds, could be seen along the canyons up to an altitude ofabout 5,500 feet. Most of these must have come in from other partsof the country, for I have never found them breeding at all abundantlyin the mountains, being in fact, the rarest of the three species of oriolesoccurring there." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southwestern Canada to Costa Rica.Breeding range.?Bullock's oriole breeds from southern BritishColumbia east of the coastal ranges (Milner, Alkali Lake, OkanaganLanding), northwestern Montana (Flathead Lake) southern Alberta(Warner, Medicine Hat), southwestern Saskatchewan (Maple Creek,Eastend), northeastern Montana (Fan-view), southwestern North Da-kota (Medora), western South Dakota (Harding County, Black Hills),western Nebraska (Chadron, McCook), western Kansas (Garden City),western Oklahoma (Gate), and central Texas (Vernon, Austin) ; south tocentral and southern interior California (Mount Saint Helena, Twenty-nine Palms), southern Nevada (Charleston Mountains, Pioche), south-western Utah (Saint George), central and central-western Arizona(Prescott, Tucson), northeastern Sonora (Saric, Pilares), probablynorthern Chihuahua (Casas Grandes), central Coahuila (Monclava),and southern Texas (Rio Grande City, Brownsville). Summerrecords to east of this range: North Dakota (Towner), South Dakota(Pierre), Kansas (Fort Riley, Manhattan, Lawrence). Hybridizesextensively with /. galbula in western Oklahoma and western Nebraska.Winter range.?Winters from southern Sinaloa (Mazatlan), Mexico.(Tlalpam), and Puebla south, west of the continental divide, to north-western Costa Rica (Liberia); casually north to central California(Durham, Drytown) and southern Texas (Nueces), and southernLouisiana (Cameron, Baton Rouge).Casual records.?Casual in western Washington (Tacoma,Vancouver).Accidental in New York (Onondaga County), Massachusetts(Falmouth), Maine (Sorrento), and Georgia (Grady County).Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole.Early dates of spring arrival are: Sonora?Tesia, March 19.Texas?Rockport, March 20; Cameron County, April 4. Oklahoma
?
380928?57 19
280 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Cimarron County, May 2. Nebraska?Albion, May 7. SouthDakota?Rapid City, May 21. Manitoba?Brandon, May 24.Saskatchewan?Eastend, May 26. New Mexico?Carlisle, April 14.Arizona?Santa Catalina Mountains, March 18. Colorado?GrandJunction, April 25. Utah?Saint George, April 30. Wyoming
?
Cheyenne, April 30 (average of 15 years for Wyoming, May 12).Idaho?Meridian, April 30. Montana?Kirby, May 8; CusterCounty, average, May 20. Alberta?Warner, May 15. CalfiorniaSan Diego, March 1; Escondido, March 5. Nevada?Pioche, April23. Oregon?Josephine County, April 13. Washington?Yakima,April 22. British Columbia?Okanagan Landing, May 6.Late date of spring departure: Sonora?Guirocoba, May 12.Early dates of fall arrival are: Guerrero?Chilpancingo, October 7.Guatemala?Finca Carolina, October 20. Costa Rica?Liberia,November 1.Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?OkanaganLanding, August 29. Washington?southeastern Washington, Sep-tember 8. Oregon?Klamath County, September 10. Nevada?LeeCanon, August 25. California?Hayward, November 16; BuenaPark, September 21. Alberta?Red Deer River, August 29. Mon-tana?Huntley, September 11. Idaho?Pocatello, September 5.Wyoming?Laramie, September 16. Utah?Saint George, November27. Colorado?Pueblo, October 24; Boulder County, September 30.Arizona?Tombstone, September 28. New Mexico?Mesilla, Oc-tober 2. Saskatchewan?Eastend, August 11. Manitoba?Brandon,August 15. South Dakota?White River, August 29. OklahomaCimarron, September 14. Texas?Brownsville, November 6; Vic-toria, October 20.Egg dates.?California: 160 records, April 22 to June 11; 82 rec-ords, May 11 to May 25.Texas: 22 records, April 30 to June 25; 12 records, May 15 toMay 29.Utah: 10 records, May 27 to June 17; 5 records, June 4 to June 7.
LESSER BULLOCK'S ORIOLE 281ICTERUS BULLOCKII PARVUS van RossemLesser Bullock's OrioleHABITSBased on the study of a series of 42 adult males and 15 adultfemales referable to this race, van Rossem (1945) named this subspeciesand described it as "similar in color to Icterus bullockii bullockii(Swainson) of western North America in general. Size distinctlysmaller. Measurements of the type are: wing, 97; tail, 76; culmen,18.4; tarsus 23.2; middle toe, minus claw, 16.7. The correspondingmeasurements of Swainson's type of Xanthornus bullockii (examinedat Cambridge, England, in 1933, and again on July 4, 1938) are 105,83, 20.0, 24.5, and 17.8 mm. Range.?Coastal slope of Californiafrom the San Francisco Bay region south to northern Baja California,and eastward in the extreme southern part of the range to the lowerColorado River valley. Winter range undetermined but occurs insoutheastern Arizona and southern Sonora in migration."It is of interest to note that Ridgway (1902), in a footnote, calledattention long ago to the fact that orioles of this species from Cali-fornia, west of the Sierra Nevada, are smaller than those from theinterior to the eastward of that range.The observations made by Alden H. Miller (1931) on the song andterritorial behavior of two pairs of Bullock's orioles in Contra CostaCounty, Calif., probably apply to birds of this subspecies. He saysthat
?
The male Bullock's Oriole arrives on the breeding ground before the female andestablishes a singing post, perhaps the entire territory. The females arrive oneor two weeks later and come to occupy a territory jointly with a male. Thefemale shares in the defence of territory. * * * The male and female of a pairdo not cooperate completely in the defence of territory at least at a time beforethe nest is built. That is, a female during this period possesses an urge to defenda territory to the exclusion of other females, the male to the exclusion of othermales. Other males during or preceding nest building are not repulsed from theterritory by the female but instead may be acceptable to the female and may becourted. The converse doubtless is true of the male at other periods in thebreeding season. Certainly the male before nest construction is tolerant of twofemales within his territory. At the beginning of nest construction the femalespursue and beg from the males, posturing, fluttering the wings, and singing. Atthis time the males appear to be passive and consistently move away from theadvances of the females. Nevertheless, in flight the males may follow after thefemales.He demonstrated clearly that the females sing more or less regularlyduring the early part of the nesting period, and gives a chart showingthe difference in the songs of the two sexes.
282 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The utterances of female Bullock's Orioles while in defence of territory and inassociation with males in every way are comparable to the songs of males andmay be considered as true territorial songs. The song of the female is similar tothat of the male in rhythm, pitch, and quality except as regards the concludingnotes of the song which in the female are slightly harsher in quality, range overlesser intervals of pitch and show important modifications of the rhythm ascompared with those of the male. Before or during nest building the songs offemales on occasion may be even more abundant than the songs of themales * * *.The songs of the two females were not identical. * * * The songs of the twomales always were extremely similar one to the other. The females sang re-peatedly from the ground whereas the males with one or two exceptions 6ang onlywhile in the trees. The females sang in the trees near their respective males.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?California and Nevada to northwestern Mexico.Breeding range.?The lesser Bullock's oriole breeds from central-western and southern California (Santa Rosa, San Jacinto Mountains),southern Nevada (opposite Mohave, Arizona) and central-western Ari-zona (Colorado River Valley); south to northern Baja California (SanRafael, Colorado Delta) and northwestern Sonora (Colonia, San Luis).Winter range.?Winter range largely unknown ; possibly sparinglyin southern California (Los Angeles) and Arizona (Parker), probablyin central-western Mexico, south to Guerrero (Chilpancingo) ; migrantstaken in Sonora (San Javier, Tesia, Guirocoba), and Arizona (northto Camp Verde, rarely to Wupatki National Monument).EUPHAGUS CAROLINUS CAROLINUS (Miiller)Continental Rusty BlackbirdPlate 21HABITSTo most of the residents of the United States the rusty blackbirdis known only as an abundant spring and fall migrant, for its breedinggrounds are north of our border, though a few breed in northern NewEngland and the species winters abundantly in the Southern States.Its breeding range extends northward to the limits of trees in northernAlaska and Canada and southward to the central portions of BritishColumbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario; it extends across ournorthern border into northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and,New York. Frederick C. Lincoln (1935) says that "in the StikineRiver Valley of northern British Columbia and southwestern Alaska"the rusty blackbird is one of several eastern species that have ex-tended their breeding ranges to within "20 to 100 miles of the PacificOcean."
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 283On its breeding grounds, the rusty blackbird seems to show a decidedpreference for the vicinity of water, the shores of lakes, ponds orstreams, or the more or less inaccessible bogs or swamps. Bendire(1895) says:The Rusty Grackle is much more of a forest-loving species than the otherBlackbirds, and during the breeding season it appears to be far less gregarious.Its favorite haunts in the Adirondack^ are the swampy and heavily wooded shoresof the many little mountain lakes and ponds found everywhere in this region, andhere it spends the season of reproduction in comparative solitude. I can statefrom personal experience that the oologist who desires to study this species on itsbreeding grounds must make up his mind to endure all sorts of discomforts;millions of black flies, gnats, and mosquitoes make life a burden during his stay,while the bogs and swamps through which one is compelled to flounder in searchof the nest render walking anything but pleasant.Spring.?Large flocks of rusty blackbirds begin moving north-ward from their winter range in the Southern States in March, passingthrough the Northern States mainly in April, and reaching thenorthern limits of their breeding range in May. Their passage israther rapid and the route is broadly northward along the Atlanticand Mississippi flyways, though they are sometimes seen in theGreat Plains region and there is a northwestward trend in Canadatoward Alaska. Some variations from the above very general state-ment should be noted. Milton B. Trautman (1940) says of themigration at Buckeye Lake, Ohio : "The spring vanguard of the RustyBlackbird made its first appearance between February 18 and March2. Its numbers were small until almost mid-March. Then a fewdays later a sharp increase in numbers took place, and until approxi-mately April 12, from 50 to 3,000 individuals could be recordeddaily. There was generally a decrease in numbers shortly aftermid-April, and from then until May 5 only 5 to 50 individuals wereobserved in a day, and never more than 100 were seen. The lasttransients were recorded between May S and 22."Referring to Manitoba, Seton (1891) writes: "April 15, 1882:Snow still deep everywhere, but melting fast. In the poplars alongthe slough side to-day was a large flock of Rusty Grackles. * * *
"April 21: The thousands of Grackles have been increased to tensof thousands. They blacken the fields and cloud the air. The baretrees on which they alight are foliated by them. Their incessantjingling songs drown the music of the Meadow Larks and produce adreamy, far-away effect, as of myriads of distant sleigh bells. Mixedwith the flocks of Rusty Grackles now are a"-few Red-winged Black-birds."The spring migration of the rusty blackbirds is spectacular, noisy,and ubiquitous; the birds may be seen in enormous numbers almostanywhere, following the plowman as he cultivates his land, blackening
284 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the stubble or grain fields, filling the air in passing clouds, or gatheringto sing in the leafless treetops along the roadsides or in the swampywoods and roosting at night in the swamps or sloughs. As Beal(1900) puts it: "One of the most familiar sights to the New Englandschoolboy, and one that assures him that spring is really at hand, is atree full of blackbirds, all facing the same way and each one singingat the top of its voice. These are rusty blackbirds, or rusty grackles,which, in their spring journey to the north, have a way of beguilingthe tedium of their long flight by stopping and giving free concerts.Every farmhouse by the wayside will have its visitors, and everyboy who hears them is eager to tell his mates that he has seen thefirst flock of blackbirds."In eastern Massachusetts, according to William Brewster (1906)
:
"The Rusty Blackbird comes to us from the south in early springabout the time when Pickering's hyla begins peeping. The tinklingnotes of the Blackbird are, indeed, ever associated in my mind withthe bell-like call of the hyla, for at this season the two sounds areusually heard together. Being pitched on nearly the same key, it isnot always easy to discriminate them, especially when a score ofBlackbirds and several hundred hylas are exercising their vocal organsat once."Rev. J. H. Langille (1884) gives the following impression of thespring flight
:
On the first day of May, 1880, as I stood on an iron bridge crossing a sluggishstream of Tonawanda Swamp, I saw the Rusty Grakles (Scolecophagus ferrugineus)constantly trooping by in immense numbers. They were moving in a veryleisurely manner, immense detachments constantly alighting. The large tractof low land, covered with the alder, the willow and the osier, seemed alive withthem. The sombre wave, thus constantly rolling on, must have carried hundredsof thousands over this highway in a day. Occasionally they would alight to feedin the low, wet fields in the vicinity, making the earth black with their numbers.* * * On being alarmed, either in the fields or in the bushes, these Grakles wouldrise in a dense, black cloud, and with a rumbling sound like that of distant thunder.Courtship.?The following brief note by Dr. Charles W. Town-send (1920) is all that I can find on this subject: "The courtshipof this bird, if such it may be called, is produced with apparentlygreat effort, wide open bill and spread tail, resulting in a series ofsqueaking notes suggestive of an unoiled windmill
?
wat-chee e. Attimes a sweet lower note, often double, is heard."J. A. Munro (1947) observed that two males in the top of a tree"performed a simple display that consisted of stretching one wingdownward to its full extent, then whistling a single note."Nesting.?Frederic H. Kennard (1920) spent portions of fiveseasons in northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, huntingfor nests of the rusty blackbird, and his excellent account of his
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 285
experiences throws more light on the home life of this species thancan be found elsewhere. The first two trips were made too early inthe season, the last ten days in May; most of the nests held youngbirds, though one contained a set of five eggs that was too heavilyincubated to be saved; on subsequent seasons he was more successful.He makes the following general statement about the nesting sites:
"For sites they seem more apt to choose evergreens, preferably thickclumps of second growth spruce and balsam, though I have foundthem in dead trees or in clumps of deciduous bushes, button-bushand sweet gale, along the shores of some stream."He says that they did not breed in colonies, the nearest nests heever found being "a quarter of a mile apart." His lowest nest "wasbuilt about 2 feet up in a little, low black spruce, one of a clump ona floating island, in a swamp caused by raising the waters of a largelake on which it was situated." His highest nest was "about 20 feetup, in a tall, unhealthy looking spruce. It was placed in one of thosethick bunches of evergreen twigs that sometimes grow close to thetrunk of a spruce, and could not be seen from the ground." All theother nests were much less than 10 feet above the ground or water.One nest was in a dead spruce top that had floated down the streamin the spring floods and become stranded near its mouth. It wasonly a foot above the surface of the water, in a tangle of usnea moss,and so well hidden that "we had paddled by it in our canoe time aftertime without ever suspecting its presence." Another nest was besidea "brook, in a tangled growth of sweet gale overhanging a ditch, andabout two feet above the water." Still another was "about 10 feetback from the edge of the stream, in a thick growth of button-bushes.The nest was placed in a crotch, a couple of feet above the water,just as a Red-wing's would have been." He shows a photograph ofa nest, "built in the top of an old stump, standing in the water, outfrom the shore of a lake."To illustrate the persistency of these birds in attempting to raise abrood, he took a set of eggs from a nest on May 24; 12 days later, onJune 5, he took the eggs from their secoad nest; the birds built theirthird nest and laid a set of four eggs within 11 days; he took theseeggs, also, but the persevering birds built a fourth nest and wereallowed to raise a brood of three young.Near Eed Deer, Alberta, W. E. Saunders (1920) found severalnests "in the typical location, over water. * * * Exceptions doubtlessoccur, but I have never found nests of the Rusty other than overwater, and Brewer's never very near water."Kennard (1920) gives the following excellent description of the nest:In construction, those that I have seen, have all been particularly well built,rather bulky structures, and practically alike. A foundation is usually laid of
286 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
usnea moss, sometimes in thick masses, and upon this they build their outsideframe-work of twigs, usnea, lichens and occasionally a few dried grasses. In oneof the nests in my collection the twigs used were mostly dead hackmetack, inanother spruce, while in the remainder, twigs from deciduous trees predominated.This frame-work usually becomes thicker and more substantial as it progressesupward.Within this outside frame they construct a well modeled hollow bowl, betweenfive and one-half and six centimeters in depth, and between eight and one-halfand nine and one-half centimeters inside diameter. This bowl, which seems tothe casual observer to be made of mud, is in reality made of 'duff,' the rottingvegetable matter with which the ground of this region is covered, and whichwhen dried becomes nearly as hard and stiff as papier mache; and shows theirinteresting adaptability to conditions, as real mud must at this season be hardto find. A cross-section of the nest shows the bowl to be of varying thickness,but averaging between five and ten millimetres, and so pressed into its surroundingframe as to become, when it hardens, a part of it.After the bowl has been carefully modeled and smoothed off on the inside,it is lined with fine, long green leaves of grasses that grow in the swamps there-abouts, and is finally topped off with dried grasses and fibres of various sorts,and a few thin, bendable twigs. In recently constructed nests I have found thegreen lining to be absolutely constant, although as incubation progresses, thesegrasses, of course, gradually turn brown. The diameter of the nest when finished,just across the outside of the bowl, averages about twelve centimetres, while thediameter of the entire structure, except for a few outreaching twigs, varies fromfourteen to twenty centimetres. The usual measurements from foundation totop of bowl are from eight and one-half to nine centimetres.Bendire (1895) says that a nest taken in Herkimer County, N. Y.,
"measures 7 inches in outer diameter by b xA inches in depth; the innercup is VA inches wide by 2% inches deep. One of these nests will lastfor several seasons, but a fresh one is usually built every year. Thesebirds are very much attached to their summer homes, returning tothem from year to year, and rarely more than two or three pairs nestin one locality; in fact, they are as often found singly."Eggs.?The set consists of four or five eggs, and one is depositedeach day. Bendire (1895) describes them very well, as follows: "Theeggs of the Rusty Blackbird are mostly ovate in shape. The shell isstrong, finely granulated, and slightly glossy. The ground color is alight bluish green, which fades somewhat with age; this is blotchedand spotted more or less profusely, and generally heaviest about thelarger end of the egg, with different shades of chocolate and chestnutbrown and the lighter shades of ecru, drab, and pale gray. Thepeculiar scrawls so often met with amomg the eggs of the Blackbirdsare rarely seen on these eggs, which are readily distinguishable fromthose of the other species."In a series of 50 sets, reported to me by A. D. Henderson, ofBelvedere, Alberta, there are 25 sets of five eggs and 3 sets of six.The measurements of 50 eggs average 25.8 by 18.6 millimeters; the
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 287
eggs showing the four extremes measure 29.8 by 20.0, 26.7 by 20.1,23.1 by 17.8, and 25.9 by 16.3 millimeters.Incubation.?All the information that we have points to an incu-bation period of about 14 days, performed by the female alone.Keunard (1920) says:The female usually starts incubation with the laying of the first egg, particularlyin early spring, when the weather is cold, and sits pretty close, flying off only uponone's near approach. * * * During incubation the male is very assiduous in hisattentions to the female, feeding her frequently, and seldom flies far from thenesting locality. The female at this season is usually seldom in evidence, but bywatching the male, one can soon determine by his actions the approximatelocality of the nest. He has the very conspicuous habit of sitting on the top ofsome tall dead stub or tree, often with a nice fat grub in his bill and calling to thefemale. This call is a two-syllabled "conk-ee," very similar to the three-syllabled
"conk-a-ree" of the Redwing, but clearer and more musical, and usually dis-tinguishable from the notes of the other blackbirds.If disturbed by the proximity of watchers, he may delay for a while, utteringan occasional "chip" of alarm, but sooner or later he will fly close to the nest orto the top of some nearby stub, when the female will fly out to him, and with low
"chucks" and much fluttering of wings, partake of the delicious morsel he hasbrought her.Young.?Kennard (1920) watched a brood of young from the timethey hatched until they left the nest; of this brood he writes:
"The young, when hatched, are covered with a long, thin, fuscous natal down;and fed by both parents, at frequent intervals, develop rapidly, as such youngbirds do. The nest is kept clean, and I saw the female frequently drop a whitefecal sac in the nearby brook, as she flew away from feeding her charges. By thefifth day, the primary quills and other wing feathers are well under way, whilethe growths along the remaining feather tracts are starting; and slight slits beginto show between their eyelids. By the tenth day the young are well coveredwith feathers, through which some of their natal down still protrudes, and theireyes are nearly but not quite wide open.A tragedy occurred to the only brood I was able to watch, for on the tenth dayafter hatching, one of the young was found in the water, about ten feet from thenest, dead and partially eaten. Whether he deliberately climbed from the nest, andlater fell into the water, or was taken by some animal, will never be known, butthe next day the three remaining young all climbed out into the adjoining bushes,it seemed to me, ahead of schedule time, for their eyes were hardly open, andthey were still unable to fly.They remained in the immediate vicinity of the nest for the next two days,climbing and hopping from bush to bush, with both parents in close attendance,till on the thirteenth day, they had learned the use of their wings; and in theevening the last one was seen to fly across the stream, followed by its mother,and to disappear in the swamp beyond.Plumages.?As mentioned above, the young when first hatchedare covered with long, thin, fuscous down. The sexes are alike in thejuvenal plumage, which Dwight (1900) describes as follows: "Wholeplumage slate-color washed on back and throat with sepia-brown.
288 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Tail darker with greenish reflections. Tertials and wing covertsedged with Mar's-brown."A complete postjuvenal molt occurs during the latter half of summer;this produces a first winter plumage, in which the sexes become dis-tinguishable, and which is not very different from that of the adultsin the fall. Dwight describes the first winter plumage of the youngmale as "everywhere lustrous greenish black more or less veiled abovewith Mar's-brown, below with wood-brown." The illustrations ofthese plumages in Bird-Lore, vol. 23, No. 6, opposite p. 281, seem tome to be much too highly colored.Ridgway (1902) adds, in a footnote, the following comment:"The extent of this rusty and buffy coloring varies exceedingly indifferent individuals, probably according to age. In some (doubtlessyounger birds) the rusty is nearly uniform on the pileum and hindneck,and forms very broad tips to the scapulars and interscapulars, whilethe cinnamon-buffy forms a continuous broad superciliary stripe andis nearly uniform over the malar region, chin and throat. Otherwinter males (probably very old individuals) have scarcely a trace ofthis rusty and buffy coloring, being quite like summer specimens,except that the plumage is more highly glossed."There is apparently no prenuptial molt in either young or adultbirds, the spring plumage being acquired by the complete, or nearlycomplete, wearing away of the rusty edgings. Adults have a completepostnuptial molt in summer, beginning the middle of July.Dwight (1900) says that the first winter plumage of the female "isvery like the juvenal but with much Mar's-brown above chiefly onthe head and strongly washed below with wood-brown, these colorsedging slaty feathers; the lores and auriculars are dull black in contrast.The first nuptial plumage is acquired by wear and later plumages varylittle from the first winter."Food.?Beal (1900) analyzed the contents of 132 stomachs of therusty blackbird, taken every month in the year except June and July,and reports:The stomachs contained a larger proportion of animal matter (53 percent)than those of any other species of American blackbirds except the bobolink.This is the more remarkable in view of the fact that none were taken in the twobreeding months of June and July, when in all probability the food consistsalmost exclusively of animal matter. While the birds are decidedly terrestrialin their feeding habits, they do not eat many predaceous ground beetles (Cara-bidae), the total consumption of these insects amounting to only 1.7 percent ofthe whole food. Scarabaeids, the May-beetle family, form 2 percent, and inApril 11.7 percent. Various other families of beetles aggregate 10.1 percent,largely aquatic beetles and their larvae, which, so far as known, do not have anygreat economic importance. A few of the destructive snout-beetles (Rhyn-chophora) are also included, as well as some chrysomelids and others.
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 289Caterpillars constitute 2.5 percent and do not form any very striking percent-age at any time, except, perhaps, in May, when they amount to 11.7 percent.Grasshoppers nearly equal beetles in the extent to which they are eaten, andexceed every other order of insects, although none appeared in the stomachstaken in January, March, May, and December, and in February but a trace.In August, as usual, they reach the maximum, 44.3 percent, only a trifle higher,however, than the October record. The average for the year is 12 percent.Various orders of insects, such as ants, a few bugs, and also a few flies, with suchaquatic species as dragon-flies, caddice-flies, and ephemerids were eaten in all themonths except January, in which only one stomach was taken. They aggregate13.7 percent of the whole food, but owing to the number of forms no one amountsto a noteworthy percentage, and many of them are of little economic importance.Spiders and myriapods (thousand-legs) are eaten to the extent of 4 percent andamount to 23 percent in August. Other small animals, such as crustaceans,snails, salamanders, and small fish, were found in the stomachs for nearly everymonth, and amount to 7 percent of the food of the year, but none of them areimportant from an economic point of view.The vegetable food consists of grain, 24.4 percent, weed seed, 6percent, and miscellaneous substances such as a small amount offruit and a little mast, 16.6 percent of the food of the year. Of grain,corn seems to be the favorite, amounting to 17.6 percent of the year'sfood and averaging as much as 26.5 percent in 15 stomachs collectedin November. "Wheat and oats collectively amount to only 6.8percent of the year's food. Oats are apparently preferred and inMarch constitute 15.4 percent of the month's food. These Marchstomachs came from the Southern States, so it is probable that thegrain was picked up on newly sown fields." Weed seed is not animportant item, amounting to only 6 percent for the year; its "erraticdistribution evidently indicates that weed seed is not sought after,but is simply taken when nothing better is at hand. Miscellaneousitems of vegetable food amount to 16.6 percent of the food of the year.Fruit was found in a few stomachs, but does not appear to any im-portant extent. Only three kinds were determined, but severalstomachs contained pulp or skin that could not be identified. Severalbuffalo berries (Shepherdia argentea) were found in one stomach,hackberries (Celtis occidentalis) in another, and seeds of blackberriesor raspberries (Rubus) in two or three others. Mast was found ina few stomachs, but the greater part of the miscellaneous food wasindeterminable."Francis H. Allen tells me that the rusty blackbird feeds on theseeds of the white ash. Milton P. Skinner (1928) says that, in NorthCarolina, "in addition to the seeds, waste grain and insects usuallyeaten by all blackbirds, the Rusty Blackbirds add fruits from thesour gum in December, January and February, and dogwood berriesin January. In February, Rusty Blackbirds feed in cowpea fields oninsects, but do not disturb any waste peas that may be present."
290 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Economic status.?From the above study of its food habits itappears that the rusty blackbird is of no great economic importance,either one way or the other. It does no great damage to agriculture,for the small amounts of cultivated fruits and berries eaten areinsignificant; and, although it consumes considerable grain, this ismostly taken as waste grain during the late fall and winter, and doesnot interfere with harvesting; some newly sown grain may be pickedup in the early spring. On the other hand, as it does not spend thesummer in agricultural regions, it cannot be as helpful to the farmerin destroying harmful insects as some other species. But it doesenough good to be worthy of protection.Behavior.?Mr. Skinner (1928) writes:Rusty Blackbirds on the ground walk, and run nimbly, with a nodding of theirheads forward and backward in time to their own steps. As compared withother blackbirds, this species is perhaps tamer and certainly more quiet, composedand dignified. When hunting across the ground, members of the flock are con-tinually walking and running, and frequently individual birds fly a few feet to aposition at the front. While Rusty Blackbirds fly in dense compact flocks allwinter, and appear to enjoy the society of other members of their own kind, theyare less apt to join other species. When in flocks composed of several species,the Rusty Blackbirds usually split off into separate flocks composed of their ownkind. But at times they vary this and join flocks of Meadowlarks and Starlings;but on the other hand Starlings, Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds moreoften join the Rusty Blackbirds. During the winter these Blackbirds are alsoseen temporarily with Bluebirds, Juncos, Doves and Horned Larks.While the flocks of Rusty Blackbirds are more dense and compact than mostother species, they are not so much so as those of Red-winged Blackbirds. Aflock in flight moves steadily onward, but the individual birds undulate up anddown, or swing from side to side, so that the relative positions constantly changeand give the flock a rippling appearance. They fly either against the wind orwith it. In the latter case, just before alighting on ground or trees they wheeland come up to their perches against the wind. In its minor points, the flightof these birds is thrush-like. Rusty Blackbirds are quiet during the winter,but the song also suggests a thrush rather than a blackbird.Behavior in Ohio during migrations is thus described by Trautman(1940): "During migrations the birds were found most frequentlyon wet ground or near water. Many spent the days in the cattailmarshes and on the shores of the lake, where they fed while wadingin the shallows. In the inland brushy swamps the}'' also fed in shallowwater or on wet ground. There were flocks about the 'sky ponds'and overflow puddles in fields, especially in early spring, and smallgroups were along the banks of the streams. At night all except afew roosted in cattail swamps about the lake, on Cranberry Island, orin the denser and more brushy inland swamps. Throughout thebird's entire sojourn it was a close associate of the Eastern Redwing,and to a lesser extent of the Bronzed Grackle, Cowbird, and Starling."
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 291Mr. Brewster (193G) tells of a blackbird roost in eastern Mas-sachusetts:October 4, 1901. * * * A little before sunset I paddled up river to Beaver DamLagoon to investigate the Blackbird roost. A good many Rusty Blackbirds hadalready arrived and others, as well as Cowbirds, were coming almost continuouslyfrom every direction (but chiefly from the west) in small flocks or singly. Bothspecies are roosting together in the button bushes and low, dense willows nearthe head of the lagoon. Into these they pitched headlong, disappearing at onceamong the dense foliage. The}' seemed to have no fear or suspicion but soughttheir roosts without hesitation or loss of time. A few restless birds, however,flitted from thicket to thicket before they finally settled for the night. I countedupward of 175 of which about one half were Rusties and all the others apparentlyCowbirds. They made a deafening clamor, keeping it up until nearly dark.John B. Lewis (1931) relates the following interesting experience:About noon, November 6, 1930, in company with my friend Mr. J. FrankDuncan I was walking through a tract of partly wooded pasture land belonging tohis estate. A flock of 50 or more Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus) werefeeding on the ground farther up the hill in the direction in which we were walking.Suddenly there was a great commotion among the Blackbirds and instantly oneof them darted directly toward us, closely pursued by a Sharp-shinned Hawk(Accipiter velox). Mr. Duncan and I were side by side and with a space of abouttwo feet between us. In an incredibly short time the Blackbird darted betweenus screaming at the top of his voice, while the Hawk, who evidently did not seeus until within ten feet, frantically checked himself, noticeably fanning ourfaces, and when within two feet of us swerved to one side and made haste into thewoods. When the Hawk began to check his speed he was within a foot of theBlackbird, and with both feet stretched forward to grasp it.Ruthven Deane (1895) received a letter from his friend, Jesse N.Cummings, of Anahuac, Tex., telling to what extremes these black-birds will go for food when hard pressed to find it. There had beena heavy snowfall, covering the ground to a depth of 20 inches for aperiod of 3 or 4 days. An artesian well had kept the ground bare ona small portion of the bay shore, where large numbers of snipe, somerobins and other birds had congregated to hunt for food. The letterstates: "At this small open piece of ground, the Rusty and CrowBlackbirds had collected, but I did not see them kill many Snipe thefirst day or two, but the third and fourth days they just went for them.I should say that I saw them actually kill ten or twelve Snipe on theground where the snow had melted, but there were thirty or fortydead ones that I saw in other places. The Rusty Blackbirds werethe principle aggressors, and it was astonishing to see how quicklythey could attack and lay out a Snipe or a Robin. Both species werekilled while on the ground and the Blackbirds would only eat the head,or as near as I could see, the brain, while the body was left untouched."Voice.?Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following descriptionof the song of the rusty blackbird, as heard on migration, based on
292 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
eight records: "There are two types of song, the first a rhythmicalalternation of a phrase of two or three notes, with a single higher-pitched note. This song goes on for some time, with indefinite length,and therefore may be considered a long-continued song, like songs ofthe mockingbirds and vireos. The first phrase is quite musical, thenotes rising a little in pitch. The single note of higher pitch is rathersqueaky in quality. The whole song sounds like tolalee eektolalee eek, etc. This song is exceedingly even and rhythmic,the pauses between phrases being just twice as long as the phrases,and in my timed records a phrase and the pause following occupyfrom four-fifths to one full second."The second type of song consists of a rather rapid repetition, twoor three times, of a 3-note phrase, rising in pitch. For one such songI wrote, in the field, the sound of the phrases as kawicklee kawicklee.This is often repeated at intervals, but less rhythmically than thefirst song. In one case the bird called a short kick kick kick betweenthe songs."The pitch of rusty blackbird songs varies from A ' ' to D " ".The high squeak in the first type of song is usually pitched on C " "or D " ", the highest note of the piano or just above it, while theother phrases may begin anywhere from two tones to an octave lower.
"Singing on the spring migration is to be heard in Connecticut inMarch or April. My average date for the first song heard is March19 and for the last April 16. The earliest song heard was on March 2,1930, and the latest May 2, 1939. Three times, in my experience, Ihave heard rusty blackbirds sing in the fall: October 13, 1935; October31, 1937; and October 12, 1945.
"Call notes I have heard are a short kick, not so loud as the chackof the redwing, and a rattle like turururo."Francis H. Allen has sent me the following study: "The chuck noteof this species, as I hear it, is rougher than that of the redwing,though much less rough than that of the grackle, as well as higherpitched than the latter."On April 17, 1938, in West Roxbury, Mass., I took rather carefulnotes on the song of the rusty blackbird. I watched one for a longtime at close range. It sang pretty constantly in a willow over abrook and used the two phrases I have been familiar with, but notalways in regular alternation as is commonly the case. The morefamiliar phrase I syllabify as unsslter-ee. This phrase would berepeated over and over, but frequently a phrase with the final ee ona lower pitch would be interpolated. This latter phrase was neverrepeated until at least one of the former had intervened. It was al-ways followed immediately by the phrase first mentioned, with ashorter interval than between the repetitions of that phrase or be-
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 293tween that and a following low-pitched one. The phrase with thelow-pitched final note began with a higher pitched wisslter than thatof the other. The 'shuffling' notes, always present in the rustyblackbird's song, seemed more liquid and less rustling, heard at thisclose range, than I have before considered them. For my ownimmediate purposes I syllabified the two phrases roughly as oodle-a-wee, eedle-a-woo. The order, however, should probably be reversed,so that a continuous performance might go like this: high-low low-high, high-low low-high, etc. The commas indicate a longer restthan the blanks. If I numbered the eedle-a-woo phrase as 1 and theoodle-a wee phrase as 2, the succession would then be: 1-2, 1-2, 1-2,2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1-2, 1-2."What is of special interest is the fact, which I observed manytimes, that the tail was spread with many phrases, but was spreadwider with No. 1 than with No. 2. The width of the spread wasrelative, not absolute."Field marks.?The rusty blackbird is not always an easy bird toidentify in the field. In spring the migrating flocks may easily beconfused with the early flocks of male redwings, for at that timethe latter often show little or no red on the wings when perched,and might be mistaken for rusties. The females of the two speciesare not at all alike, and their habits are different.In the fall, the rusty blackbirds deserve their name, as the blackplumage of the males and the dark plumage of the females are bothmore or less veiled with the rusty edgings, and this is much moreconspicuous in the younger birds.In the Central-Western States, this species is even more difficultto distinguish from Brewer's blackbird. The latter has a thickerbill at the base and a purplish black head, which the rusty does nothave. In the fall, the rusty blackbird is much more extensivelyrusty than is the Brewer's.Enemies.?The narrow escape of a terrified rusty blackbirdfrom a sharp-shinned hawk, as related above, shows that theseblackbirds recognize the accipitrine hawks and probably the largerfalcons as deadly enemies.As the rusty blackbird breeds mainly north of the area where cow-birds are abundant, it is seldom imposed upon by these birds, andbeing larger, would probably not be a very satisfactory foster parentto this parasite.Friedmann (1934) reports: "Mr. T. E. Randall found two nests ofthis bird in Alberta, each with eggs of the Nevada Cowbird. Mr.A. D. Henderson writes me that he found the species victimized inAlberta. These are the first records for this bird as a molothrinevictim."
294 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Harold S. Peters (1936) recorded one louse, Myrsidea incerta(Kell.), as an external parasite on this blackbird.Fall.?Although not early migrants, the rusty blackbirds deserttheir breeding haunts as soon as the young are able to fly and to feedthemselves. According to Kennard (1920) this occurs about themiddle of July in northern New England ; they are no longer seen insolitary pairs, but "again become gregarious, and are seen in smallflocks, flying high overhead, between the lakes, or feeding along theirshores, getting ready for their southern migration."The fall migration begins early in September, but is not in fullswing until October, when the birds are pouring through the northernStates in immense flocks; the flight continues through Novemberin diminishing numbers, and a few birds linger into December.Tufts tells me that the average date, over a 4-year period, when thespecies was last seen at Wolfville, Nova Scotia, is October 17. Hehas one record for early winter, December 16, 1921, "when a bright-colored male was seen feeding on the main highway in companywith three blue jays. There was snow on the ground at the time."When the flight is well underway it is sometimes quite spectacular.Wendell Taber tells me that, at Lynnfield, Mass., on October 10,1937, he saw a migrating flock that extended for at least a mile, or asfar as he could see; the birds were flying southward on a broad frontextending from east to west; the wave was from 20 to 40 birds deepfrom vanguard to rearguard, and only one bird deep vertically.Brewster (1906) writes:In autumn Rusty Blackbirds are most numerous in the Cambridge Regionduring the month of October, when roving flocks may be found quite as often inupland fields and pastures as in the lowlands. Wherever they find a field ofripening corn?whether of the yellow, or the sweet, variety?they are sure tovisit it almost daily, from the time of their first arrival to that when the laststalks are harvested by the farmer. Early in the seasoD they puncture the kernelsand suck out the pasty contents, and after the corn has hardened they sometimesswallow it whole. During the greater part of October they may be seen associatingwith Robins in "cedar pastures" or even with Blue Jays in oak and chestnutwoods. Indeed there are few places in our country districts which they do notvisit occasionally at this season. At evening the scattered flocks all fly to theswamps, sometimes congregating in considerable numbers to spend the nighttogether.During the fall migration, in October, these birds sometimes gatherin large numbers in the tall deciduous trees, oaks, walnuts, maples,and elms that form a dense grove of thick foliage along a stream thatflows past my back yard, close to the center of the city and within astone's throw of brick buildings. Scores of them pour in after sunsetin loose, scattering flocks, and move about chattering in the trees, or
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 295drop down to the banks of the stream to feed or drink. But they neverspend the night here; they are always restless and active, and theymove away before darkness comes, to find some other roosting placefor the night.Winter.?Most of the rusty blackbirds spend the winter in theSouthern States, but there are several records of individuals, or evensmall flocks, surviving the rigors of our northern winters. A NovaScotia record has been mentioned. John C Phillips (1912) givesseveral winter records for Massachusetts and tells of seeing a flock of18 that spent the whole of a severe winter in Essex County. "Theywere getting most of their food, apparently, from a large pile of horsemanure."From Alberta, Frank L. Farley (1932) writes: "Eleven RustyBlackbirds spent the entire winter of 1919-20 in the stockyards inCamrose. On November 6th, 1919, the thermometer registered 24below zero. Towards the end of January the cold was intense, themercury on several occasions dropping to 55 below zero, yet theblackbirds appeared to get along just as well as the snow-buntingwith which they fed."At Buckeye Lake, Ohio, according to Trautman (1940), "winteringindividuals fed about the water as long as it was free of ice, but when-ever the lakes, ponds, and streams were ice-covered, they were to befound in fields of uncut corn or of rank weeds near brushy thickets.Wintering birds roosted in cattail marshes and in the denser and morebrushy inland swamps."Skinner (1928) says that, in North Carolina, "during the winterfrom November to February there was a flock of fifty Rusty Black-birds almost constantly about the fields near the Pinehurst Dairy.This flock was composed of both sexes, but began to split up andscatter about the first of March. Although these birds were usuallyon the ground, they often alighted on low trees?oaks, pines, gums,dogwoods and sycamores?and on board fences and the wires andposts of wire fences. Occasionally they are seen on race-courses orgolf links, and often about streams or the thickets over streams.Still it is quite noticeable that these birds prefer the uplands withother blackbirds more than any other locality."In South Carolina, "great numbers of Rusty Blackbirds frequent therice plantations in winter, associating with Florida Grackles (Quiscalusquiscula aglaeus) and Boat-tailed Grackles {Megaquiscalus major)where stacks of rice have been left in the fields," according to ArthurT. Wayne (1910).
380928?57 20
296 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Alaska and Canada, south to Texas and the Gulf coast.Breeding range.?The continental rusty blackbird breeds fromnorthern Alaska (Kotzebue Sound, Barrow, Fort Yukon), northernYukon (Porcupine River at Alaska boundary, King Point), north-western and central Mackenzie (mouth of Peel River, Pikes Portage),northern Manitoba (Churchill, York Factory), northern Ontario(Fort Severn, Lake River Post), northern Quebec (Fort Chimo), andcentral Labrador (Nain, Makkovik) ; south to south-central Alaska(Bethel, Fort Egbert), central and northeastern British Columbia(between the Rocky Mountains and coastal ranges: Atlin, NulkiLake), south-central Alberta (Calgary, Red Deer), central Sas-katchewan (Big River, Emma Lake), central Manitoba (probablyOxford Lake), western and southern Ontario (Savanne, Bruce County,Algonquin Park), and southern Quebec (Inlet), through the northernAppalachians to northeastern New York (Raquette Lake, LongLake), northern Vermont (Franklin, Saint Johnsbury), northernNew Hampshire (Averill, Lake Umbagog), central-western, central,and southeastern Maine (Oxford, to Washington counties), andsouthern New Brunswick (Scotch Lake).Winter range.?Winters casually north to southern BritishColumbia (Okanagan Landing), central Alberta (Camrose), southernSaskatchewan (Eastend), southern Manitoba (Portage la Prairie),central Minnesota (Fosston, Elk River), southern Wisconsin (Madi-son, Waukesha), southern Michigan (Kalamazoo, East Lansing),southern Ontario (Kitchener, Reaboro), central and southeasternNew York (Geneva, Rhinebeck), central New Hampshire and southernMaine (Falmouth, Calais) ; south casually to central Colorado (Love-land, Colorado Springs), central and southeastern Texas (Abilene,Seabrook), the Gulf Coast, and northern Florida (Cedar Keys, NewSmyrna)
.
Casual records.?Casual in southwestern and southeasternAlaska (Nushagak, Kodiak Island, Wrangell), California (AmadorCounty, Santa Rosa and San Clemente Islands, Jamacha), Idaho(Potlatch), Arizona (Grand Canyon, Tucson), and western Texas(Alpine).Accidental in Siberia (Indian Point), Alaskan islands in BeringSea (Saint Paul, Saint Lawrence), Baja California (Valladeres) andGreenland (Fiskenaes, Fredrikshaab)
.
Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole.Early dates of spring arrival are: North Carolina?Raleigh, Febru-ary 10 (average of 10 years, March 2). Virginia?Naruna, February14. West Virginia?Bluefield, February 8. Maryland?Laurel, Feb-
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 297
ruary 25 (median of 7 years, March 18). Pennsjdvania?BerksCounty, February 10. New Jersey?Milltown, February 23. NewYork?Mastic, February 16; Geneva, February 21. Connecticut
?
Fail-field, March 2. Rhode Island?Providence, March 17. Massa-chusetts?Belmont and Concord, February 20. Vermont?Rutland,March 11 (average of 13 years, April 3). New Hampshire?EastWestmoreland, March 5. Maine?Hebron, March 9; Ellsworth,March 10. Quebec?Quebec, March 31. New Brunswick?ScotchLake, March 22 (median of 26 j^ears, April 7). Nova Scotia?Wolf-ville, March 20 (median of 8 years, March 25). Prince EdwardIsland?North River, March 31. Newfoundland?St. Anthony,April 28. Greenland?southwest Greenland, March 8. ArkansasWinslow, February 21. Tennessee?Knoxville, March 1. Ken-tucky?Russelville, March 11. Missouri?Jasper City, February 20.Illinois?Toulon, February 22; Chicago, February 25 (average,March 15). Indiana?Worthington, February 25. Ohio?Toledo,February 19; Buckeye Lake, February 22 (median, February 28).Michigan?Three Rivers, February 27; Blaney Park, March 18.Ontario?London, March 14 (average of 10 years, March 29) ; Ottawa,March 19 (average of 28 years, April 20). Iowa?Winthrop, Febru-ary 29. Wisconsin?North Freedom, March 7. MinnesotaOwatonna and Wilder, March 10 (average of 14 years for southernMinnesota, March 23); Fosston, March 16 (average of 10 years fornorthern Minnesota, March 24). Kansas?Topeka, February 12.Nebraska?Red Cloud, February 12 (median of 8 years, March 1).South Dakota?Aberdeen, February 20. North Dakota?Fargo,March 21 (average for Cass County, March 29). Manitoba?Trees-bank, March 19 (median of 53 years, April 6). Saskatchewan?Densmore, April 4. Alberta?Glenevis, April 3. British ColumbiaAtlin, April 14. Yukon?west of Dawson, May 2. Alaska?Kalskag,April 10; Fairbanks, May 1.Late dates of spring departure are: Florida?Gainesville, April 14.Alabama?Decatur, May 15. Georgia?Athens, May 7. South Car-olina?Greenwood, April 29. North Carolina?Raleigh, May 9(average of 6 years, April 17). Virginia?Naruna, May 6. Dis-trict of Columbia?May 14 (average of 27 years, April 18). Mary-land?Laurel, May 10 (median of 7 years, April 26). PennsylvaniaRenovo, May 22. New Jersey?Morristown, May 18. New YorkLong Island, June 3; Rochester, May 23. Connecticut?Norwalk,Alay 15. Massachusetts?Northampton, May 28. Vermont?St.Johnsbury, May 24. Maine?Ellsworth, May 21. Quebec?Mont-real, May 28. Louisiana?New Orleans, May 10. Mississippi?BaySt. Louis, April 25. Arkansas?Winslow, May 1. Kentucky?Dan-ville, May 1. Missouri?St. Louis, May 1. Illinois?Chicago region,
298 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211May 16. Indiana?Bloomington, May 16. Ohio?central Ohio,May 31; Youngstown, May 27. Michigan?Sault Ste. Marie, May26; Detroit area, May 12. Ontario?Ottawa, May 24. Iowa
?
Sigourney, May 17. Wisconsin?Winneconne, May 12. MinnesotaCloquet, May 25; Minneapolis, May 17 (average, May 8). TexasAustin, May 4; Dallas and Houston, April 28. Oklahoma?TulsaCounty, April 29. Kansas?Blue Rapids, May 5. South DakotaAberdeen, May 16. North Dakota?St. Thomas, May 20.Early dates of fall arrival are: North Dakota?Fargo, September 5.South Dakota?Arlington, October 5. Kansas?Lawrence, Septem-ber 13. Oklahoma?Kenton, September 18. Texas?Decatur, Octo-ber 12. Minnesota?Iron Junction, August 20 (average of 6 yearsfor northern Minnesota, September 12) ; Minneapolis, September 8(average of 12 years for southern Minnesota, September 21). Wis-consin?Ladysmith, September 10. Iowa?Marshalltown, August 27;Grinnell, September 13. Ontario?Lake Nipissing, August 18-19;Hamilton, September 13. Michigan?Blaney Park, August 8; Char-ity Islands, September 13. Ohio?Lucas County, August 23; Oberlin,September 10. Indiana?Richmond, September 15. Illinois?Chi-cago region, September 5 (average, October 1). Tennessee?Athens,September 29. Arkansas?Winslow, October 14. Mississippi?Sau-cier, November 8. Louisiana?Covington, November 17. NewBrunswick?Grand Manan, August 23. Quebec?Anticosti Island,September 14. Maine?Livermore Falls, September 10. New Hamp-shire?New Hampton, September 8. Vermont?St. Johnsbury, Sep-tember 2. Massachusetts?Springfield, September 10. Rhode Is-land?Providence, September 22. Connecticut?New Haven, Sep-tember 11. New York?Brooklyn, September 1; Geneva, September5 (average of 7 years, September 28). New Jersey?Passaic, Septem-ber 29. Pennsylvania?Renovo, September 14. Maryland?Laurel,October 1 (median of 5 years, October 20). District of ColumbiaSeptember 16 (average of 18 years, October 22). West VirginiaBluefield, September 21. Virginia?Blacksburg, October 11. NorthCarolina?Raleigh, October 14 (average of 11 years, October 26).South Carolina?Clemson College, October 19. Georgia?Atlanta,September 20; Fitzgerald, October 18. Alabama?Autaugaville,October 19. Florida?St. Marks, October 17; Everglades NationalPark, October 20.Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska?Wrangell, November 30;Point Barrow, October 24. Yukon?west of Dawson, September 17.British Columbia?Okanagan Landing, December 5; Metlakatla,November 26. Alberta?Glenevis, December 2. Mackenzie?FortSimpson, October 13. Saskatchewan?Camrose, December 10; East-end, November 26. Manitoba?Treesbank November 28 (median
CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 299
of 46 years, November 2). North Dakota?Jamestown, November 17.South Dakota?-Sioux Falls, December 8. Nebraska?Lincoln,November 25. Kansas?Newton, November 19. Minnesota?Min-neapolis, December 9 (average, November 14); St Vincent, November29 (average of 9 years for northern Minnesota, November 18). Wis-consin?Green Bay, November 25. Iowa?Sigourney, December 9.Ontario?Plover Mills, November 30; Ottawa, November 5 (averageof 25 years, October 17). Michigan?Isle Royale, November 30;Kalamazoo, November 22. Ohio?Canton, November 30; BuckeyeLake, November 24 (median, November 21). Indiana?Sedan,November 25. Illinois?Chicago, November 28. Missouri?Con-cordia and Jasper City, November 26. Kentucky?Versailles, No-vember 20. Tennessee?Athens, November 21. Newfoundland
?
Tompkins, October 4. Prince Edward Island?Mount Hubert,October 17. Nova Scotia?Yarmouth, October 27. New BrunswickSt. John, November 10; Scotch Lake, November 1 (median 16 years,October 16). Quebec?Anticosti Island, December 4; Montreal,November 8 (average of 9 years, October 24). Maine?near Portland,November 5; Ellsworth, November 4. New Hampshire?Winchester,November 20. Vermont?Burlington, November 24. Massa-chusetts?Martha's Vineyard, December 2. Rhode Island?Provi-dence, November 25. Connecticut?New Haven, December 13.New York?Orient, December 8; Schenectady, November 23. NewJersey?Englewood, December 19. Pennsylvania?Jeffersonville,December 9; Pittsburg, November 26. Maryland?Laurel, Decem-ber 28 (median of 4 years, December 4). West Virginia?Bluefield,December 6. Virginia?Blacksburg, November 28. North CarolinaRaleigh, December 16 (average of 8 years, November 17).Egg dates.?Alberta: 53 records, May 15, to June 30; 39 records,May 21 to June 6.Alaska: 10 records, May 25 to June 26; 5 records, June 3 to June 19.Maine: 17 records, May 18 to June 16; 10 records, May 24 to May29.New York: 8 records, May 7 to May 27.Nova Scotia: 7 records, May 10 to May 21.
300 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211EUPHAGUS CAROLINUS NIGRANS Burleigh and PetersNewfoundland Rusty BlackbirdHABITSSimilar in its habits to the continental race, this bird shows a pref-erence for the vicinity of water in choosing its breeding spots. Thus,C. J. Maynard (1896) writes, "There are spots on the MagdalenIslands which might rightly be termed sloughs, for they are perfectlyinaccessible as the surface, although apparently solid, is in reality sothin that it will not bear the weight of a dog. This floating mass ofvegetation, however, supports bushes and in some cases small trees,all of which grow very thickly together. I had observed blackbirdsabout them on several occasions, but as they kept well in the centerof the large tracts, I could not make out at first what they were butafter a time found that a large colony of Rusty Grackles were evi-dently building in one of the above described places." Peters andBurleigh (1951) found the rusty blackbird in Newfoundland stayedabout boggy areas of stunted spruce, around woodland pools, marginsof ponds and streams and in wet lowlands with heavy underbrush.They migrate in flocks, and nest in small groups of several pairs.When they are disturbed they all fly up into a tree, facing the samedirection."Spring.?Robie W. Tufts writes that the average date of arrival inNova Scotia over a 10-year period is March 24.Nesting.?My personal experience with the nesting habits of theNewfoundland rusty blackbird has been limited to two northeasternlocalities, both of which were quite t}rpical of the species as a whole.On June 18, 1904, near East Point in the Magdalen Islands, we founda colony of these birds nesting among the boggy pond holes andtreacherous floating bogs such as those described by Maynard. Inthe spruce thickets along the edges of these bogs the blackbirds wereabundant. Their nests were well concealed at moderate heights inthe thickest spruces. The young were by that time all out of thenests and mostly able to fly; their anxious parents were very noisyand solicitous, flying about us, scolding and chirping in great distress.On a later date, June 19, 1921, my companion, Herbert K. Job,returned to the same general locality and collected for me a nice setof four fresh eggs, which was probably a second laying; the nest was 10feet up, at the top of a broken-off spruce in a damp pasture thicklyovergrown with young spruces.On June 17, 1912, while we were exploring some extensive marshesalong the Sandy River in central Newfoundland, my guide found arusty blackbird's nest containing four young birds about 2 or 3 daysold; the nest was only 3 feet up in a small, bushy red spruce in a bog,
NEWFOUNDLAND RUSTY BLACKBIRD 301
where there were other small spruces scattered about; the nest wasmade externally of fir and spruce twigs, internally of dry grasses, andneatly lined with fine grasses. I have four sets of eggs in my collec-tion, taken for me by J. R. Whitaker near Grand Lake, Newfoundland,at dates ranging from May 3 to June 10; the nests were all placed inspruces at heights ranging from 5 to 9 feet.Robie W. Tufts has sent me the following nesting data for NovaScotia: "My earliest record for fresh eggs is May 12, 1905, on whichdates two females were found sitting on their respective nests, whichcontained four fresh eggs each. These were collected. Next dayboth these birds were seen building new nests nearby. On May 23and 24, respectively, five eggs were taken from each of their nests.On May 12, 1921, five eggs far advanced in incubation were collected;this would suggest that the nest contained fresh eggs about May 1.The average date, however, for fresh eggs down the years has beenabout May 14."Eggs.?The eggs are similar to those of the mainland race, lightbluish green, spotted with brown and gray; a set consists of four orfive.Plumages.?The molts and plumages follow the pattern of themainland race.Food.?The food of the Newfoundland rusty blackbird is in everyway the same as that of its mainland form. Peters and Burleigh(1951) noted, in Newfoundland, that the birds fed along the shoresof ponds and bogs, even wading at times in the shallow water. "Theyfeed upon many kinds of insects, worms, crustaceous and other smallanimal life, and also upon seeds of weeds and grains."Voice.?Of its voice, which is similar to that of the better knownmainland form, Peters and Burleigh (1951) write: "Their so-calledsong resembles nothing more than several rusty hinges being openedand closed, and it is far from musical."Field marks.?"A rather short-tailed, black bird, slightly smallerthan a robin," according to Peters and Burleigh (1951), "in fall itbecomes rusty above and brownish below."Winter.?The Newfoundland rusty blackbird has been found inwinter in South Carolina (at Mount Pleasant, January 16, and atHuger, February 13 and 26), North Carolina (Asheville, March 18and April 7), Georgia (Sherwood Plantation, December 25) andVirginia (near Fairfax, November 19).DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Newfoundland rusty blackbird breeds in the Mag-dalen Islands, Nova Scotia (Halifax, Barrington), and Newfoundland.It has been recorded in winter in North Carolina (Asheville) andGeorgia (Grady County).
302 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211EUPHAGUS CYANOCEPHALUS (Wagler)Brewer's BlackbirdPlates 22 and 23Contributed by Laidlaw WilliamsHABITSAt least two proposals have been made to divide this species, usingthe names E. c. minusculus and E. c. aliastus, but neither of these sub-species has been accepted by the A. O. U. committee on nomenclature.As Brewer's blackbird is found in large, conspicuous flocks in openplaces, often close to human habitations, it is a familiar bird through-out a considerable part of western North America. Although itoccurs throughout the year in areas such as farming districts and evenin villages and towns, this species also resorts to higher elevationswhere it nests remote from man.The Brewer's blackbird has profited by human alteration of theenvironment. A large part of its time is spent perching on electricwires, where it rests, preens, calls, displays, and uses the wire as aguard perch during breeding activities. This bird forages extensivelyon lands that have been converted from brush or forest to pasturage,and on freshly plowed soil; it eats some grain (usually waste); andfrequents golf courses, lawns, and irrigated areas. Such advantageousconditions possibly contribute to the increase of this species. Dawsonand Bowles (1909) say that in Washington it has profited by humansettlement of the land and by the spread of cattle; and Kennedy(1914) says that in the Yakima Valley the bird has "prosperedgreatly" due to irrigation. Grinnell and Miller (1944) state that, insome areas in California, it "apparently has increased as a result ofhuman occupation of the land." The Brewer's blackbird seems tohave been extending its range eastward in recent years, and it has nowbeen recorded as a breeding species in Ontario, eastern Minnesota,Wisconsin, and Illinois. What seems to be the first published recordfor Ontario, of both occurrence and breeding, was made by Allin andDear (1947); on June 14, 1945, a male was collected and a nest withyoung found in a cleared area near Port Arthur. The male wastaken in a colony of eight birds, including a brown-eyed female, thatoccupied 8 acres. Concerning the bird's eastward extension in Minne-sota, Roberts (1932) says that it is "one of several birds that haveextended their ranges eastward across the state in comparativelyrecent years." It has been abundant in the Red River Valley "sincethe earliest records for that region; the first nesting colonies in theeastern part of the state were discovered at Minneapolis in 1914.* * *
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 303Previous to that time it was either not present or so rare as to haveescaped observation. Now it is a common summer resident, breedingin colonies throughout the state; absent or rare as a nesting bird inmost of the southern counties.""The presence of the Brewer's Blackbird in Wisconsin prior to theyears 1926 and 1927 was rare," writes Schorger (1934), who remarksthat "the recent extension of its range is quite remarkable." Theyear 1926 marked the beginning of the influx, and Schorger says that
"it is now possible to state that Brewer's Blackbird is at present acommon summer resident, breeding in a narrow area extending fromPolk County in the northwest, to Walworth County in the southeast."I (1952) carried on a behavior study of this species principally at abreeding colony, "the river-mouth colony," at the mouth of theCarmel River, Monterey County, on the central coast of California,for six breeding seasons from 1942 through 1947, with check obser-vations in 1948. The colony is situated at the edge of a marsh. Thebirds nest in Monterey pines (Pinus radiata) which, although nativeto the region, are planted along the streets of a subdivision adjacentto the marsh, on what was originally chaparral land. Although thebirds forage on lawns, streets, and food-trays, they spend a large partof their time on the marsh area, undisturbed during the years of thisstudy. Tules (Scirpus), which grow in patches on the edge of themarsh, as well as the pines, are used for roosting and daytime restingplaces. Electric light wires and poles along the streets are used forperching by the flock as well as for display and guard perches byindividual birds.In the study, 318 Brewer's blackbirds, 158 males and 160 females,were color banded. Over the period of study, 117 marked birds bredin the colony; in addition to these there were 8 birds of each sexentering into the breeding activities of the colony that I was unableto band. Many of the remaining 201 banded birds were found atother colonies in the region at various seasons, and some of them werefound breeding at those places. The banding station was main-tained throughout the year near a house in the center of the colony.The breeding period, which extends roughly from the end of Janu-ary into July, may be divided into the following phases of activity:1. segregation and assortment into pairs?pair formation; 2. nest-building, copulation, and egg-laying; 3. incubation; 4. nestling care;5. fledgling care.Spring and courtship.?In phase 1 old pairs (that is, pairs return-ing from the previous year) reassociate and new pairs are formed.By "new" is meant some combination involving either young birdsin their first year, birds banded during the season (ages could not be
304 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211determined after the fall molt), or, rarely, a recombination of individ-uals that had previously bred in the colony.My study at the river-mouth colony revealed that there is noperiod of male isolation as in a typical territorial species. The flock-ing behavior of fall and winter gradually gives way as the birds asso-ciate more and more in pairs. The activities of the pair are notconfined to any territory (except that later on there is a focus ofattention at the nest site) and the birds may at first carry on pairingactivities while grouped together in a flock.A number of displays and accompanying calls are used throughoutthe breeding season.The ruff-out is employed by both sexes, but more frequently bymales. The bird holds the bill nearly horizontal, or pointed some-what upward and ruffs out many of the contour feathers, especiallythose of the head and neck, the breast, and upper tail coverts (therump feathers remain flat) ; at the same time it partially spreads thewings downward and fans and depresses the tail. As the ruffingand spreading reaches a climax either a squeee or schl-r-r-r-up is utteredand the display immediately subsides. The notes are never utteredwithout the accompanying display, though the latter varies greatlyin the extent of ruffing and spreading. When used by the femaleit is less developed and the utterance is more subdued. The wholedisplay lasts only a second or two. It functions as a threat, but isalso used in mutual display between pairs, as described below. Asa threat it is much more frequently used by the male.The male pre-coitional display, employed by the male imme-diately preceding his mounting the female, is a more exaggeratedform of ruff-out, but the bill is pointed downward and the displayheld longer. If it is performed on the ground the wings and tailmay actually scrape the earth as the male approaches the female.Sometimes, in this display, the male struts in a half-circle in frontof the female before mounting.In the female generalized display, the bill is held upward at aslight angle; no feathers are ruffed out; the wings are held somewhatout from the body, drooped, and vibrated; the tail is cocked but notspread. This display is always accompanied by a series of kit notes.The display has a definite attracting effect on the male and also ispart of the female's response to his advances.The female pre-coitional display, or "copulatory invitation,"should probably be considered a more fully developed female gen-eralized display, which it resembles, except that the body is tiltedforward and the tail cocked at a steeper angle. It is accompaniedby a specific series of soft, low, tapping notes. Before the male
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 305mounts the wing quivering ceases and the female's body becomesrigid.The male elevated tail display is similar to the female general-ized display in body appearance, wing action, and tail cocking, butwith the tail somewhat spread and the wings possibly held out abit wider. This is accompanied by the series utterances chug-chug-chug (see p. 325). It is possible that this display may function as aninvitation to the female or an indication of the male's receptivestate. It is never addressed to another male and has no significanceas a threat.The head-up display is used regularly by males, rarely by females.With the bill pointing nearly vertical the body is drawn upward with-out ruffing the feathers. In its fullest development the bird has aslim, drawn-out appearance. This display is held for an appreciablelength of time, unlike the momentary ruff-out, and there is no ac-companying call. It functions as a threat.All these displays except the pre-coitional ones have been observedin more or less rudimentary form in the flock during the non-breedingseason. The threat displays (ruff-out and head-up) are used in disputesover food and in other aggressive situations at all times of year.Activities that I have termed "pairing behavior" are as follows:Pairs walking together segregate from the flock and forage to-gether, usually keeping within a few feet of each other.Pairs, either isolated or in the flock, perch on wires or on the tips ofpine boughs; if on the wires the distance between male and female isquite regularly about 18 inches. There they indulge in mutual dis-play, exchanging the ruff-out, with squeee and schl-r-r-r-up notes.They may keep this up for several minutes. It usually ends by theirflying off together, the female usually taking flight first and the maleimmediately following; sometimes the takeoff is nearly simultaneous.When perched on the wires the male may hop at, or dart toward, thefemale. This action, the dart, is often preceded by the female assum-ing the generalized display, or it may cause her to assume it; or thefemale may respond with the ruff-out.Frequently, in response to the dart, the female may fly off, the malein close pursuit, in a more or less circular flight. In this action, thechase, a third bird or even a second pair, often joins.At the river-mouth colony, Phase 1 usually begins toward the endof January or in February, when a change from winter behavior canbe detected. Instead of spending a large part of the day in long forag-ing expeditions away from the colony area, the flock remains longer inthe vicinity of the colony. Pairs sort themselves out ; a pair may perch,isolated, on the wires or on the tips of pine limbs and engage in mutualdisplay, then fly to the ground to forage together. Other pairs may
306 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211be feeding there also. Although the flock may be all together, pairscan be detected within the group walking together and maintaining afairly constant interval between the male and the female, which is lessthan the distance to the next pair. Suddenly they all flush and thepairs bunch together into a flock and fly off. Often the flock circlesabout and alights on the wires. If the members of a pair do nothappen to light together individuals shift their positions on the wireuntil the flock is sorted pair by pair. Thereupon mutual displaystarts again.Individual pairs vary as to the date when they commence to act asa pair. Also there is a gradual increase in the time that pairs spendin segregation and a corresponding decrease in the time spent in theflock. Although pairing behavior may start as early as the end ofJanuary, there are brief intervals in the day when the birds revert toflock formation even as late as April.Constancy in pairing behavior with the same mates is also arrived atgradually. Members of old pairs are less frequently involved in pair-ing behavior with individuals other than the "proper" mate and thusthey tend to be constant from the beginning. New pairs, however,perform pairing behavior with other birds in many instances untilfinally the "true" pair forms and remains constant through the re-mainder of Phase 1. This is not to say, however, that after pairs areformed, mated males do not respond to the displays of a neighbor'sfemale, as indeed they do. Females perform the generalized displaymore and more frequently as Phase 1 progresses, even though copula-tion is in the future. The intruding male responds to this display byapproaching in the ruff-out or even pre-coitional display, or he mayjust walk or fly toward the female. But the female is constantlyguarded by her mate, who drives off the intruder, either by flyingdirectly at him, or walking deliberately head-up, between the femaleand the intruder. The latter responds with the head-up display andboth, still holding this posture, walk stiffly abreast of each other awayfrom the female. Sometimes both males shift to the ruff-out and re-main facing each other, exchanging this display. When they do, thisthe action looks very like a pair in mutual display (there is no head-upin mutual display, however). Rarely, a fight occurs when both malesflutter up together and peck and claw at each other.After the pair is formed the members are almost always together,becoming separated only for brief intervals. The male guards hismate from the approaches of other males with increasing constancy.In Phase 1 there is some toying with nesting material by both sexesand even carrying it to a site. The male of the pair is sometimes thefirst to hold nesting material in the bill, but he rarely places it at anest site. Actual nest construction is accomplished almost entirely
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 307by the female, and not until Phase 2 commences. Bendire (1895)says that "both sexes assist" in nest construction, but at the river-mouth colony the male's activity with nesting material is almostentirely functionless as far as the actual construction is concerned.In Phase 1 there is considerable aggressive behavior and evenfighting for the possession of nest sites, even though actual nest con-struction is still to come. This fighting is largely between females.A fight between females at a nest site usually brings a response fromtheir mates, who alight nearby but do not always act belligerently atfirst. The approach of the males may cause one or both females toassume the generalized display, and the males then tend to guardtheir mates.Pairs acting as a team will defend a nest site, but in such cases itis more often the female rather than the male who initiates the attack.Males will, however, defend the nest site without the female beingpresent.Although Phase 1 may start as early as the third week of January,actual nest construction, copulation, and egg-laying for the first brood(Phase 2) does not commence earlier than April, usually not until thesecond or third week (the earliest observed copulation: April 6, 1945).Thus Phase 1 of the first cycle may be stretched out for as long as 12weeks. Phase 1 of subsequent cycles is exceedingly brief and canpossibly be considered absent.Males were both monogamous and polygynous; an individual mightbe polygynous one year and monogamous the next. The number ofbreeding males in the colony varied from 13 to 31; females from 14to 36. Polygyny varied from one polygynous male in 1943, whenthe population was 13 males to 14 females, to 12 polygynous malesin 1947 when the population was 18 males to 36 females. The numberof mates per polygynous male was generally two; but in 1946 six maleshas two females each and one had three. In 1947 seven males hadtwo, four had three, and one had four females.When polygyny occurs it usually comes about in the followingfashion: When the female is incubating (Phase 3) the male doesnot guard her constantly as he did formerly; and he takes no part inincubation. Consequently he pays more attention to other females.If an unmated female, or, more rarely, a female whose mate does notseem to be aggressive enough to guard her, is present, the unoccupiedmale may take this female polygynously as a "secondary" female.More than one secondary female may be acquired successively in thisfashion.In most cases the male guards the secondary female as assiduouslyas he had his primary female, and I did not become aware of the newattachment until the secondary female had already started nest con-
308 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
struction and copulation was being performed. As in second cycles,Phase 1 may be extremely short, a matter of only a few days, or maybe passed over entirely.At about the same time that the secondary female starts to incu-bate, the primary's eggs have usually hatched and the male assists infeeding the nestlings. The periods that the young are in the twonests of a polygynous male may overlap and the male generally feedsat both nests. This attention by the male to nestlings at two nestshas been observed on the same day. Where simultaneous observa-tion of both nests was possible, the male was sometimes seen to makefeeding trips to each nest, dividing his time irregularly between thetwo. Likewise, attention to nestlings in one nest and fledglings fromthe other has occurred on the same day.In the exceptional year, 1947, when the ratio of males to femaleswas one to two, polygyny was at its height. There were certain casesof polygyny in which it was difficult to determine whether the usualattention was paid to the secondary female. There were also certaincases in which a polygynous male acquired mates almost simultane-ously, and the timing of the cycles of these females were more or lessparallel.Males were observed in 1947 feeding nestlings at more than theusual two nests; one fed at the nests of his three females; anotherbrought food to the nests of his four mates. However, since nevermore than two nestling periods of any one polygynous male wereknown to overlap, two was the maximum number of nestling broodsfed on the same day.Concurrently with this state of polygyny there was a remarkablefaithfulness in the remating of primary pairs. Of the 45 cases inwhich both members of a primary pair were present the followingyear, 42 remated and only 3 were "divorced." In addition, amongthe returns there were six birds that had been mated to unbanded birdsthe previous year. Some of these unbanded birds may, of course,have returned the following year and might have added to the totalof either faithful pairs or divorces. In some cases primary pairsremated for a number of consecutive seasons. Of the total of 70primary pairs, 44 were maintained for 1 year, 15 for 2 years, 7 for 3years, 3 for 4 years, and 1 for 5 years. No male had the same femalein secondary status more than once.A monogamous male's mate and the first seasonal mate of a polyg-ynous male are considered primary females; the mate, or mates, of apolygynous male which are subsequently acquired in the same seasonare considered secondary females. (In a few cases in the exceptionalyear 1947, designations as to primary and secondary status were madewith possibly some arbitrariness.) Thirty-four banded females were
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 309
always primary throughout their years of occurrence; 20 bandedfemales were secondary and 15 changed their status. Less than halfthe females in the 1-year group of survival were primary but onlythree banded secondaries survived for two or more years, whereas theprimary, and those of changing status, showed survival periods ex-tending into the fifth and sixth year. Because 15 females changedtheir status over the years of their survival, it is believed that had the20 banded females which were in the "always secondary" groupsurvived longer (only two survived for 2 years and one for 3) they,too, might have changed and become primaries for part of their yearsas breeders in the colony.Nesting.?Writing of the Brewer's blackbird in California, Grin-nell and Miller (1944) say that its habitat "in the spring season [is]grassland, meadows, or moist lake and stream margins, with trees ortall bushes in the vicinity which may be used for lookouts, roostingand nesting."C. W. Lockerbie (MS.) says of the bird in Utah: "The large openmountain valleys along the eastern slope of the Wasatch mountainsare favorite summer habitats for these birds, e. g., Parley's Park,Summit County, 1 to 4 miles wide and 10 miles long and about 6,500feet elevation, with willow clumps along all water courses, a few tallcottonwood trees, and much of the land in wild hay. Dairying andstock raising are the only pursuits. No less than 50 pairs of black-birds breed in this area; 200 birds, more or less, after July 15 areabout the usual number observed. My earliest observations has been,May 25 and my latest September 7, though their residence perioddoubtless extends beyond these dates."In Colorado "they range from 4,000 to 10,000 feet in altitude andseem to prefer the open meadow along streams and adjacent to ever-green forests," says R. J. Niedrach (MS.).In Nevada the species "uses a wide variety of situations for nestingsites," writes Linsdale (1936a). This statement may well be appliedto its nesting adaptability over its whole range. The nests may beplaced on the ground or up to 150 feet above the ground; in the sedgesof a marsh ; in bushes of wet or dry areas ; in many kinds of living treesand in the broken tops of stubs; in windbreak hedges at ranches; inornamental trees and shrubs in parks and gardens or along the streetsof towns; near plowed fields in agricultural areas; in semiarid situa-tions; or along streams in mountain meadows at high altitudes.Bendire (1895) writes that at Camp Harney in southeastern Oregonthe nests were frequently placed on the ground "or rather in theground, the rim of the nest being flush with the surface." Quite anumber were found in this situation, even when suitable trees andbushes were available. These ground nests were located on the
310 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
edges of perpendicular banks. Ground nesting has also been reportedfor California by Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930), who also reportnesting in "a clump of sedge" and in "drowned brush-clumps out inthe water." Linsdale (1938) reports ground nesting in Nevada;Cameron (1907) in Montana, and Schorger (1934) in Wisconsin.Among the writers who mentioned nest situations in willowsfringing a swamp or stream, in cottonwoods, and in various busheson river and creek banks are Dawson and Bowles (1909) for Washing-ton and Cameron (1907) for Montana.Nesting in the broken tops of dead trees in the Lassen Peak regionof California is reported by Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930).Dawson and Bowles (1909) describe nests "in cavities near the topsof some giant fir stubs none of them less than 150 feet from theground." But the "most favored nest sites" in California, accordingto Grinnell and Miller (1944), "are in dense masses of foliage, espe-cially of conifers."La Rivers (1944) found a large variety of trees and shrubs used fornesting in Nevada; sagebrush (Artemisia), the most prevalent shrub,was most often used.Although usually nesting in groups, the Brewer's blackbird doesnot nest in such dense colonies as some other icterids, notably thetricolored redwing (Agelaius tricolor). This may be due to widertolerance in habitat requirements, causing less concentration. Someobservers report the nesting pairs as "somewhat scattered" and otherpairs nesting "singly." Bailey (1902) writes that "it nests in muchsmaller colonies than many of the blackbirds, five to ten pairs beingthe common number."In California R. M. Bond (MS.) found a colony "in a row of smallEucalyptus Jicifolia near Carpenteria, three adjacent trees contained21 nests (spring of 1935) with none in the remaining half mile or soof row. There were five or six nests in a yard tree (Acacia melan-oxylon) about 30 feet from the nests in the eucalyptus * * *. Thenext nearest nesting colony was about a mile away in a windbreak ofMonterey cypress."Linsdale (1938) writing of the Toyabe region of central Nevadasays that Brewer's blackbirds were found "in small colonies" andthat the colonies varied in size from 3 or 4 to about 20 pairs. Withineach colony "pairs tended to select similar nest sites." Ridgway(1877) found a large colony in a group of pinion pines at the southend of Pyramid Lake, Nev., on June 3, 1867. There were more than100 nests, nearly every tree containing at least one. Several treeshad two or three nests. Each nest was on a horizontal limb, usuallynear the top of the tree, well concealed in a tuft of foliage, and themajority of nests contained young.
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 311La Rivers (1944) found that on a 15-acre tract 14 miles northwestof Reno, Nev., during the period May 17 to June 16, 1934, there were107 nests of this species, a density of "slightly more than 7 nests peracre." This indicated, he adds, a "heavy infestation for the region."In the area within about a 12-mile diameter around the river-mouthcolony I found nine other colonies and no pairs nesting singly, al-though it is possible that a single pair might have been overlooked.Some nests on the peripheries of the colonies were considerably moreisolated than the majority of nests toward the centers. The river-mouth colony was a quarter mile west of the nearest other colony,the second nearest being a mile to the north.Monterey pines were used for nesting, at some of the nearbycolonies, and also live oaks, Monterey cypress, and Baccharis. Onecolony was at a golf course, another at a dairy farm, and another intrees in the business district of Carmel. All these colonies wereadjacent to favored foraging areas.In no year did the river-mouth colony exceed an area covering 9acres. Every year the greatest density of nests was confined to thecenter area of 1 acre. Considering only the first nesting for theseason of each female in the years 1944-46, the density for the wholecolony varied from 4.1 nests per acre in 1944 to 6.7 in 1946, whereasin the center acre alone the density varied from 14 in 1944 to 23 in1945. Three or four pines in the center acre were particularly attrac-tive to the birds. One pair of these trees, with trunks 4 feet apartand branches intermingling, but separated from the other trees, hada height of 45 feet and a combined spread of about 48 feet. Thispair of trees contained 7 nests in simultaneous use in 1945. Thenests varied from 21 to 42 feet above the ground; no two nests werecloser together than about 9 feet nor farther apart than about 37.This represents the maximum crowding in the colony. Possibly suchcrowding was partly due to the fact that the trees were not evenlydistributed over the 9 acres.The arrangement of nests of polygynous males does not suggesta territory embracing them all, as is the case in some polygynousspecies, such as the yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xaniho-cephalus). Although the nests of a polygynous male may be in thesame tree, one of the nests may be as near or even nearer to thenest of another male than to its own second nest. But frequently thenests of a polygynous male were in different trees, often considerablyfarther separated than the nests of different males, with one or moreother nests in between. The distance between two nests of one malehas been as much as 282 feet.The height of nests above the ground at the river-mouth colonyvaried from 7% to 42^ feet. Thirty-five nests in 1945 averaged 27.2380928?57 21
312 U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211feet and 37 in 1947 averaged 22.4 feet above the ground. (Many ofthe nesting trees, being in gardens or along the streets, had theirlower branches trimmed.) Nests were ordinarily placed near theends of branches in thick tufts of needles, and often partly supportedby bunches of cones. The birds occasionally used planted Montereycypress also.The nest was described by Dawson (1923) as "a sturdy, tidy struc-ture of interlaced twigs and grasses, strengthened by a matrix of mudor dried cowdung, and carefully lined with coiled rootlets or horse-hair." Some writers report mud used in the nest and others make nomention of it. A "mud cup" is mentioned by I. McT. Cowan (MS.)at Vancouver, British Columbia. Schorger (1934), in his descriptionof a nest in Wisconsin, does not mention mud. Goss (1891) saysthat the nests he found on the ground at Chama, N. Mex. "were allwithout a trace of mud."At my colony grasses, pine needles, etc., were seen in the bills ofnest-building females; many females frequently gathered horse manureand mud, a combination that, when dry, makes a firm, plasterlikecup.The dimensions are given by Macoun (Macoun and Macoun, 1909)
:
"In size it averages over 6 inches across, with a cup over 3 inches anda depth of at least \}{ inches."In Phase 2 (nest-building, copulation, and egg-laying) the male,although he takes no part in the actual construction of the nest,usually accompanies the female on each trip as she gathers materialand carries it to the nest. At this time they make a long, continuousseries of trips in contrast to the toying with and dropping of nestmaterials, or occasional trips to a nest-site, of Phase 1. When thefemale enters the tuft to place the material and mold the nest, themale perches nearby and displays the ruff-out, uttering schl-r-r-r-upand squeee. He uses one of several habitual guard perches, a wire, apole or a branch tip. From this perch he may drive other males ifthey come near the nest site or into the tree. In this respect there is acertain amount of localized aggression by the male. But such local-ization does not take place until after the pairs have been formed inPhase 1. The greatest portion of the male's aggressive activity isdirectly concerned with guarding his female against the approachesof other males. This guarding, or aggression concerned with a sexualsituation which reaches its height in Phase 2, is not localized; i. e.,it has little, or only incidental, connection with any particular area orterritory and may occur at any point on the wires, along the streets,on the edge of the creek, or several hundred yards out on the adjacentmarsh.In Phase 2 the female exhibits the pre-coitional display frequently,
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 313and other males as well as her mate respond; among the males, rushesand threat displays are frequent. These advances by intrudingmales and the guarding actions by the mate, which begin in Phase 1,reach their height of occurrence in Phase 2, which, from the beginningof actual nest construction to the completion of the clutch, lastsabout 10 days or 2 weeks, at the most.Eggs.?The number of eggs in a clutch varies from 3 to 7; Bendire(1895) and Hoffmann (1927) are the only writers I know who havegiven a number as high as 8. Cowan (MS.) says that in BritishColumbia "5 eggs is the most frequent number." Dawson andBowles (1909), referring to the species in Washington, and Dawson(1923), referring to California, give the number per set as "4-7,usually 5 or 6." La Kivers (1944) in a month of field study nearReno, Nev., found 107 nests containing a total of 521 eggs. Theclutches were divided as follows: 23 with 3, 21 with 4, 22 with 5, 29with 6, and 12 with 7 eggs each.Ray (1909) found numerous nests of this species in the region aboutLake Tahoe, Calif., in May and June 1909, nearly all of which werein small "tamarack pines, often mere saplings, from four to fifteenfeet up, and but poorly concealed" (a notable exception was one nestplaced on a wharf piling which was standing in water 3 feet deep).He says that "five was the usual complement of eggs, tho often fouror six, and sometimes only three." The eggs he examined "showedgreat variation in size, shape and coloring."Dawson (1923) also notes variation in pattern and coloration.He writes that the eggs present
?
Two divergent types of coloration, with endless variations and intermediatephases. Light type: ground color light gray or greenish gray, spotted andblotched with grayish brown or, more sharply, with sepia. Eggs of this typerehearse relationships, now with the Quiscaline Grackles, and now with theYellowheads (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) , or the Cowbirds (Molothrus ater).An egg in the M. C. O. collection has a background of pale niagara green sharplyspotted with a blackish pigment which tones out to dusky drab, and is thusindistinguishable from the egg of an Agelaiine Blackbird. Dark type: Groundcolor completely obscured by overlay of fine brown dots, or else by confluentblotches of Rood's brown, walnut brown, or cameo brown.Bendire (1895) writes: "The average measurement of two hundredand forty-five specimens in the United States National Museaum col-lection is 25.49 by 18.60 millimetres, or about 1 by 0.73 inch. Thelargest egg in this series measures 27.94 by 20.07 millimetres, or 1.10by 0.79 inches; the smallest, 20.83 by 15.49 millimetres, or 0.82 by 0.61inch."Incubation.?Bendire (1895) states that the incubation period is14 days. Saunders (1914) says that the eggs hatch in 12 days inMontana.
314 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Because of the inaccessibility of most nests (high up and at the endof limber branches) that entered into my study of the species, it waspossible to look into only a small number of them. Of these it wasfeasible to make daily inspection at only 5, of which 3 sets had 4 eggs,and 2 had 5 eggs each. One set of 4 eggs hatched in 12 days and allthe others in 13 days, reckoning the incubation period from the daythe last egg was laid until all were hatched. No thorough study ofincubation rhythms was made, but watching females at inspectablenests revealed that they spend time on the eggs before the full set islaid. This correlates with the fact that hatching of the young (exceptin the set of 4, in which all hatched on the 12th day) was spread over asmuch of 3 days and indicates that incubation may start before theclutch is complete. The tangible facts ascertained from the fewaccessible nests coincided with those inferred from parental behaviorat other nests.Although the male takes no part in incubation and may even forman attachment with another female at this time, his attention doesnot in all cases leave the incubating female entirely. Monogamousmales may spend much time on the guard perches near the nest.Polygynous males have been known to guard at two nests if theincubation periods overlap ; but if one female is in Phase 1 or 2 whilethe other is incubating the male gives much more attention to theformer (if the nest of either incubating female is destroyed she veryquickly reverts to Phase 2). In a few cases the male has been seen tofeed the incubating female on the nest.Young.?Data on the length of the nestling period is extremelyscanty in the literature. In my study I was able to ascertain definitelythe nestling period in only three instances. In each case it was 13days, calculating the period from the day the last egg had hatcheduntil all the young had left the nest under natural conditions. As inthe determination of the incubation period the information obtainedat these three nests corroborated the observations at many inac-cessible nests. The male Brewer's blackbird at the river-mouthcolony was found to assist the female in feeding the young, both inand out of the nest, in 72 out of 99 monogamous nestings and 76 outof 109 polygynous ones. In the remaining cases in each categorythe male disappeared, or the eggs did not hatch, or the nestlings diedbefore male attention could be determined, or there were not sufficientobservations to prove or disprove male attention.Although I was unable to carry out extended periods of watchingat any one nest, periods varying from 1 to 3 hours at various neststhroughout the fledging period indicate that although the femaleusually exceeds the male in the number of trips per hour with food,the male sometimes equals and even exceeds the female in such trips,
BREWERS BLACKBIRD 315
especially in the early part of the period when the female is broodingthe young. When two sets of nestlings were being fed by a polyg-ynous male during the same hour period the combined rate for bothnests might equal the maximum rate for a male feeding at only one.But males feeding at two nests were not observed to exceed this rate.Verna L. Johnston (MS.) writes concerning a nest with five youngat Live Oak, Calif. The nest was 15 feet above the ground in adeodar tree in school grounds. Both male and female fed the youngat 2- to 4-minute intervals most of the time during the 9 days (May 3to 12, 1945) that she watched them. "The male often fed the female,sometimes on a fence from which she then flew to the nest and fed theyoung, sometimes on the nest after feeding the young."At my colony nestlings that died were sometimes removed by theparents. On six occasions nestlings too undeveloped to have leftthe nest by their own exertions were found on the ground 50 or morefeet from the nearest nest. These bore no apparent marks of havingbeen carried by a predator. Two of these dead nestlings were actu-ally seen being carried by the parents in flight and deposited. One ofthese young, which was seen being carried by the male, was newlyhatched and weighed 8.29 grams. Others that were found on theground were larger. The places of deposition were those regularlyused to drop excreta taken from the nest: a pathway, pavement of thestreet, and the edge of the creek.At the river-mouth colony, fledglings were observed to take initialflight of 3, 4, and 7 feet from the nest; and juveniles were fed by themale up to the 26th, and by the female to the 25th day after leavingthe nest.Females usually attempt second broods if the first is unsuccessful.There have been as many as three attempts in one season. Secondbroods have sometimes been raised even in cases when a first broodhas also been fledged. Two broods are frequently raised in Oregon,according to Gabrielson and Jewett (1940).Two females at the river-mouth colony were seen carrying nestingmaterial for a second brood nest on the same day that they were stillfeeding fledglings. One female even fed a fledgling 3 days after theday on which she was first noted placing material for a second nest.At this colony no young were observed leaving the nest later thanJuly 7 (1943). At Bridalveil Campground, at an altitude of 7,200feet, in Yosemite National Park, Calif., a pair were seen by Marshall(MS.) feeding nestlings as late as July 22 (1946).Plumages.?Linsdale (1936b) writes that in Nevada the down ofthe nestlings he examined was "nearly black, contrasting with thewhitish down of red-wings." According to Ridgway (1902) the "young"[i. e., in juvenile plumage] are "very similar in coloration to winter
316 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211females, but texture of plumage very different and feathers withoutgloss". The immature male in first winter plumage is "similar to theadult male, but feathers of head, neck, back, scapulars, chest, andsides narrowly tipped with grayish brown (paler and more buffy onunderparts)."Food.?The Brewer's blackbird feeds both on animal matter,principally insects, and vegetable matter, principally seeds.Analysis of the stomach contents of six mature birds collected inan alfalfa and wheat area on the outskirts of Meadow, Millard County,Utah, on June 10, 1943, by Knowlton and Telford (1946) are reportedas follows:One stomach held 2 adult and 63 nymphal treehoppers, Campylenchia latipes(Say), besides other insects. Another stomach contained 8 adult and 22 larvalalfalfa weevils, a clover leaf weevil, a histerid beetle and an elaterid beetle, etc.Total recognizable contents consisted of: 17 nymphal grasshoppers; the 18 Hemip-tera included 1 pentatomid, 3 lygaeids and 1 mirid; of the 84 Homoptera, 65 weremembracids, 15 were aphids including 8 pea aphids, and 2 leafhoppers; 57 Coleop-tera, among them 19 adult and 16 larval alfalfa weevils, 2 clickbeetles, 3 whitegrubs, a buprestid and histerid; 1 adult Trichopteron ; 40 larval Lepidoptera;2 larval Diptera; 10 of the 15 Hymenoptera present were ants. Three spidersalso were present.This interesting blackbird is sufficiently abundant in many parts of Utah tobe of importance in the control of cutworms, grasshoppers and certain otherinsect pests.The termite Zootermopsis angusticollis has been observed by Cowan(1942) as a food of the Brewer's blackbird in British Columbia. LaRivers (1941) while working on a program for the control of theMormon cricket (Anabrus simplex) in northern Nevada during thesummer of 1939, made the following observations:This bird [the Brewer's blackbird], in company with the Sage Thrasher [Oreo-scoptes montanus] and Western Meadowlark [Sturnella neglecta], is one of thedestructive "Big Three" of the northern Nevada cricket fields. It has beenknown to destroy entire bands of adult crickets, but has never been reportedas working on the egg-beds. It can safely be said that each of these three speciesof birds is responsible for more destruction of the Mormon cricket than all theother species together. * * * However, while the blackbirds feed extensively onthe crickets in lean areas, they may almost ignore them adjacent to fields wherethey can obtain abundant seed. In one region south of Whiterock I observeda band of approximately 200 blackbirds working on a hillside which bore acricket population of five per square foot. After an hour's observation I inves-tigated their work and found, at the spot, only one attacked cricket to the squareyard. Females [the birds ate only female crickets] constituted fifty percent ofthe cricket population, and, on this basis, the kill ratio amounted to 1 out of22.5, a very low figure.Knowlton and Harmston (1943), working on grasshoppers andcrickets eaten by birds in Utah, examined the stomach contents of105 Euphagus cyanocephalus. They report "40 contained Orthoptera,
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 317including 51 adult and 9 nymphal grasshoppers in 30 stomachs; theother ten stomachs held 16 field crickets." Bryant (1912) lists theBrewer's blackbird as a feeder on grasshoppers during an outbreakof these insects in California, but says that it does not rank amongthe most important predators, judged either by the number of insectsper day each bird eats or by the number of birds eating the grass-hoppers. He concludes that the value of birds in controlling suchinsects is greater during the periods of normal insect numbers thanat times of extraordinary abundance. Bryant (1911) found theBrewer's blackbird to be an efficient destroyer of the butterfly Eugoniacalifornica during an outbreak in northern California in 1911.Several authors have reported caterpillars in the diet of this species.Munro (1929) observed them feeding on "forest tent caterpillars" atRollins Lake, British Columbia. McAtee (1922) reports the takingof canker-worms by this blackbird at three places in California wherethe worms were threatening prune crops.The corn earworm (Heliothis obsoleta) has been accused of being
"the most destructive insect enemy of corn in the United States"and one of the most important of the 17 species of bird to feed onthis pest is the Brewer's blackbird, according to Phillips and King(1923).This species was seen by Murie and Bruce (1935) associating withwestern sandpipers (Ereunetes mauri) which were feeding on the brinefly Ephydra millbrae along a road traversing the mud flats on SanFrancisco Bay. The blackbirds also were "almost certainly feedingon the flies." Bond (MS.) found Ephydra hians as an item in thediet of this bird at Moss Landing, Monterey County, Calif., in 1931and Ephydra sp. at Owens Lake, Calif., in 1938.The Brewer's blackbird is considered by Kalmbach (1914) to be aneffective enemy of the alfalfa weevil. Howell (1906) says: "Fourspecies of blackbirds are known to consume boll weevils [in Texas},the most important of which seems to be the Brewer's blackbird."Emlen (1937) says: "Blackbirds have frequently been accused ofstealing almonds; but although three species, Brewer (Euphagus cyano-cephalus), Bicolored (Agelaius phoeniceus), and Tricolored (Agelaiustricolor) were all common in the orchards, there is no definite evidencethat they were feeding on almonds during the preharvest months."Beal (1948) writes:During the cherry season in California the birds [Brewer's blackbird] are muchin the orchards. In one case they were observed feeding on cherries, but when aneighboring fruit grower began to plow his orchard almost every blackbird in thevicinity was upon the newly opened ground close after the plowman's heels in itseagerness to secure the insects turned up.The laboratory investigation of this bird's food covered 312 stomachs, collectedin every month and representing especially^thejruit^andjjrain sections ofsouthern
318 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211California. The animal portion of the food was 32 percent and the vegetable 68percent.Caterpillars and their pupae amounted to 12 percent of the whole food and wereeaten every month. They include many of those pests known as cutworms. Thecotton-boll worm, or corn-ear worm, was identified in at least 10 stomachs, andin 11 were found pupae of the codling moth. The animal food also included otherinsects, and spiders, sow bugs, snails, and egg shells.The vegetable food may be divided into fruit, grain, and weed seeds. Fruit waseaten in May, June, and July, not a trace appearing in any other month, and wascomposed of cherries, or what was thought to be such, strawberries, blackberries orraspberries, and fruit pulp or skins not further identified. However, the amount,a little more than 4 percent for the year, was too small to make a bad showing, andif the bird does no greater harm than is involved in its fruit eating it is well worthprotecting. Grain amounts to 54 percent of the yearly food and forms a consider-able percentage in each month; oats are the favorite and were the sole contentsof 14 stomachs, and wheat of 2, but no stomach was complete^ filled with anyother grain. Weed seeds, eaten in every month to the extent of 9 percent of thefood, were found in rather small quantities and irregularly, and appear to havebeen merely a makeshift.Stomachs of nestlings, varying in age from 24 hours to some that were nearlyfledged, were found to contain 89 percent animal to 1 1 'percent vegetable matter.The largest items in the former were caterpillars, grasshoppers, and spiders. Inthe latter the largest items were fruit, probably cherries; grain, mostly oats; andrubbish.The results of an investigation of the food habits of the redwing(Agelaius phoeniceus) and Brewer's blackbird in California has beenpresented by Soriano (1931). The stomach contents of 285 Brewer'sblackbirds, taken in all the months of the year and from 15 counties invarious sections of the State, were examined. The animal foodtaken included Coleoptera (represented by at least 13 families), Dip-tera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera,Chilopoda, and Arachnida. Cereals, mainly wheat, were the vegetablefoods most taken. Other seeds found included Amaranthus, Am-sinckia, Stellaria, Sorghum, Erodium, Polygonum, and Ribes. "Inthe months when insects and vegetable food, especially cereal in theharvest season, are both abundant," writes Soriano, "vegetable foodis taken less, showing that these birds are primarily more insec-tivorous in food habits than vegetarian. Most of the insects takenbelong to the destructive families of insects from the point of view ofthe farmer and fruit grower. Very few beneficial insects are taken.The destruction of these harmful insects means a great help to thefarmers and growers in particular, and to consumers in general."Most of the cereal taken is not "from newly planted seeds, for thebirds take sown seeds uncovered, as also grain from pastures, barn-yards, orchards and grain fields. Economically this cereal is notimportant and it can be considered waste grain." The rest of thevegetable food is almost all weed seeds. "Economically, in the widesthuman interests," concludes Soriano, the redwing and the Brewer's
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 319blackbird "are beneficial, being more insectivorous than vegetarian infood habits. However, being gregarious birds, they can now and theninflict such great damage on crops that to give them full protection isnot fair to the farmer whose crops are immediately threatened."The species as I have observed it in northern Monterey County,Calif., forages in a wide variety of open or grass covered situations.Parent birds have been seen gathering food for nestlings on the beachwhere the receding tide has left bits of kelp ; the birds have been seenfeeding on the dry parts of the beach above high tide mark, on wetsand bars at the mouth of the Carmel River, on mud flats near theriver mouth, and on the grassy areas ofrthe adjacent marsh where theymingle with pintails (Anas acuta), shovellers (Spatula clypeata),Wilson's snipe (Capella gallinago), killdeer (Charadrius vociferus),and other shore birds. They feed in both green and dry pastures andgrasslands (where they may or may not feed near cattle), on recentlyburnt-over grass areas, along the bare shoulders of highways in opencountry, on freshly plowed fields, on lawns and golf courses, on side-walks, and in the gutters of streets of towns.I have never seen them foraging in dense brushland or forested areas,although the flocks fly over such areas. During the nesting season, atleast, some foraging is done among the needles of the pines in thecolony. For example, four times in three seasons I have seen birdspoking into the insect spittle in the pines. One bird was seen carryinginsects with spittle to nestlings. Dr. Kathleen C. Doering, of theDepartment of Entomology of the University of Kansas, identifiedspecimens collected from similar spittle masses in the same tree asAphrophora.I have also seen flycatching tactics on numerous occasions when thebirds took short flights from the ground to capture a flying insect.Such sallies are also made from telephone wires.Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930) mention the distance from itsnest the bird will forage to feed nestlings. Parent birds gathered foodfrom the ground on a chaparral-covered slope half a mile away fromtheir nest on the edge of a lake. At the river-mouth colony parentsrange some distance for food. The maximum recorded was on May 17,1944, when birds went to a feeding tray just half a mile away to getfood for nestlings 4 and 5 days old and for fledglings out of the nest.The species seems capable of shifting quickly from one foragingsituation to another, e. g., the instance mentioned by Beal (1948) of aflock leaving cherries to follow the plow. This trait has been com-mented on by Winton Wedemeyer (MS.) and others. The bird iscommonly observed following various tillage operations. R. M.Bond (MS.) reports that in 1939, 1940, and 1941 Brewer's blackbirds
"followed the cultivating equipment near Somis, Ventura County,
320 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
Calif., often in hundreds. Available insect specimens turned up bythe plow were few, and the great majority of individuals were larvae ofthe wireworms Limonius californicus and Melanotus longulus, bothserious agricultural pests."Observers have reported seeing the bird turn over chips of dry cow-dung in pastures. Linsdale (1938) writes of a male that "turned overpieces of cow manure with its head and looked beneath them for food."I have watched this action a number of times. It is usually accom-plished by the bird putting its bill beneath the chip and flipping itover; sometimes the bird nudges the dung forward as it lifts, thus over-turning it. The bird inspects both the newly exposed ground and theunderside of the chip and takes food from both places. One piece ofmanure turned over measured 98 by 70 by 30 millimeters and weighed33.85 grams. Sometimes the birds poke vigorously into horse manure,flipping pieces aside with the bill. They turn over other objects suchas small pieces of wood, clods of earth, and even small stones. Onepiece of wood overturned by a blackbird measured 95 by 45 by 13millimeters. Occasionally the bird thrusts its bill underneath andthen opens the bill to pry the object up, overturning it with a forwardand upward motion. One bird enlarged a hole in soft mud by insertingthe closed bill and then opening the bill. It then picked somethingout of the hole. Once a male bird was seen digging vigorously intothe turf of a golf course, pulling out bits of dirt which it flicked off thebill; finally it pulled out a whitish object about 50 millimeters long,possibly an insect larva.La Rivers (1941) describes the method of eating Mormon cricketsas follows:The Brewer's assault upon the cricket is confined entirely to the females, whichthe birds covet for their eggs. These they take by splitting the dorsum of theabdomen transversely along the soft membranous tissue between the sclerites, afeat accomplished by grasping one end of the body in the bill, the other in a claw,and tugging; some go to less trouble and merely tear the head off, pulling with itthe entire abdominal, and much of the thoracic, contents, which are all consumed.An unexplained habit of these birds is their snipping off of the female cricket'sovipositor, something they quite frequently do.I have observed blackbirds feeding in water that reached as highas the belly feathers. Semiaquatic feeding has been very well de-scribed by Richardson (1947):Manzanita Lake on the campus of the University of Nevada has extensivegrowths of the water-weed Anacharis canadensis. Each year by the end of Maythe new growth of this plant forms a dense mat an inch or less below the watersurface. For several years now both Red-winged (Agelaius phoeniceus) andBrewer (Euphagus cyanocephalus) blackbirds that nest in the vicinity of the lakehave been observed feeding on insects associated with the waterweed. Theblackbirds alight on the plants, the water usually coming to the middle or upperpart of the birds' tarsometatarsi. Typically, the wings are then fluttered as the
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 321bird hops two or three feet to new vantage points. Less often a bird will walk,even a distance of thirty feet, without moving the wings. The tail, as appearedto be the habit in one individual especially, may be submerged and possiblypressed against the underwater vegetation for support.The most readily visible food obtained, and certainly the major item for aperiod of weeks in the early summer, is recently emerged damselfiies. The naiadsof this insect crawl to the surface of the waterweed and metamorphose on projec-tions just above the water. The blackbirds have been seen repeatedly catchingthese newly emerged and still pale and flightless adults. * * *Brewer Blackbirds of both sexes have been seen several times walking andfeeding on pad-lily (Nymphaea) leaves, even one leaf serving to hold up a bird.On two occasions, once on the Truckee River and once on the Carson River,Brewer Blackbirds have been seen hovering over open water and snapping foodfrom the surface. A male of this species was seen similarly to obtain a largepiece of bread in Manzanita Lake and carry it to shore to bo eaten.Both Ken Stott, Jr., and A. D. DuBois (MSS.) describe Brewer'sblackbirds soaking popcorn in water before eating it. I have oftenseen them soak bread in a bird bath or, at the river-mouth colony,in the water of the marsh.When mixed flocks of redwings and Brewer's are seen feeding on theground a difference can be noted in the angle at which the tails arecocked; those of the redwing are held obviously higher. In a largemixed assemblage the difference is quite noticeable.The movements of a foraging flock of Brewer's blackbirds has beenwell analyzed by Mulford (1936) as a combination of the walking ofindividuals in zigzag movement but all progressing slowly in the samegeneral direction, and the flying up and realighting in front of theflock by those which had been left walking in the rear. Dawson andBowles (1909) have commented that this flying up to the front of theforaging flock is sometimes a constant motion and when a largeassemblage is present it creates a rolling, or surging, effect, as themass of the birds moves over a large field.Neff and Meanley (1957) have analyzed the winter food in Arkansas.Behavior.?The gait of the Brewer's blackbird is usually a walk,accompanied by short forward jerks of the head. When the birdruns there is no jerk. Mulford (1936) outlines the process of takingtwo walking steps as follows: "1. Head is thrust forward as one legand foot are lifted. This moves the center of balance forward.2. Leg and foot are brought forward. 3. Head is pulled back as bodyis brought forward by step and as foot is set down on ground. 4. Thesequence of movements is repeated with other foot. The result ofthis is that the bird moves forward in a series of movements ratherthan in one continuous movement. The walk is jerky."Mulford also comments that there is no characteristic formation tothe flock when in flight but it is an "amorphous mass," either compactor spread out; of rounded form or with irregular margins; in one biggroup, or more or less divided into subgroups.
322 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The speed of flight has been measured by Rathbun (1934). A flockwas paced from a car for one mile and was found to fly at 27, 35, and38 miles per hour. There was no wind.In the region of Carmel, Calif., the Brewer's blackbird uses princi-pally two types of growth for roosting, patches of tules in the marsh,where they associate with the redwing, and thick tufts of foliage ofthe Monterey pine, a situation similar to that which they use fornesting.In late summer, fall, and winter I have noted late afternoon flightlines from feeding areas up Carmel Valley toward roosts at the mouthof the Carmel River and in the Carmel business district. The birdsfrequently gather at a dairy farm 3K miles east of the business-districtand river-mouth roosts. From this point, as well as from further upthe Valley, a number of flocks of Brewer's and mixed flocks of Brewer's,redwings, and tricolored redwings fly westward down the Valley.The number of Brewer's in either mixed or pure flocks has been foundto range from 40 or 50 to 300 birds. The westward flight line hasalso been noted from a point 2 miles further down the Valley than thedairy farm, and a corresponding eastward movement in the morninghas been seen there.At both the business-district and river-mouth areas the flocks ofBrewer's blackbirds gather on electric wires before roosting time andoccasionally fly down to forage. The actual flight to the roostingplaces in the pines is made individually and at irregular intervals,the birds lighting first on the branch tips then working their way intothe thick parts of the foliage. There is often considerable movingabout in the foliage and bickering for positions, and considerableutterance of various calls, especially the kit notes.On November 17, 1943, a female at the river-mouth colony roostedin a tuft very close to her nest situation of the preceding spring.On October 30, and December 28, 1944, the same female roosted in asimilar tuft of the same tree. Her nest of 1944 was also within a fewfeet of this roost.In the morning the birds fly out individually and at irregularintervals from the roosting tufts in rapid, zigzag flight and gather onthe wires. Those leaving the tules sometimes fly directly eastwardup the valley. Some leave the pines at the river-mouth and flytoward the business district. Morning observations in the businessdistrict show large gatherings on the wires, some birds coming fromtufts of the street pines, and others, possibly, from the river mouth.After an interval on the wires, a large flock has been seen (December12, 1947) taking flight eastward and passing out of sight. This lineof flight would carry them up the Valley along the flight lines men-
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 323tioned above. Some of the birds in the business district, as well assome at the river mouth, remain to forage locally.Indications are that in this region the Brewer's blackbird goes toroost earlier and leaves the roost correspondingly later than someother species in the area. The redwing has been heard calling upto 10 and 12 minutes after the last Brewer's notes were heard. (Thefemale noted above went to her roosting tuft, silently, 13 minutesbefore the last redwing note was heard from the adjoining marsh,October 30, 1944, and 14 minutes before the last bush-tit (Psaltriparusminimus) notes were heard on November 17, 1943.) In the morning,also, several species of passerines have been heard before the firstcalls of the Brewer's were detected. Golden-crowned sparrows(Zonotrichia coronata) have been heard making their first call 21minutes before the first Brewer's blackbird notes.Similar diurnal rhythms between pine roosting places at Berkeley,Calif., and distant foraging places have been described by Mulford(1936). Stott (MS.) furnishes the following notes from San Diego,Calif., where he watched a wild flock at the zoo:
"While their roosting place changes from time to time (bambooclumps, palm crowns, Grevillea trees, etc.) they follow a fairly stablepattern in their diurnal activities about the pool. Each morningthey appear first on a telephone line which stretches across a canyonnorth of the Mirror Pool area. Suddenly a small group at the southend of the line drops to the ground on a macademized road; there it isshortly joined by another group and another, until the entire flockhas forsaken the wire. Its members strut up and down the road insearch of scattered popcorn. In the late afternoon the blackbirdsbegin to congregate near the pool until they form a more or less com-pact flock. Subsequently, they fly in small groups back to thetelephone wire on which they had congregated earlier in the day.Their next move is a unified one and takes them to their currentroosting place."Lockerbie (MS.) mentions the use of cattails for roosting in theSalt Lake City, Utah, region. Bassett (1931) found them usingfloating duck-hunting blinds, covered with eucalyptus boughs, thatwere anchored nearly a mile from the high tide line in San Pablo Bay,Calif.Voice.?In the belief that there is no really satisfactory way tosyllabify the notes of this species, I have merely attempted a tentativeand, it is hoped, suggestive rendering of the utterances. In some ofthe cases the associated activity of the bird is mentioned, togetherwith the function of the call, when this is known, in order to aid thereader in identifying the notes. Most calls are subject to consider-able individual variation but are always identifiable as one of 13
324 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211types, that can be grouped in two broad categories?single utterancesand series utterances.The single utterances are either short or long and drawn out.Among the short, incisive, single-syllable utterances are the followingsounds: Tschup?a "scolding" note uttered when there is a disturb-ance near the nest or young, or in other situations of excitement.A "flocking" note?uttered when groups take off and fly in flockformation, that is shorter, higher, less loud, and with less s soundand more t sound than tschup. Tup?uttered by adults when ap-proaching the nest with food; more frequently used when approachingthe place where a young fledgling is; but also used by adults whenflying with older fledglings following; it is shorter, softer, lower, moremuffled than the tschup. A "location" note?uttered by the fledglingduring intervals between food-bearing visits of the parents; like tschup,but weaker, it has a shorter vowel sound and a more nasal quality.The "squawk"?a low, scratchy note uttered when one bird makescontact with another, it is used when one bird grabs another in fight-ing, when a blackbird is caught by a hawk, and also used when ablackbird dives at a hawk; Mulford (1936) writes it chaw.Long drawn-out, single utterances, of one or more s}dlables, includethe following: Squeee?a very loud hoarse whistle with decided upwardinflection (this note and tee-uuu, described below, carry farther thanany of the other calls) . Schl-r-r-r-up?a comparatively subdued, tone-less, whirring gurgle, aptly described by Mulford (1936) as "a rushof air without vocal accompaniment"; this call and the preceedingone are subject to considerable individual variations (for the associ-ated activities see under "Spring" and "Courtship"). Tee-uuu?
a
loud, clear, thin whistle with decided downward inflection, that some-times becomes pit-eee or tsee-eur, but in all cases with the secondsyllable lower in pitch than the first; it is the only clear whistled notein the repertory and functions as a "warning" note (see under
"Enemies").The second major category, series utterances, includes short notesuttered in series, sometimes with a definite rythm, as follows: Kit-tit-tit-tit, etc.?sometimes regular in delivery, sometimes irregular,varying in quality of tone, intensity and rapidity of utterance; attimes it sounds more like kit-r-r kit-r-r, when it has a decided rythmiceffect; it is used both in the female generalized display and in bellig-erent encounters, by males (rarely) when bickering over food, and isfrequently heard accompanying bickering at the roost (when the sexof the bird cannot always be identified). The female copulatorynote?a soft, low, steady series of tapping notes, very different fromany of the other utterances?is used in the female pre-coitional display(see under "Spring" and "Courtship"). Chug-chug-chug, or tucker-
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 325tucker-tucker, or tit-tit-tit?used by males accompanying the elevatedtail display (see under "Spring" and "Courtship"); sometimes theseutterances resemble the kit notes. Peeping sounds?made by youngnestlings. Tut-utz-utz?a low, hoarse, scratchy series of rhythmicnotes, the "begging" notes of older nestlings and of fledglings; whenthe parents are away foraging the fledgling utters the "location" note,but when the adult arrives the young bird changes to this "begging"note in anticipation of being fed.Field marks.?The species most easily confused with the Brewer'sblackbird in the field are the redwing and tricolored redwing, the rustyblackbird (Euphagus carolinus), the bronzed grackle (Quiscalus quis-cula), and the cowbird {Molothrus ater). Peterson (1941) says thatthe male rusty blackbird in summer plumage has "dull greenish insteadof purplish head reflections [as in Brewer's]. The iridescence is almostlacking [and is] not noticeable as in the Brewer's Blackbird or theBronzed Grackle." The rusty and Brewer's blackbirds are about thesame size but the bronzed grackle is noticeably larger and has a
"longer tail, which is somewhat wedge-shaped." The female Brewer'shas a dark brown iris in contrast to the pale yellow iris of the femalerusty blackbird. In winter the female Brewer's blackbird does nothave the rusty wash, as do rusty blackbirds of both sexes. But theimmature male Brewer's in the first winter plumage, according toRidgeway (1902), has the "feathers of head, neck, back, scapulars,chest, and sides narrowly tipped with grajnsh brown." There is thepossibility that in this plumage, also, the male might be confused withthe male rusty blackbird in winter plumage. But the tipping is moregrayish and less rusty brown. The male redwing and tricolored red-wing are obviously distinct from the Brewer's. Hoffman (1927) pointsout the distinctive marks for females: "The unstreaked breasts dis-tinguish the Brewer Blackbirds from female Redwings [and also, itmay be added, tricolored redwings], and the greater size, darkerplumage and long, sharp-pointed bills distinguish them from the femaleCowbirds. The yellow (apparently white) eye and long sharp-pointed bill distinguish the male Brewer from the male Cowbird."Enemies.?La Rivers (1944), reporting on one nesting season ofBrewer's blackbirds near Reno, Nev., found that 107 nests held 521eggs, 205 of which resulted in fledglings that left the nest safely, amortality of 60.65 percent. "Twenty-three eggs were known to besterile, but other sterile eggs were obviously among those which dis-appeared without known cause. The total number of eggs and nest-lings unaccounted for because of unknown predation, amounted to 83,but the remaining 233 could nearly all be ascribed with certainty toone of 23 known factors, 21 of which were biologic, the other twoclimatic [i. e., wind and hail]."
326 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Among the biological factors which accounted for 86.07 percent ofthe mortality, predation was preeminent. Those predators that were
"persistent bird and egg feeders" were: Scrub jay (Aphelocoma coeru-lescens), American magpie {Pica pica), crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
,
bridled weasel (Mustelajrenata) , western ringtail (Bassariscus astutus),desert bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer), striped racer (Coluber taeniatus),and blue racer (Coluber constrictor). Those predators that could onlybe "classed as occasional opportunists" were: Sharp-shinned hawk(Accipiter striatus), horned owl (Bubo virginianus) , Steller's jay (Cyano-citta stelleri) , Piute ground squirrel (Citellus mollis), Beechey groundsquirrel (Citellus grammurus), Sierra mantled ground squirrel (Callo-spermophilus chrysodeirus) , Douglas chickaree (Sciurus douglasi),striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), and Great Basin rattlesnake(Crotalus viridis).
"Protective factors" included the floral elements; some types ofplants used afforded better nest protection than others. Also theheight of the nest emplacement was important; 57.94 percent of thenests were placed 5 feet or less above the ground, 32.71 percent from5 to 10 feet, and 9.34 percent above 10 feet. It was found that
"mortality progressively increased" from the highest to the lowest.Still another protective factor was the tactics of parent birds in drivingoff predators. However, in some cases, La Rivers believes, "noisy,quarrelsome, conspicuous birds" attracted predators to their nests.Bond (1939) in an examination of the remains of prey items frombeneath five nesting sites of the prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) inthe region of the Lava Beds National Monument, Calif., found twoBrewer's blackbirds at one eyrie, none at the other four. He foundremains of eight Brewer's blackbirds beneath the nesting site of a duckhawk (Falco peregrinus). A large number of pellets of the hornedowl and barn owl (Tylo alba) were also collected by this author frombeneath roosts in the same region. Two collections were made, oneon August 12, 1937, at which time only those pellets "were taken thatseemed, on the basis of state of preservation, to have been cast laterthan the preceding winter." At the time of the second collectionNovember 5, 1937, only those were taken which seemed certainly tohave been deposited since the August collection. In the first collectionthe remains of 12 Brewer's blackbirds were found among a total of3,391 items of bird, reptile, mammal and insect remains, whichamounted to 0.0035 percent of the total. In the second collectiontwo Brewer's blackbirds were found out of a total of 994 bird and mam-mal remains, or 0.002 percent. Considering the effect of predationon birds by both hawks and owls in this area, Bond states that theBrewer's blackbird was among the five species of birds most oftenkilled by hawks. In the combined owl pellet collections the total of
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 32714 Brewer's blackbird items out of a total of 106 bird items puts itamong the 7 bird species that were represented by more than 5percent. But most of the birds taken by both hawks and owlswere common to exceedingly abundant in the area (the Brewer'sblackbird was in the latter class). Bond concludes "it is quite clearthat none of the species is endangered, or probably appreciablyreduced in numbers, by either the hawks or owls."Sumner (1928) reports finding a headless young Brewer's blackbirdon two different days in a tree cavity occupied by young screech owls(Olus asio) at Claremont, Calif. W. H. Behle (MS.) found remainsof this blackbird near the nest of a short-eared owl {Asio jlammeus)in Utah.Bond (MS.) writes that he has "seen both Cooper's hawk [Accipitercooperi] and the pigeon hawk [Falco columbarius] catch a Brewer'sblackbird, the former on the ground and the latter in the air."In Carmel Valley, Calif., on December 15, 1942, I witnessed thecapture of a Brewer's blackbird by a sharp-shinned hawk. A mixedflock of about 500 redwing, tricolored, and Brewer's blackbirdswere alternately perching on power wires and flying down in smallgroups to feed in straw stubble near some horses. The hawk wasfirst noticed pursuing the blackbird, which it seemed to have singledout from a group of about 300 birds flushed from the stubble. Thehawk followed the blackbird in a twisting and turning flight; therewas a "squawk" from the blackbird as it was caught. The raptorthen flew to a nearby thicket, seeming to labor in flight with theblackbird in its claws. The whole chase and capture and removalto the thicket took place not more than 10 to 15 feet above the groundand lasted only a few seconds.The usual warning note, tee-uuu, is given when a hawk flies over thecolony. It is uttered by other members of the flock when a hawk ispursuing one of them. It may also be used when some large bird ismerely passing by, even high overhead. The chorus of schlr-r-r-up,squee and kit-til-tit of the nesting colony suddenly stops as one or twobirds utter the warning note and others join in. Looking up one maysee a hawk, a crow, a night heron, or even a large gull passing over.When it has gone by the tee-uuu ceases and the chorus recommences.This alarm has been noted on two occasions when airplanes havepassed over. On at least four occasions I have heard this note whena duck hawk has soared overhead or flown by; I have also heard itwhen sharpshins have attacked or have merely flown by and onnumerous occasions when crows have flown'past.R. M. Bond (MS.) observed the reactions of a flock of Brewer'sblackbirds to the attacks of a marsh hawk (Circus cyaneus) as follows:"For about 15 minutes, during an extremely cold spell in February380928?57 22
328 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2111936, I watched about 25 Brewer's blackbirds feeding on spilledgrain on the snow. I was seated in a parked car a few feet away.During the whole of this time, an adult male marsh hawk tried tocatch one, and at each strike the blackbirds in danger would shift acouple of feet, easily dodging the raptor, pick up a few more grainsand dodge the next blow. The blackbirds rose only a few inches fromthe ground each time. None was ever caught, though there were somenear misses, and I suppose the hawk succeeded eventually." Bond(1947) has found the remains of a Brewer's blackbird at a marshhawk's nest near Watsonville, Calif.
"It is a well known trait of the Brewer Blackbird to badger largebirds such as hawks and crows," writes Grinnell and Storer (1924).The list of those animals harried or mobbed by this species is extensiveand includes the great blue heron (Ardea herodias) (Bond, MS.),snowy egret (Egretta thula), white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus),horned owl, pygmy owl (Glaucidium gnoma), weasel, gray squirrel(Sciurus griseus), cats, dogs, and humans. Attacks by the blackbirdmay be made singly or in groups. An incident of an attack on asparrow hawk (Falco sparverius) taken from my notes will suffice toillustrate the manner of single attack on a flying bird: "MontereyCounty, June 13, 1948?A male Brewer's swooping at a sparrowhawk, seemingly making contacts on the lower back or tail. Wouldfly rapidly from behind and a little above, catch up to the hawk, saildown on it and seem to make contact uttering the squawk at the sametime. At this moment the hawk would twist in flight, seemingly inorder to evade the blackbird." These attacks, although seen severaltimes on that day, did not seem to extend very far beyond the limitsof the nesting colony. La Rivers (1944) mentions a sparrow hawkkilling a Brewer's blackbird that was harrying it. Allan R. Phillips(MS.) says that on June 14, 1936, he "took a young male from a spar-row hawk that was carrying it away, pursued by adult blackbirds, soFalco sparverius is an occasional enemy of the young."The sharp-shinned hawk has been observed to be mobbed byblackbirds. The warning note was uttered by several members ofthe river-mouth colony on May 23, 1945, as several other Brewer'sblackbirds pursued a sharp-shinned hawk flying away and at somedistance from the colony. A group of about five redwing and/orBrewer's pursued a pigeon hawk, on September 25, 1945, at the river-mouth colony. At first a much larger group of about 25 of bothspecies of blackbirds hovered about a pine where the hawk was perched.When the hawk took flight the five took after it, pursuing from alittle above the hawk. Once the hawk turned and swooped upwardtoward its pursuers, who immediately turned back for a short way,
BREWERS BLACKBIRD 329but when the hawk resamed the general direction of its flight, theblackbirds again took up the chase until they were out of sight.When a subject for mobbing, as a gray squirrel, for instance, appearsin a tree near a nest at the colony the effect on a large part of thecolony is almost instantaneous; there is a sudden outburst of rapidlyrepeated tschup notes and many birds gather nearby. Some of themswoop at the animal and even strike it. Even though the attack isstrenuous and prolonged it is not certain that it has any effect inrouting the squirrel. I have no proof that the squirrel preys uponthe eggs or nestlings, but since the nests are often built resting on oneor more cones, the nests could, of course, be destroyed by the squirrelin taking cones.On two occasions, at the river-mouth colony the birds were seenharassing weasels. One of these was on May 13, 1947, when 35redwing and Brewer's blackbirds were seen hovering about 5 or 6feet above the weasel and following it as it ran over the marsh inwhich the redwing colony was situated, adjacent to the Brewer'scolony. The Brewer's uttered loud, excited tschup notes, sometimeslighting on the tule stems or the grass as close as 5 feet behind themammal. The cloud of noisy birds thus followed the weasel for about150 feet, until it disappeared.Death along highways has been considered by several writers.Robertson (1930) covered the same 30.3-mile route over paved andunpaved roads 287 times during one year. He found 136 dead birdsof at least 27 species, 9 of which were Brewer's blackbirds. R. M.Bond (MS.) remarks that he has been impressed by the fact that, inhis experience, Brewer's blackbirds almost invariably fly clear of ap-proaching cars on the highways, in contrast to the frequency withwhich redwings and tricolored redwings are struck. He counted 156traffic casualties for the three species on roadsides in Oregon, Cali-fornia, and Nevada during his travels in those States in the years1935 to 1937. Only four of these casualties were Brewer's blackbirds.The proportion of Agelaius would have been even higher if counts hadbeen made where redwings and tricolored redwings were crossing ahighway from nesting colony to feeding grounds."Baumgartner (1934) records only one Brewer's blackbird amongthe 353 specimens of 42 species of birds recorded as automobilecasualties during two trips by car to the Western States, totaling16,700 miles, in the summers of 1927 and 1929.Other accidental causes of death are recorded by Linsdale (1931,1932), who found this bird to be an indirect victim of "pest control"programs in California, where it eats poisoned grain put out for groundsquirrels; and by Lincoln (1931), who mentions two banding returnsof Brewer's that were killed by flying into structures.
330 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The Brewer's blackbird is parasitized by the cowbird. Friedmann(1929) in discussing the host species of the cowbird writes: "Bendirethought this bird was only occasionally imposed upon, but subsequentobservations have shown it to be a common host of the Cowbird inthe plains and prairies of the west. A. A. Saunders (Auk, XXVIII,no. 1, Jan., 1911, p. 40), writing of the Cowbird in Gallatin County,Mont., says, 'I have found their eggs more often in the nests ofBrewer's blackbird than any other species,' and, in the same paper,says of the Brewer's blackbird, 'a large percentage of their nestscontain Cowbird's eggs.' "Cowan (MS.) writes that on two occasions he has found nestlingsof Brewer's blackbird infested with Protocalliphora. Dr. Carlton M.Herman, parasitologist for the California Division of Fish and Game,identified a flea from an abandoned nest at the river-mouth colonyin 1945 as Dasypsyllus gallinulae.Fall and winter.?In the Salt Lake region of Utah the bird ismost abundant during the winter months, according to Lockerbie(MS.), and Behle (MS.) says, "it congregates in winter in the valleysalong the Jordan River, in Utah, at ranches where livestock is fedand at dumps and feed yards; there it occurs in great flocks numbering100 to 1,000 individuals." In the Rockport region of Texas, writesMrs. Jack Hagar (MS.), "many of this species winter in cut-over fieldswith redwings, cowbirds, and great-tailed grackles," but she believesthat "great numbers go on south" of Rockport to winter, as the flocksare larger in spring and fall. In the Houston region, according toG. G. Williams (MS.), "it arrives, usually, within a few days of Novem-ber 1, and disappears in the last half of April. It frequents the grazed-over areas of our wide, flat, treeless coastal plain, as well as the stubblefields of the great rice farms that occupy huge areas here. It isalmost never seen in localities where trees predominate. In thenorthern parts of Harris County (of which Houston is the countyseat), where the coastal plain gives way to forest, the species becomesless and less common, and is replaced by the rusty blackbird."Lowery (MS.) writes: "I would regard the Brewer's blackbird as aregular and fairly common winter visitor to southern Louisiana.They seem to be more common in the vicinity of ponds and sloughswhich border cane fields and other open situations. I do not believethey are quite as numerous as the rusty blackbird, but they arenevertheless a very prevalent Louisiana winter bird."In the fall and winter, the Brewer's blackbird is especially gregarious,associating in flocks composed not only of its own kind but also ofother icterids. However, since I have always found it nesting insome sort of colony organization, it might be considered more or lessgregarious the year around, in the Carmel region, although the size
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 331
of the foraging and roosting flocks is much greater in fall and winter.The young, when first beginning to fly freely but while still depend-ing on the parents for at least some of their food, flock together withother adults. These flocks soon associate with redwings and fall-sojourning tricolored redwings. In large aggregations of the threespecies the Brewer's are generally outnumbered by the other twocombined.Color-banded Brewer's were found to wander to places as far as 6miles north, 4% miles east, 6 miles south, and 4 miles northwest of thebanding station at the mouth of the Carmel River. During the falland winter the diurnal rhythm mentioned under "Behavior" is no-ticed, although it seems that not all birds follow this pattern rigidly.In fall and winter the color-banded birds of the river-mouth breed-ing colony can be found at other colony areas, and birds that bred atthese other areas may also mix with the flock at the river mouth.But there is always a nucleus of the locally breeding birds to be foundat the colony.In the months of September and October, and occasionally inNovember, at the river-mouth colony, there is a mild recrudescenceof what I have called pairing behavior (see "Spring" and "Courtship,"above). There are instances of temporary segregation into pairs,walking and flying about together (the female generally leading inflights); mutual display; occasional displacement by the male ofanother male alighting near the female; and occasional darts andchases. Three females which had bred in the colony the precedingspring made one trip each with nesting material to the vicinity of theirformer nest sites (September 25, and October 5, 1945, and September14, 1947). With but a few exceptions these cases of pairing behaviorinvolved individuals that had been paired the previous spring, andsome that had remated for two or more of the preceeding breedingseasons. However, most of these pairing performances were not oflong duration, and on many days of observation none at all was seen.As compared to spring the activities never seemed as fully developed,and on days that they were observed fewer pairs were engaged in them.For much of the fall and winter season pairs of the previous spring,or those which had remated for one or more of the preceeding seasons,might not even be seen in the same flock. When they did appear inthe same flock, they did not behave as a pair, except on the occasionsof "recrudescence," as mentioned. Probably, therefore, it should bestated that even though the pairs remate on successive seasons, theydo not maintain a pair bond continuously through the nonbreedingseason. However, since the re-pairing of the male andJuY primaryfemale in successive breeding seasonsjs more than a matterof chance(42 out of 45 possible cases), it might be stated that a true pair bond
332 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
exists over a period of years in the Brewer's blackbird and that thisbreaking of the bond in the nonbreeding season should be considered asonly an interruption.No migration trends were indicated from the 318 individuals thatI color-banded at Carmel, on the central coast of California. Mostof those birds that survived a full year or more were found in the regionin both winter and summer. However many of the banded birdsthat did not breed in the river-mouth colony could not be kept track of,and their exact status in all seasons was not always known. Thewandering of the blackbirds over a larger area (about 12 miles indiameter) in the nonbreeding season made careful checks difficult.There may be indications of a differential sex migration in thisspecies. Bendire (1895) states that the "birds wintering along ournorthern border appear to be nearly all adult males." Gabrielsonand Jewett (1940) say that in Oregon "the bird is present through thewinter in small flocks composed mostly of males."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western and south-centi al Canada to Mexico and theGulf coast.Breeding range.?The Brewer's blackbird breeds from south-western, central, and southeastern British Columbia (Comox, Fernie),central Alberta (Grimshaw, Lesser Slave Lake), central Saskatchewan(Carlton, forks of the Saskatchewan), southern Manitoba (DuckMountain, Shoal Lake), northern Minnesota (Crookston, Hibbing),western Ontario (Port Arthur) and northern Wisconsin (Hayward,Oconto, Green Bay); south to northwestern Baja California (LaGrulla, San Rafael), central-southern and central-eastern California(Kenworthy, Saline Valley), southern Nevada (Lincoln County),southwestern and central Utah (Meadow, Pine Valley, Parleys Park),central Arizona (Flagstaff, Marsh Lake), western and central-southernNew Mexico (Fort Wingate, Manhill), northern Texas (Canyon,Vernon), Oklahoma (Gate; casually Creek County) Kansas, northernIowa, southern Wisconsin (Belleville, Walworth County), northeasternIllinois (Wauconda, Northfield), northwestern Indiana, and south-western Michigan (Kalamazoo County). Summer specimens havebeen taken farther north in British Columbia (Kathlyn Lake, FrancoisLake), Alberta (Banff, Deer Mount), and Saskatchewan (PrinceAlbert).Winter range.?Winters from southwestern British Columbia(Vancouver), northern Washington (Bellingham Bay), central Alberta(casually, Camrose), central-eastern Montana, central Oklahoma,Arkansas (Fayetteville, Stuttgart), southwestern Tennessee (Mem-
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD 333phis), southern Mississippi (Saucier, Gulfport, Tupelo), Alabama,Georgia (casually, Atlanta, Athens, Augusta), western North Carolina(casually, Asheville) and western South Carolina (casually Clemson,Chester); south to southern Baja California, Michoacan (Patzcuaro),Oaxaca, central Veracruz (Orizaba, Las Vigas), and the Gulf Coast,casually east to western Florida (Panama City).Casual records.?Casual in northern Ontario (Lake Attawapiskat),northeastern Indiana (Ligonier) and northwestern Ohio (Spencer,Jerusalem Township).Accidental in Keewatin (Baker Lake).Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Indiana?Elkhart,March 19. Ohio?Lucas County, April 3. Iowa?La Porte, March 8.Michigan?McMillan, April 29. Wisconsin?New Richmond, March24; Milwaukee, March 27. Minnesota?Elk River, March 15 (averageof 8 years for southern Minnesota, April 13); Fosston, March 24(average of 7 years for northern Minnesota, April 13). Oklahoma
?
Caddo, February 26. Kansas?Onaga, February 20 (average of23 years, April 10). Nebraska?Alexandria, February 26. SouthDakota?Vermillion, March 9; Sioux Falls, March 26 (average of 4years, April 4). North Dakota?Cass County, March 24 (average,March 29) ; McKenzie County, April 12 (average of 9 years, April 18).Manitoba?Treesbank, March 20 (median of 50 years, April 9).Saskatchewan?Sovereign, March 8; South Qu'Appelle, March 26.New Mexico?Clayton, March 7. Arizona?Tombstone, February13. Colorado?Boulder, March 25; Fort Morgan, April 8. UtahOgden, March 23. Wyoming?Wheatland, March 10; Cheyenne,April 2. Idaho?Rupert, March 29. Montana?Fortine, March 20;Alberta?Glenevis, April 8; Camrose, April 9 (median of 12 years,April 20). California?Big Creek, March 2. Oregon?Weston, March1; Pinehurst, March 5. Washington?Pullman, March 17. BritishColumbia?Vancouver, March 18; Okanagan Landing, March 22(median of 13 years, April 2).Late dates of spring departure are: Veracruz?Las Vigas, April 5.Durango?Rio Sestin, April 14. Coahuila?southeastern Coahuila,April 25. Baja California?Santa Catarina Landing, May 14. Flor-ida?Vernon, April 8. Georgia?Athens, April 9. South CarolinaClemson College, April 17. North Carolina?near Asheville, April 12.Mississippi?Gulfport, April 5. Tennessee?Johnson City, April 20.Kentucky?Woodford County, May 12. Missouri?St. Charles,April 26. Indiana?Ligonier, May 18. Ohio?Toledo, May 2.Iowa?Sioux City, May 19. Michigan?McMillan, May 21. Texas-Commerce, May 7. Oklahoma?Oklahoma City, April 25. NewMexico?Silver City, May 15. Arizona?Fort Huachuca, May 8.California?Fresno, April 30; Death Valley, April 29.
334 U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Early dates of fall arrival are: California?Fresno, September 7.Colorado?Fort Morgan, September 9. Arizona?Tucson, September18. New Mexico?Koehler Junction, August 20 ; Silver City, Septem-ber 1. Nebraska?Belvidere, August 31. Kansas?Onaga, September10. Oklahoma?Norman, September 25. Texas?Somerset, October4; El Paso, October 13. Michigan?McMillan, July 23. Iowa
?
Sigourney, August 20. Illinois?Chicago, September 13. MissouriFreistatt, November 7. Tennessee?Memphis, November 5. Missis-sippi?Saucier, November 9. Delaware?Bombay Hook, October 22.North Carolina?Swannanoa, November 14, South Carolina?Dale,November 25. Georgia?Atlanta, November 14. Sonora?SanPedro, September 15.Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?Cranbrook,November 26; Okanagan Lake, November 22. Washington?Blaine,November 27. Oregon?Weston, December 14; Pinehurst, October25. California?Big Creek, November 23. Alberta?Morrin, De-cember 1; Glenevis?October 26 (median of 17 years, August 28).Montana?Chouteau County, October 19. Idaho?Rupert, Novem-ber 24. Wyoming?Laramie, December 9 ; Yellowstone Park, Novem-ber 20. Utah?Ogden, November 16. Colorado?Fort Morgan,November 30; Beulah, November 3. Arizona?Tombstone, Novem-ber 28. New Mexico?Aztec, December 9. Saskatchewan?Wiseton,November 27; McLean, November 21. Manitoba?Treesbank,November 22 (median of 47 years, October 31). North DakotaMcKenzie County, December 6; Cass County, November 28 (aver-age, November 1). South Dakota?Sioux Falls, November 28(average of 7 years, November 14). Nebraska?Valentine, Novem-ber 3. Kansas?Onaga, November 27 (average of 22 years, November13). Oklahoma?Oklahoma City, November 29. Minnesota?Min-neapolis, November 30 (average, November 3) ; St. Vincent, October20. Wisconsin?St. Croix County, November 22. MichiganBlaney Park, October 30. Iowa?Wall Lake, November 18. Illi-nois?Chicago, October 27.Egg dates.?Alberta: 16 records, May 20 to July 2; 8 records,May 26 to June 5.California: 288 records, March 29 to July 10; 160 records, April29 to May 30.Nevada: 18 records, May 12 to June 10; 9 records, May 20 toMay 26.North Dakota: 14 records, May 25 to June 4.Oregon: 29 records, May 12 to July 8; 16 records, May 20 toJune 5.
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 335CASSIDIX MEXICANUS MEXICANUS (Gmclin)Boat-Tailed GrackleContributed by Alexander F. SkutchHABITS[Author's note: In recent years, according to the A. 0. U. Check-List. (1957) the races of Cassidix mexicanus have been spreading slowlynorthward. Phillips (1950) reported a specimen of the typical racefrom Cameron County, Tex., and we can suppose that in time otherswill reach southern Texas.]In Costa Kica the boat-tailed grackle appears to be confined tothe Pacific coast, where it forages among the mangrove swamps, andis quite unknown in the interior. But in northern Central Americaand southern Mexico it spreads over most of the country, and tothe local inhabitants is one of the best-known of feathered creatures.Most other birds of the region are given only general or family names;chorcha must suffice for many kinds of orioles, and carpinterodoes service for a great variety of woodpeckers. The familiar gracklenot only bears a specific name, but male and female are honored withdistinct titles. The big handsome, yellow-eyed males, clad in sleekblack plumage glossed with violet and blue, are called clarineros(trumpeters); the much smaller females, soberly attired in shades ofbrown, are known to everyone as sanates. And well may the boat-tailed grackles have two names, for more than any other bird ofnorthern Central America, they seek the neighborhood of man. Thepalm trees of the town plaza are their favorite nesting place; in theevening one sees them streaming in noisy flocks from the surroundingfields, where they forage during the day, to the village shade trees,where they roost. They abound in the coastal towns; and the stirringwhistled screech of the clarinero at once recalls to my memory somepalm-shaded Caribbean port; but they are scarcely less numerous inthe interior, and in Guatemala frequent the towns of the centralplateau, up to at least 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. Theyare equally at home in the most humid districts of the Atlanticlittoral and amid the cacti and thorny scrub of the scorching, semi-desert regions of the interior and of the Pacific plain. But they arenever found amid the forest.But I have never remained longer than necessary in the towns,and only at Alsacia Plantation did I live on intimate terms with thegrackles. The plantation house stood on the upturned end of asharp spur jutting out from the mountains which form the boundarybetween Guatemala and Honduras into the level Valley of the Rio
336 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Morj&, a tributary of the Motagua. Here on the hilltop, severalhundred feet above the Valley floor, a numerous company of gracklesestablished their headquarters in the tall coconut palms that shadedthe house. From my arrival in February until the following July,I awoke every morning with their voices in my ears. In the earliestdawn the clarineros repeated over and over again, in a calm, subduedvoice, a long-drawn note between a screech and a whistle, whichsounded very pleasant and contented, and reminded me of one run-ning up the entire scale on some stringed instrument with one deftstroke. How different from the shrill calls they uttered later in theday, at the height of their amorous passion!Then, as the morning grew lighter, with much commotion andclucking on the part of the females and excited calling by the males,they left their sleeping places among the coconut fronds and flewdown to seek their breakfast. Many alighted on the Conostegia, amelastomaceous shrub with small pink flowers that grew abundantlyon the grassy hillside below the house, to eat the small, black, sweetishberries. Others settled in the cowpen and on the road, where theywalked about seeking small, creeping things on the bare ground, oron the lawn to forage in the grass. One morning I watched foursanates perform an office of kindness to a gaunt old cow who stoodalone in the pen. One bird alighted on her back and pecked atvermin among the hair. After a slight show of resistance, she alloweda second to settle beside her and share the feast. Two more sanatesmoved about on the bare ground at the beast's feet, and at intervalsjumped up to pluck something from her flanks or belly. Theyclambered over her legs and tail, performing the same service, whilethe cow stood patiently still.Many of the grackles, upon leaving their roost, flew directly downinto the Valley. As the morning wore on the rest melted away, singlyor in small flocks, to the banks of the Rio Morja, which wound throughthe banana plantations half a mile away. Here they foraged alongthe moist shore or in the shallows, or searched among the piles ofdriftwood and washed-out banana plants stranded in the shoals.The clarineros walked sedately along the shingly beach and flickedsmall stones aside with their bills, to see what edible morsels mightbe lurking beneath them. On hot afternoons they delighted to bathein the shoals at the margin of the steam, shaking wings and tail sovigorously that they sent up a shower of crystal drops which sparkledin the sunlight. One afternoon I saw a sanate approach a clarinerothat was bathing and stand as close to him as she could, althoughthere was an abundance of room elsewhere, seeming to enjoy theshower he was creating. She used him as the boat-tailed gracklesof the towns sometimes employ the lawn sprinklers. Finally all the
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 337bathers flew up to the boughs of the willow and cecropia trees on thebanks, vigorously shook the water from their plumage, and carefullypreened their feathers with their slender bills.As the sun sank low and the air grew cooler, the grackles flew upthe hill in small flocks, sometimes cackling like a company of purplegrackles, to congregate again in the coconut palms. On the waymany would settle again in the Conostegia bushes for a dessert ofberries before going to roost. From the time of their arrival untilit was nearly dark, our hilltop presented a lively scene. The variedcalls and squeaks of the males mingled with the constant chatter ofthe more numerous females. Many of the birds would settle uponthe fronds of a single tree, but seemed unable to make themselvescomfortable, and so flew out to alight upon another. Often theyshifted back and forth a dozen times before at length adjusting them-selves for the night. The fresh breeze that generally blew'up fromthe valley at about sunset and tossed the great fronds of the coconutsmade it more difficult for the birds to settle down. The long tailsof the clarineros flagged back and forth as they perched on the leaves,causing them evident inconvenience. It was a delight to watch theirgraceful maneuvers in the wind, when they hovered, soared, andpoised with dangling legs above the treetops, as sea gulls play abovea windy shore.On some particularly breezy evenings the clarineros engaged inspectacular if inconsequential sparring matches, meeting face to faceand rising well above the treetops, until the wind took hold of themand twisted them around, and they were obliged to forget theiropponents and devote all their attention to the maintenance of theirown equilibrium. There seemed to be no point to these encounters,which were probably entered in a spirit of fun, the more to enjoy thewind by their vigorous exercise in it, as boys engage in sham battlesin the water. The sun hung well above the western hills when thegrackles began to congregate among the coconut trees; the last redglow was fading from the sky when finally they had all ensconcedthemselves out of sight among the inner fronds of the palms, andtheir final sleepy notes gave way to the awakening calls of the pau-raque. But the clarineros, especially at the outset of the breedingseason, were light sleepers, and often awoke during the night toshatter the monotonous humming of insects with their shrill calls.At first I was happy to have such active, spirited birds as closeneighbors, but at length I began to wish them elsewhere; for liketheir northern relatives, the purple grackles, they ate the eggs ofother birds. A number of pairs of tanagers, flycatchers, thrushes,and other small birds built their nests on our hilltop, yet few succeededin rearing their young. The grackles kept all other large birds so
338 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
well at a distance, that I strongly suspect that they themselves wereresponsible for most of the depredations, especially since I once sur-prised a clarinero standing over the nest of a tiny Bonaparte's euphonia(Tanagra lauta lauta) which he had just torn to pieces in order toremove the eggs.Courtship.?At "Alsacia" the sanates began to build their nestsduring the last week of February, and at this time the noise andexcitement of the clarineros reached their highest pitch. The colonycontained about a hundred birds, and there were at least two or threefemales for each male. The clarineros did not appear to have anyparticular mates, but formed merely random and temporary unionswith the sanates. Yet although they shared the same territory andwere idle, they never seriously quarreled. Sometimes two wouldstand side by side on the same perch, calling peacefully for severalminutes, when of a sudden one would rush at the other and drive himaway; but the bird thus threatened never turned to fight and theother forgot his animosity in a moment, so there never resulted anydisagreeable encounters. The case was quite different with thesanates, who often came to grips in their disputes over their nest sites.The clarineros were ardent in courtship. Often one flew downbeside a sanate which was feeding or gathering material for her neston the ground. He addressed her with wings half-raised and quiver-ing, his great tail held level with his body and his head depressed,his contour feathers all fluffed out, making him appear larger tbanhe was, while with half-opened bill he uttered pleading calls. Some-times his voice was shrill and insistent, sometimes soft and appealingas the peeps of a little chick lost from its mother in the grass; but nomatter what language he used, the ardent suitor was sure to be ignoredby the busy sanate, who went resolutely about her work. At othertimes he perched beside her in a tree and paid his court in much thesame manner. So long as the sanate ignored him, his passion woulddie away almost as suddenly as it began.The nuptial flights of the grackles were aerial displays of the mostthrilling sort. They began when a sanate fled the attentions of aclarinero who addressed her on the ground or on a coconut frond, orwhen he tried to overtake her as she flew about her usual business,whether to find food or to gather material for her nest. As she fledfrom him he uttered his shrill nuptial calls and increased his speedto overtake her. She doubled and twisted and dodged and usedevery stratagem to escape him. Far out over the valley they went,until they were high above the tallest ceiba trees. Closely as hepressed her, she always managed to elude him; and I never saw oneof these breathless pursuits end in a capture. The wild chase over,
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 339the twain doubled back to the hilltop separately or together, or con-tinued their flight to the river.Although the clarinero was so spirited in courtship, it was thesanate who decided when she desired his attentions, and this wasusually about the middle of the afternoon. TheD she vibrated herwings and called with pleading peeps much weaker than his. Some-times she might continue this for a considerable period without at-tracting a clarinero, although several were in sight. When a clarineroresponded, be flew to her with shrill, ear-piercing cries and quiveringwings, and their union was completed in a moment. Then theyseparated, perched not far apart witb wings still violently vibrating,and continued their calls; but their notes were weaker than beforeand soon died away.Nesting.?The nests of the boat-tailed grackles are usually builtin colonies and are often placed near water, in willow trees or bushesalong the banks of lakes or rivers, or among rushes and reeds at themarshy borders of lagoons. But often they are situated in the shadetrees or clumps of bamboos about human habitations, sometimes ata considerable distance from water. At "Alsacia" all the gracklesbuilt well up on the hill, far above the river. A few of the sanatesin this colony placed their nests in orange or lemon trees, or only 8or 10 feet above the ground in low, thornless bushes growing in thepastures that surrounded the house. But the majority preferred tonest high up in the coconut palms where they roosted.I wanted very much to see the nests, but at first was timid aboutclimbing so high above the ground among the giant fronds of thecoconut trees; for despite their tremendous size, they are only exag-gerated leaves, and those of us who grow up in the temperate zonesdevelop a prejudice against supporting our weight on leaves. At thebeginning I sent up a slender lad to look into the nests and report theircontents to me. But after I had watched the boy clambering inperfect safety among the fronds, I overcame my prejudices andventured up myself. A man may climb by the aid of these giantleaves as though they were branches, provided of course that he keepshis weight fairly close to the trunk, and ascends to the top of the palmtree. The lowest dying leaf must be avoided, for it is on the pointof becoming detached and may fall at the slighest touch. Abovethis the fronds are strong and safe. In their broad, cuplike basesfallen flowers and blasted fruits, shreds of decaying sheaths andmiscellaneous debris, have accumulated and turned to mold, in whichgraceful pendent ferns, as well as grasses and various other plants,strike root and form a veritable aerial garden. Among these airplants hang the green clusters of ripe and ripening fruits, each larger
340 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211than a man's head, and the whole bunch of some two dozen coconuts,weighing considerably more than a strong man can lift. Among theselower fronds ants establish their colonies, spiders spin their webs, andone expects to encounter, amid all this debris and decaying vegetablematter, scorpions, cockroaches, and other unpleasant creatures.Some trees swarm so with stinging ants that it is unhealthful to climbthem. Few of the grackles nested among these lowest fronds.Higher, where hang the young and the half-grown fruits, and fromthis point to the summit, the trunk and the bases of the fronds areenswathed by their sheaths, which soon dry to form a coarse fabricof loosely netted brown fibers, of much the texture and aspect ofburlap. These sheaths tear and decay away while the fronds to whichthey belong remain green, with the result that the oldest are devoidof them. Here, in the axils of the younger fronds, against the coarsefabric of the sheaths, many grackles built their nests, among thewhite palm flowers covering the stiff upright branches of the spadix,each standing in front of its hooded spathe, fluted on the outer side.But the place most favored by the sanates for their nests was in thevery center of the palm tree's crown, between the two youngest of theexpanded leaves, which stood upright face to face, providing betweentheir broad green surfaces a cozy nook where the structures could besupported. Here the birds were in a verdant realm of their own,whence, through the narrow interstices of the fretwork made by thebroad ribbons of the leaflets crossing at varying angles, they caughtonly imperfect glimpses of the outer world of plain and mountain thatspread in a vast panorama about the lofty hilltop. The wind sentripples along the pleated surfaces of these youngest leaves and tossedthe older fronds below, the sun at high noon poured down its raysbetween the upright young leaves; but affairs on the ground belowpassed unseen and unregarded. A more attractive site for a bird'snest could scarcely be conceived. The first sanate to build in thecoconut palm invariably selected this choice location, and sometimesallowed a friend to place her nest between these same fronds, but onthe opposite side of the rachises. If any mishap befell one of thesenests and left the position vacant, it was most likely to be occupiedagain so long as the grackles continued to build. Aside from itssequestered position, the nook between the youngest fronds offeredmany advantages, not the least of which was its cleanness, for hereamid the fresh green leaves the birds were above the ragged sheathsand the vermin they harbored?above everything unclean save thedroppings of the roosting grackles themselves.It was only after these most favored sites had all been claimed thatthe sanates were content, perforce, to build among the mature frondslower down. On the broad bases of the latter they found a firm and
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 341
secure foundation for their nests. Five or six sanates frequentlynested at one time in the same coconut palm.As the sanates built, frequent quarrels arose among them, usuallybetween birds which desired the same nest-site, or between thosethat had begun their nests too close together and were in each other'sway as they worked. They menaced each other with open bills andhigh-pitched, irritated cries until at length one flew at the other, andthe two sparred face to face as they fluttered toward the ground.Then they would separate and fly off to forage or to gather more ma-terial for their nests. These quarrels never resulted in injuries to thecontestants, but caused the birds to scatter their nests in differentparts of the tree rather than crowd them all in the same place.Like oropendolas, the sanates often attempted to steal nest material.Often one bird would grasp the end of a long fiber that dangled froma neighbor's bill. Perching side by side on a coconut frond, the twotugged at the coveted prize, until at last one or the other tore it fromher opponent's grasp and flew to her nest with it. Sometimes one oreven two birds would pursue a third who had found a particularlydesirable piece of material. The sanate who had her fibres rudelytorn from her bill never manifested resentment, but soon went cheer-fully off to search for more. The clarineros took no part in buildingthe nests and viewed with indifference the quarrels between the femalesfrom whatever cause they might arise.The completed nests were large and bulky open cups composed of avariety of ingredients. The foundation was sometimes prepared bypiling in the chosen site a quantity of coarse materials such as weedstalks, small grasses torn up by their roots, and miscellaneous vegetablematerial. Above this the bird wove a roomy cup of coarsely fibrousstuffs picked up from the ground, chief among which were uncleanedstrips from the decaying outer leaf sheaths of the banana plants; butgrass stems, bits of rag and string, and fibrous weed stalks madeflexible by partial decay, were also employed. The nests built inbushes and dicotyledonous trees were suspended among the finertwigs by fibers twisted firmly around them and woven back into thewalls of the cup. In the coconut palms, the nests between theyoungest leaves were attached by fibers woven around the leaflets.Those lower in the crown of the palm were attached to the branchesof an inflorescence if they happened to touch it; but most of thesenests merely rested upon the broad bases of the leaf stalks, for usuallythe builders found nothing suitable to which they might bind them.The completed cup was plastered on the interior, to within an inchor so of the rim, with a substantial thickness of fresh cow dung or mud,and this in turn was lined with finely fibrous material. Those sanateswhich worked hardest finished their nests in 5 days, but others less
342 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211hurried took twice as long. The ample cups measured from 4 to 5inches in internal diameter and from 2% to 4 inches in depth.Eggs.?The female began to lay 3 or 4 days after finishing her nest.The earliest egg in the colony appeared on March 3, and during thenext week many birds started to lay. Usually an egg was depositedeach day until the set was completed, rarely 2 days elapsed betweenthe laying of the first and second eggs in sets of two. Of 49 nestswhich we were able to reach at "Alsacia," 33 contained 3 eggs each,15 contained 2 eggs, and there was a single set of 4.The big, glossy eggs of the boat-tailed grackle are strikingly markedand usually very beautiful. The ground color varies from bright blueto very pale bluish gray, on which are dots, blotches and intricatescrawls of brown and black. The blue ground color of some eggs islocally washed with shades of brown or pale lilac. It would be tediousto describe all the diversities of pattern that fall within this generalscheme ; for the variation is so great that, if all the eggs in a populouscolony were mixed together, each bird might conceivably be able torecognize her own by its distinctive markings. The measurements of62 eggs temporarity removed from the nests at "Alsacia" average 33.6by 23.0 millimeters. The eggs showing the four extremes measured36.5 by 23.4, 32.9 by 24.6, 31.0 by 22.2 and 34.1 by 21.4 millimeters.Incubation.?As she had built alone, so each sanate incubatedalone, without help from a clarinero. But long before the first egghatched, calamities began to occur. The earliest builders, who hadseized upon the most coveted nest sites between the youngest fronds,found to their sorrow that this supreme and most desired position hadone disadvantage which to the sober-minded would have outweighedall of its manifold attractions. It was inevitably unstable; for herethe nests were supported between two fronds which still grew and bentoutward in opposite directions as new leaves pushed up betweenthem at the apex of the palm. The coarse fibers of the outer wall ofthe nest were, as we have seen, wrapped around the ribbonlike seg-ments of one or both of the supporting fronds. But these formed anentirely inadequate foundation; the slender ribbons sank down underthe weight of the heavy, dung-lined structures, and the eggs rolledout even when the whole nest did not fall. The swaying of the frondsin the wind hastened the undoing of the nests. We attempted tosave many by tying them securely with cord as close as possible to theoriginal position; but even with this help it was difficult to make themremain in their precarious situations, and most came to disaster.Of the many birds which had built between the youngest fronds, onlyone to my knowledge succeeded in bringing out her nestlings alive,and then only because we tied up her nest when it began to lean.Yet despite the terrible example constantly before her, with infinite
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 343faith a sanate would begin a new nest in the top of the palm as soonas the expansion of a fresh frond had prepared another of these decep-tive sites.The sanates which, from necessity rather than by preference,placed their nests on the broad bases of the mature fronds, faredsomewhat better; yet even with them the loss of eggs and nestlingswas enormous. This was largely because the birds continued toroost in the same trees where they nested?an extremely unsatisfactoryarrangement. As the clarineros and the sanates not actually engagedin incubation?they were always in the majority?settled in thepalms for the night, the excitement and disorder which prevailedthere was so great that I wondered whether the incubating femalesmanaged to remain on their eggs. The angry cries which at this timeemanated from birds unseen in the crown of the tree were doubtlessfrom sanates trying to protect their nests from intrusion. As the nest-ing season advanced, the number of grackles which went to roostin the orange and grapefruit trees growing beside the coconut palmsincreased, possibly as a result of the protests made by the femalesnesting in the palms. Not only was the safety of the nests jeopardizedby the disorder so prevalent each evening, but they and their immedi-ate surroundings were defiled by the droppings of the roosting birds.Some queer things happened as a result of the grackles' disorderlyhabits. In one of the tallest of the palms was a nest which shelteredtwo nestlings. When they were nearly ready to take wing, one wasfound dead among the leaf bases in the vicinity of its nest, while theother in some mysterious manner made its way to a neighboring nest,where there was a single nestling 2 days younger than itself.With the boat-tailed grackle the habit of colonial nesting is imper-fectly developed, perhaps of comparatively recent origin; for condi-tions such as existed in the colony at "Alsacia" are a tremendoushandicap to the reproduction of the species and therefore not likely tosurvive a long period of evolution. Oropendolas and caciques, birdsof the same family which like the boat-tailed grackles nest in coloniesthat contain more females than males, arrange the matter much better.At nightfall, all the males, and all the females who do not remain intheir nests, retire to roost at a considerable distance, leaving the in-cubating females to pass the night free from unnecessary disturbances.After witnessing the disadvantages with which the sanates must con-tend while attempting to rear a family in a crowded colony, one under-stands better why so many kinds of birds select a nesting territorywhich they zealously defend from the intrusion of all others of theirown species.Only rarely, in nests with two eggs, did both hatch on the same day.More often, one egg hatched each day, so that in sets of three the380928?57 23
344 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211hatching of all the eggs required three days; or two might hatch onone day and the third on another day. In a few sets the eggs weremarked as laid, and these hatched in the order of laying. The incu-bation period was measured from the laying of the last egg to thehatching of this egg. At four nests the incubation period was 13days; at two other nests, 14 days.Young.?The newly hatched grackles had pale salmon-coloredskin and bore a sparse but long gray down on the head, back, wingsand legs. Their eyes were of course tightly closed, but they couldalready peep weakly and their bills when opened for food revealed abright red interior. Their calls of hunger were heeded only by theirmothers, for the clarineros were indifferent to this as to every otherdomestic claim. The only responsibility they assumed was that ofguarding the nests. Whenever they espied a man approaching thecoconut trees, their sharp tlick lick, flick lick warned the females toflee from their nests, with the result that it was almost impossible tocatch sight of them as they incubated or brooded. If we climbedinto the crown of a tree which sheltered young grackles, the noise andexcitement were immense. Clarineros and sanates, even those whosenests were safe in neighboring trees, circled around and filled the airwith excited clucks. There was one particular clarinero, guardian ofan isolated palm growing in the corral, who was bolder than all theothers. While I rested in the crown of this tree to look at the nestlingsunder his tutelage, he ventured closer than any of the sanates daredto come, and often alighted near the end of the frond against whichI leaned, bending it perceptibly under his weight and making meinstinctively clutch another support. He interrupted his clucks witha little tinkling note rapidly repeated, and at times in his anger utteredan indescribably harsh, agonized call, which set the sanates, who allthe while had been flying in circles around the tree and complainingin voices weaker than his, into faster movement and louder calling.A single female, mother of nestlings in this tree, perched on a frondand relieved her distressed feelings by giving it angry pecks.No hawk or other large bird dared to fly close to our hilltop. Bothclarineros and sanates joined in harrying the vultures, both the red-and the black-headed species, which circled too near the palms thatsheltered the nests or attempted to alight upon them. They pursuedthe carrion feeders far down the hillside, striking them repeatedly onthe back until they retreated to a satisfactory distance. I am notsure whether they had a natural aversion to birds so unclean, mistookthem for hawks, or whether the vultures would actually have eatenthe nestlings if given the opportunity. But the grackles even attackeda curassow (Crax globicera), probably the first they ever in their lives
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 345
saw, and certainly not a natural enemy; for these big gallinaceousbirds come into the clearings as seldom as the grackles enter the forestwhere the curassow is at home. One morning, while I was in theValley, my attention was drawn by a harsh cry to a male curassowflying heavily, with labored wingbeats, high above the hillside in frontof the house. As he approached the top, two clarineros and severalsanates flew out from the palm trees to buffet him. Flying "near hisceiling" and doubtless already fatigued by his unwonted journey, thebig bird wavered in his course and lost altitude as his assailants beatdown upon him, but managed to remain in the air until he roundedthe brow of the hill and was lost from view.Just as the historian must record both the pleasant and unpleasantevents?alas! too often the latter?in the history of nations, so mustthe bird watcher reveal the disagreeable as well as the lovable traitsof the birds which come under his notice; thus, I must record thefollowing episode in the history of the grackles at "Alsacia." Therewas a nest, in the coveted position between the youngest fronds ofone of the smaller palm trees, which as usual with such nests I foundit necessary to support by tying. It had also been considerablydamaged by a high wind, but the two nestlings that it cradled con-tinued to thrive. One morning in this tree I saw a fight between twosanates, who clinched and fluttered to the ground; but I did not givemuch attention to their quarrel, for such flurries were of frequentoccurrence. The next day, when I climbed into the crown of thispalm tree, I found that grass and weed stems had been piled on topof the dilapidated structure which only yesterday had been the homeof two healthy, 10-day-old grackles. Removing the new accumula-tion, I found the cold, dead bodies of the nestlings interred beneathit. The intruder had apparently won the fight and must have begunher nest above the living nestlings, trampling or smothering them todeath, for they were too fine and vigorous to have died during thenight if they had been left unharmed.The sanates found most of their nestlings' food on the ground andoften bore it a long distance to the nest. Sometimes they flew fromthe river, half a mile away, bringing a morsel that they had foundalong the shore. The nestlings received grubs from among the grassroots, green caterpillars, and sometimes small lizards. Their eyesopened between their third and fifth days, but they continued to bevery ugly little creatures until they were feathered at the age of 2weeks or a little more. When from 16 to 19 days old, they wouldtry to crawl from the nest if disturbed by one of my visits, but theycould not yet fly. The rasping cry of distress which, at this stage ofdevelopment, they uttered when touched, drove the adults to a
346 TJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211frenzy. Those young birds which forsook the nest at the age of 19days could not yet fly, but remained climbing around among thebroad bases of the coconut fronds for 2 or 3 days longer. The fullnestling period was from 20 to 23 days. At the time of quitting thenest the young birds of both sexes resembled the adult females, buttheir breasts were more grayish, their irides brown instead of brightyellow as in the adults, and their faces and foreheads still bare offeathers.The destruction, during the course of cleaning the pasture belowthe house, of one of the isolated nests built 10 feet above the groundin an Inga tree, gave me the opportunity to make an experiment.Although the nest tree had been cut down, the two vigorous week-oldnestlings were picked up unhurt from the ground. I placed one ofthese in a nest in a coconut palm which already held three 10-day-oldnestlings; it was attended by their mother along with her own off-spring. The other fallen nestling was deposited in another nest inthe same palm tree, from which the original occupant had vanisheda few days earlier. Apparently none of the four females which atthe time were building or attending nestlings in this tree, nor any ofthe other grackles which frequented it, took notice of the foundling,for it died of neglect after a day or two. Each female appears toattend strictly to her own nest, and to ignore the nest and offspringof her neighbors.Soon after leaving the nest, the young grackles began to followtheir mother afield as she foraged, before long going even as far asthe river, where they perched on a banana leaf arching above thebank while awaiting her return from her search along the shore; orelse they pursued her along the sandy margin of the stream, beggingfor food with vibrating wings. In May and June, the young birdsbecame an increasingly conspicuous element in the flock?for despitetheir numerous failures, the sanates succeeded by persistent effortsin rearing a goodly number of offspring?and the youngsters' half-pleading, half-imperious call, witit witit, mingled with the whistlesand clucks of the older birds. The young males continued to solicitfood from mothers larger than themselves. Once I watched twoyoungsters, a clarinero and a sanate, alternately beg for and receivefood from their mother and help themselves to the ripe banana whichshe was eating. Sometimes, as the young birds waited for food tobe brought them in the hibiscus hedge beneath the coconut trees,they picked off the leaves and bright red flowers, or pecked at the un-opened buds, seeming to try to find food for themselves before theycould distinguish what was edible.By the first week of July the nesting season was drawing to a close.
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 347Since the grackles had begun to nest at the end of February, theyhad had time for rearing two broods. One sanate, who in some un-known manner had lost her tail and got a piece of red tape entangledaround her right leg, making it easy to recognize her, built a secondnest and hatched a second brood after her first had been successfullyfledged; but how many birds actually succeeded in raising two broodsto the point where the young could shift for themselves, I was notable to determine.During the night of July 6 the grackles which roosted in the coco-nut trees were restless, shifting their positions and often crying outin the dark. After this the great majority of them withdrew fromthe hilltop which had so long been their home. There remained onlya few sanates who still had young in the nest, one whose two eggswere just hatching, and two faithful clarineros. The early morningswere strangely silent after the grackles departed.On the Pacific side of Guatemala, where the dry season beginsin mid-October or early November, 2 or 3 months earlier than in theCaribbean region, the boat-tailed grackles begin to breed corre-spondingly earlier. At an altitude of 3,300 feet on the Finca Moca,a great coffee plantation situated on the Pacific slope, I found gracklesfeeding nestlings as early as the first week of January. These birdsmust have begun to build no later than the middle of December,more than 2 months before those at "Alsacia," which began to buildin late February and had no nestlings before mid-March.Food.?Few birds, I imagine, subsist upon a greater variety offood than the boat-tailed grackle, or display greater ingenuity in pro-curing nourishment. "Everything is grist for their mill." Their dietincludes both animal and vegetable products. Much of their food ispicked up from the ground, where they extract the larvae of beetlesand other insects from among the roots of the grasses, and capturesmall lizards. They are said to hunt in freshly plowed land, followingclose behind the plowman. They pluck ticks and other vermin fromcattle, often alighting upon the animals' backs for this purpose. The}rspend much time foraging in the vicinity of water. On bare shinglyflats along the shores they turn over small stones by inserting the tipof the bill beneath the nearer edgo and pushing forward, then devourthe small Crustacea, insects, worms, or the like that they find lurkingbeneath. It is chiefly the more powerful males that hunt in thisfashion. Often the grackles wade into shallow water, where apparentl}rthey capture tadpoles and small fish. Or if the water be deep, theymay adopt other modes of fishing; A. W. Anthony (Griscom, 1932)tells how at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala the grackles caught fish asthey flew low over the surface of the water, seizing their prey by means
348 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
of a quick snap and hardly wetting their plumage in the process. Atother times, however, these grackles plunged boldly into the lake, likea tern or a kingfisher, immersing themselves to a depth of not morethan 3 or 4 inches. Sturgis (1928) records that the great-tailed gracklesfrequent the most isolated rocks in Panama Bay, where doubtless theydevour a variety of small marine creatures. In Costa Rica, Carriker(1910) found the bird common among the mangroves of the brackishestuaries so numerous along the Pacific coast.Like other grackles, this species pillages the nests of other birds,devouring their eggs or nestlings. In Guatemala, I surprised a maleboat-tailed grackle resting upon a fence-post where a pair of Bona-parte's euphonias (Tanagra lauta lauta) had built a nest, well concealedin a cranny caused by decay. The roof had been torn from the littledomed nest and the newly laid eggs had vanished. Although I arrivedtoo late to catch the grackle in the act, the circumstantial evidencepointed strongly toward him as the despoiler of the nest and-devourerof the eggs. In Mexico, Chester C. Lamb (1944) saw a male grackleseize a female yellow warbler which had dashed into the face of thebigger bird in a vain attempt to save her eggs. The warbler was killed,her skull crushed by the grackle's powerful bill.Of vegetable food, the grackles are fond of ripe bananas and ofsmall, sweet berries, especially those of the melastomaceous shrubConostegia. They greedily eat maize, tearing up the germinatinggrains from newly planted fields. One Guatemalan farmer told me thathis efforts to start a cornfield were frustrated by the grackles until headopted the expedient of scattering a considerable quantity of grainabout the edges of his field. This kept the hungry birds occupied untilthe planted maize had grown large enough to withstand their attacks.Yet this same farmer considered that the grackles, by destroying grubsand other insect pests, did on the whole more good than harm on hisestate. Later, as the maize crop nears maturity, the grackles renewtheir depredations upon the milpas, tearing open the husks to reachthe tender, milky grains, which the females at this season feed to theirfledglings.Behavior.?The big male grackle glides downward with wings set,the tips of the primaries separated from each other and distinctlycurved upward by the weight of his heavy body, and with his longtail folded together upward so that the feathers lie in a vertical plane,like that of the purple grackle, and vibrating from side to side in thebreeze. Usually he flies upward with heavy, resonant wing beats, likethose of the male oropendola; but at times he may fly silently. Theflight of the female grackle is almost silent; but when laboring upwardwith long fibers for the nest streaming from her bill, her wing beats
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 349may be sonorous like the male's, but not so loud. Rarely she foldsher tail feathers together in the manner of the male, but not com-pletely. In sustained flights on a horizontal or ascending course, bothsexes move with perfectly regular and rapid wing beats, neither foldingtheir wings intermittently nor spreading them for gliding. On theground, the grackles walk rather than hop.Although I never witnessed a serious dispute between the maleboat-tailed grackles in the colony at "Alsacia," in other regions thesebirds may be more pugnacious. While traveling by rail throughsouthern Mexico, I saw from the train window two male gracklesfighting in good earnest. They clinched and rolled on the ground,continuing their battle as long as I could keep them in view.Voice.?The range and power of the male grackle's voice arewonderful?he lacks only a set song. At one extreme, he utters alittle tinkling note, rapidly repeated and very pretty, at the other,his calls are so loud that they are best heard at a distance. If one maysay that a bird with so varied a language has one call which is mostcharacteristic, that call is a single, long-drawn utterance, somethingbetween a squeak and a whistle, which rises through the scale. Thenthere is a resonant tlick tlick tlick, delivered while the bird is either inflight or at rest, and a spirited, rollicking tlick-a-lick tlick-a-lick whichseems the outpouring of rare good spirits. There is also a rolling oryodeling call, very vigorous, and quite in contrast with the lazy,screeching note, like the slow swinging of a gate with rusty hinges,which is also a part of his varied vocabulary. Sometimes while perch-ing the male grackle puffs himself up, swelling out all his feathers,and half opening his bill, slowly expells the air with a low, undulatorysound, such as can be made by whistling through the teeth.As musicians, the grackles display a good deal of originality. Theyoften invent new calls, and when they hit upon one which takes theirfancy, repeat it over and over again. One bird fell in love with apretty phrase, which sounded like wheet-tock, and uttered it constantlyfor a week or more, until at last, like a popular song, it grew stale andwas forgotten. Another clarinero was much taken with a buglelikecall that went ta-dee ta-dee ta-dee and was really very martial andstirring, especially when heard at a little distance, for it had greatcarrying power. After delivering a call, the grackles frequently perchwith their long, sharp, black bills pointing straight upward, a posewhich displays to good advantage the sleek glossiness of their purplenecks. This position is also assumed on other occasions, and some-times two splendid birds, perching side by side on a coconut frond,point upward at the same time and hold the pose for a good fraction ofa minute, looking very self-conscious. The females, too, sometimes
350 IT. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211assume this attitude, but the trait is not nearly so strongly developedamong them as among the males.The female grackles are not only smaller but quieter than the males.Their most characteristic utterance is a rapid, clicking sound, a tlicktlick tlick sharper and less sonorous than the corresponding note of themales. They use this while building their nests, quarreling with theirneighbors, or flying. Single throaty clucks are also uttered by bothsexes. Sometimes a female attempts to deliver the note that I ven-tured to call the most typical of the male, but hers is a weak, squeakyimitation.Field marks.?It is scarcely possible to confuse the boat-tailedgrackle with any other bird of southern Mexico or Central America.The larger size of the male, his bright yellow eye, and his long fan-shaped tail, easily serve to distinguish him from the other whollyblack or blackish members of the troupial family that inhabit theregion. Perhaps, at a distance, the giant cowbird (Psomocolaxoryzivorus) might be mistaken for a male boat-tailed grackle. Butin flight, these cowbirds with red eyes close their wings momentarilyafter each five or six beats, while the grackles fly with regular, unin-terrupted strokes?peculiarities which will serve to distinguish thetwo species almost as far away as they are visible.The members of this race are somewhat larger and darker, especiallythe female, than those of the other races inhabiting the South Atlanticand Gulf Coast States. DISTRIBUTIONResident in the lowlands and tableland of Mexico from easternJalisco, southern Nuevo Leon, and southern Tamaulipas to Guatemala,British Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Nicaragua; extendingnorthward in recent years (a specimen from Cameron County, Tex.,has been identified as of this race; this record has not yet been actedon by the A. O. U. Committee on Classification and Nomenclature ofNorth American Buds).
SONORAN BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 351CASSIDIX MEXICANUS NELSONI (Ridgway)Sonoran Boat-Tailed GrackleHABITSPrimarily a denizen of the coastal district of Sonora, and the interiorof that province from Rancho Costa Rica southward, this race of theboat-tailed grackle has recently been reported from central-southernArizona (Tucson) . From Monson's boat-tail it may be distinguishedby its smaller size, shorter tail, and the paler color of the femaleplumage.Little or nothing has been recorded of its habits, but these areprobably similar to those of the other races of this boat-tailed grackle.CASSIDIX MEXICANUS MONSONI PhillipsMonson's Boat-Tailed GrackleHABITSThis recently described race occurs in the plateau of northernMexico, in Chihuahua, and in recent years has spread northward toadjacent parts of the United States. It resembles the boat-tailedgrackle, but has a less massive bill, a more slender tarsus, and theplumage of the female is noticeably darker in tone.In its habits, as far as known, it does not appear to differ appreciablyfrom the boat-tailed grackle.It breeds from southeastern Arizona (Benson, Randolph), north-central New Mexico, and western Texas (Brewster County), south toChihuahua. It has been recorded sparingly in winter in Pinal andGraham Counties, Ariz., the Bosque del Apache Refuge, near SanAntonio, N. Mex., and along the Rio Grande at Juarez, Chihuahua;it is presumed to winter mainly in Chihuahua, but has extended itswinter range in the United States northward in recent years.
352 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211CASSIDIX MEXICANUS PROSOPIDICOLA LoweryMesquite Boat-Tailed GrackleHABITSGeorge H. Lowery, Jr. (1938), has given the above name to the largegrackles of this species that are found in the "Gulf Coast region ofcentral southern Texas, north to at least Port Lavaca, and south intonortheastern Mexico in the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Le6n, andCoahuila. In Texas it is closely associated with the range of themesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torrey)." He gives as its subspecificcharacters: "Resembling Cassidix mexicanus mexicanus (Gmelin) moreclosely than any other form, but wing, tail, exposed culmen, andtarsus shorter; male in color almost indistinguishable, but femaleconspicuously different from C. m. mexicanus, the under parts beingdecidedly lighter, ranging from Light Brownish Olive to Buffy Olive ;also the pileum, sides of head and neck much lighter, tending towardolive rather than brown."The separation of this subspecies removes the type race, Cassidixmexicanus mexicanus, from our list, and the bird that has for so longstood in our literature as the great-tailed grackle must now be calledthe mesquite grackle, and restricts it to eastern and southern Mexico,Central America and northwestern South America. However, papersby Allan R. Phillips (1940), Laurence M. Huey (1942) and LawrenceV. Compton (1947), to which the reader is referred for details, showthat boat-tailed grackles of the Cassidix mexicanus species have beenextending their ranges in the upper Rio Grande valley into NewMexico and into southern Arizona. From correspondence in 1946and 1947 with Phillips and Lowery, I infer that there is much stillto be learned as to the subspecies involved and their ranges. Roger T.Peterson (1939) also reported grackles of this species breeding in NewMexico. The species had been reported previously, as breeding inNew Mexico, by J. Stokley Ligon (1926).When I was in southern Texas, in 1923, I found the mesquitegrackle to be astonishingly abundant from Matagorda Bay to the RioGrande. It was unquestionably the most abundant bird all along thecoast, as well as the noisiest and most conspicuous, almost a nuisanceat times, especially in the heron rookeries.Dr. T. Gilbert Pearson (1921) says: "One of the most noticeable,noisy, and abundant species of birds along the lower Texas coast is theGreat-tailed Grackle. It possesses an astonishing repertoire ofwhistles, calls, and gutteral sounds and one sees or hears them every-where. On islands surrounded by salt-water it is found and one may
MESQUITE BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 353
see it also about fresh-water ponds, or in the towns and on the highprairie or chaparral lands if water of any kind is in the vicinity."Courtship.?Mrs. Bailey (1902) gives the following account ofthis grotesque performance:Seated on an oak top, where his humble spouse could see him to the best ad-vantage, an old male would begin by spreading his wings and tail to their fullestbreadth and making a crackling "breaking brush" sound which he evidentlyconsidered a striking prelude. This done he would quiver his wings franticallyand opening wide his bill emit a high falsetto squeal, quee-ee, quee-ee, quee-ee,quee-ee, perhaps attuned to the feminine blackbird ear. But his coup d'ttat, whichshould have wrung admiration from the most unappreciative mate, consisted instriking an attitude, his long bill pointed as nearly straight to the sky as his neckwould permit. Poised in this way he would sit like a statute, with the mostludicrous air of greatness. Incredible as it may appear, instead of standingspellbound before him, his spouse, practical housewife that she was, whateverher secret admiration may have been, through all his lordship's play calmly wentabout gathering sticks.Dr. Arthur A. Allen (1944) describes it as follows:In the lone pine the grackles were executing their courtships, accompanied bysuch sounds as shatter an adult's nerves, but delight children when you drawyour fingers over a toy balloon and let the air out at various speeds; first lowsqueals and then high squeals, followed by a crashing sound as if the bird werebeating its wings on dry twigs. All this accompanied a display of plumage thatwas equally ridiculous, for the bird first threw his head back on his shoulders andinflated himself until he appeared twice his natural size, his feathers standing onend and his enormous tail spreading. In the bright sun the brilliant iridescenceof otherwise black feathers shot out gleams of purple and green. Next he threwhis head forward and, as he collapsed, he rapidly fanned the air with his wings,producing the crashing sound already mentioned.Nesting.?On the southern Texas coastal plain, from MatagordaBay to Brownsville, we found the mesquite grackle nesting in enormousnumbers in practically all of the heron colonies where there weretrees or shrubs; there were sometimes a score or more nests in a singletree; nests were often built in the lower portions of the nests of Ward'sherons, some were in prickly pear cactus, yuccas, and even in longgrass. On May 9 and 10, 1923, we explored the heron coloniesaround Karankawa Bay, near Port Lavaca; the largest of these, atWolf Point, was a densely populated colony of Louisiana, Ward's, andblack-crowned night herons and reddish egrets, a few black vulturesand, as I wrote in my notes at the time, "countless thousands ofgreat-tailed grackles."The willows, huisache, and other small trees and bushes were fullof the nests of the grackles; the dense colony seemed to be muchovercrowded. Many nests in the huisache trees were 10 or 12 feetfrom the ground, but many others in the bushes were only from 3 to6 feet up. The nests were rather bulky structures, made of dry and
354 U. S. NATIOKAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211green weed stalks, and grasses. We found nests with eggs and otherswith young during May.Major Bendire (1895) writes:The Great-tailed Crackles are more or less gregarious at all times, and generallybreed in companies, often in considerable colonies, among the willow thickets andchaparrals bordering the streams and irrigation ditches, or in the tops of mesquite,ebony and colima trees, so common a feature in the lower Rio Grande Valley;they nest less often in hackberry, prickly ash, and oak trees, as well as in the ex-tensive canebrakes bordering the numerous lagoons and fresh-water lakes andin the rushes in the salt marshes near the Gulf coast. * * *According to Mr. Sennett, when breeding in swamps their nests are frequentlyplaced within 2 feet of the water, and from 4 to 30 feet from the ground when intrees. Their nests, of which I have several before me, resemble those of the restof our eastern Grackles in size, construction, and materials; some of them arealmost entirely composed of Spanish moss, while others are mainly built of small,round stems of creeping plants which are flexible enough to admit of their beingsecurely woven together. Mud is often used to bind the materials together, andthe upper rim of the nest is generally securely fastened to the surrounding branchesor reed stalks among which it is placed. Some nests show no traces of mud intheir composition, but the materials forming the outer walls appear to have beenquite wet when gathered. The lining usually consists of dry grass and fine roots,and when near towns bits of cotton cloth, feathers, paper, etc., are often foundmixed among the other materials.Nidification usually begins during the latter part of April; it is at its height inthe first half of May and lasts through June. One and sometimes two broodsare reared in a season. Young birds of various sizes and fresh eggs may fre-quently be found in the same colony.Dr. Pearson (1921) says: "Near the main buildings on the WolfPoint Ranch in Calhoun County, the prairie is decorated by two
'motts.' In local usage the word 'mott' means a thick growth ofslender live-oak trees. The combined area of these two motts iscertainly not over an acre and a half in extent, yet they held on May29, not less than 1,000 nests of the Great-tailed Grackle. The noiseproduced by the birds could be heard from the deck of the yachtwhere we lay at anchor half a mile distant."Eggs.?The mesquite grackle ordinarily lays three or four eggs, butsometimes five. Bendire (1895) describes them as follows:The ground color is usually pale greenish blue, and is often more or less cloudedover with purple vinaceous and smoky pale umber tints, which are usually heaviestand most pronounced about the smaller end of the egg. The markings consistmainly of coarse, irregularly shaped lines and tracings of different shades of darkbrown, black, and smoky gray, and less-defined tints of plumbeous. In rareinstances an egg is found which is only faintly marked with a few indistinct linesof lavender gray about the small end, the rest of the egg being immaculate.They are mostly elongate ovate in shape; a few are blunt ovate, while othersapproach a cylindrical ovate.The average measurement of 93 eggs in the U. S. National Museumcollection is 32.18 by 21.75 millimetres, or about 1.27 by 0.86 inches.
MESQUITE BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 355The largest egg in the series measures 36.58 by 22.61 millimetres, or1.44 try 0.89 inches; the smallest, 28.19 by 20.57 millimetres, or 1.11by 0.81 inches.Young.?There is no evidence that this race differs, in the careof the young, from the eastern or Florida races.Plumages.?The molts and plumages of the mesquite grackle aresimilar to those of the boat-tailed grackle, with due allowance forsubspecific characters.Food.?The food and feeding habits of this grackle are evidentlysimilar to those of the boat-tailed. It seems to be equally omnivorous,feeding mainly on the ground or in shallow water on various forms ofinsects and their larvae, small crustaceans, little fishes, and whateversmall aquatic animals, dead or alive, it can pick up around the shores.Some grain and small fruits are eaten, but no great damage to humaninterests is done. However, these grackles destroy large quantitiesof eggs of other birds in the colonies where they breed.Behavior.?George B. Sennett (1878) writes:When I think of this bird, it is always with a smile. It is everywhere asabundant on the Rio Grande as is Passer domesticus, English Sparrow, in ournorthern cities, and, when about the habitations, equally as tame. This bird isas much a part of the life of Brownsville as the barrelero rolling along his cask ofwater or the mounted beggar going his daily rounds. In the towns or about theranches, he knows no fear; is always noisy, never at rest, and in all places andpositions; now making friends with the horses in the barns or the cattle in thefields, then in some tree pouring forth his notes, which I can liken only to thescrapings of a "cornstalk fiddle"; now stealing from porch or open window someribbon for his nest, then following close behind the planter, quick to see thedropping corn. With all his boldness and curiosity, the boys of the streets saythey cannot trap or catch him in a snare. He will take every bait or grain butthe right one; he will put his feet among all sorts of rags but the right ones; andthe boys are completely outwitted by a bird. He performs all sorts of antics.The most curious and laughable performance is a common one with him. Twomales will take position facing each other on the ground or upon some shed,then together begin slowly raising their heads and twisting them most comicallyfrom side to side, all the time steadily eyeing each other, until their bills not onlystand perpendicular to their bodies, but sometimes are thrown over nearly totheir backs. After maintaining this awkward position for a time, they willgradually bring back their bills to their natural position, and the performanceends. It is somewhat after the fashion of clowns' doings in a circus, who slowlybend backward until their heads touch their heels, then proceed to straightenup again. It is a most amusing thing to see, and seems to be mere fun for thebird, for nothing serious grows out of it.With all their familiarity, I have seen these birds in the open chaparral aswild and wary as other birds, knowing very well when out of gunshot range.Their flight is rather slow, and when they make an ascent it is labored; but onceup, with their great tails and expanse of wing they make graceful descents.
356 V. S. NATIONAL MITSEUM BULLETIN 211Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874) tell the following story:Captain McCown states that he observed these Blackbirds building in largecommunities at Fort Brown, Texas. Upon a tree standing near the centre of theparade-ground at that fort, a pair of the birds had built their nest. Just beforethe young were able to fly, one of them fell to the ground. A boy about ten yearsold discovered and seized the bird, which resisted stoutly, and uttered loud cries.These soon brought to its rescue a legion of old birds, which vigorously attackedthe boy, till he was glad to drop the bird and take to flight. Captain McCownthen went and picked up the }7oung bird, when they turned their fury upon him,passing close to his head and uttering their sharp caw. He placed it upon a tree,and there left it, to the evident satisfaction of his assailants.Voice.?The vocal performances of the mesquite grackle aresimilar to those of its eastern relative, equally noisy and equallyunattractive.Captain McCown (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgeway, 1874) says that
"these birds have a peculiar cry, something like tearing the dry huskfrom an ear of corn. From this the soldiers called them corn-huskers."Friedmann (1925) states that "the notes are very harsh and suggestthe sound of the crackling of twigs."Pearson (1921) remarks that this grackle "possesses an astonishingrepertoire of whistles, calls, and guttural sounds." Charles W. Town-send (1927) was evidently better pleased with the voice of the mesquitegrackle, for he says: "I had excellent opportunities to watch this birdand was struck with the great variety of its clear and at times musicalnotes and songs mixed with others that were not so pleasing, all sodifferent from the songs of the Boat-tailed Grackle. I have recordedthem as a clear almost Flicker-like week-it, week-it, and see, see, see;also a clear and pleasing wheel, whit-a, whit-a, whit, followed bywhee-ee-ee, the last vibratory and pleasing."Field marks.?The large, glossy black males are unmistakable,with their enormous tails which distinguish them from the smallergrackles and other blackbirds. The females are much smaller brownbirds, with more normal tails; they are lighter brown than the femalesof other grackles, and decidedly lighter-colored than the females of theboat-tailed grackle, the sides of the head and neck and the under partsbeing light brownish olive or buffy olive.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The mesquite boat-tailed grackle breeds and is mainlyresident from southeastern New Mexico (Carlsbad) and western,south-central, and east-central Texas (Toyahvale, Eagle Lake) ; southto southern Coahuila (Las Delicias, Saltillo), Nuevo Le6n (Monterrey,Montemorelos) and southern Tamaulipas (Gomez Farias).Casual records.?Casual in winter on Gulf coast of Louisiana(Avery Island).
FLORIDA BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 357CASSIDIX MEXICANUS MAJOR (Vieillot)Florida Boat-Tailed GrackleContributed by Alexander Sprunt, Jr.HABITSWith the recognition of the Atlantic coast population of the boat-tailed grackle as racially distinct, only a remnant of what was formerlyconsidered the range of the Florida race is left to it?Florida and theGulf coast west to Galveston and Port Arthur, Tex. Along the Gulfcoast its distribution is at times discontinuous. A. H. Howell (1932)found it common at only one locality between Pensacola and CedarKeys, i. e., at St. Marks, which lies on the Gulf, south of Tallahassee.F. M. Weston writes me (MS.) that "The boat-tailed grackle is so rarein the Pensacola region that I had been located here for ten yearsbefore I saw one. Having once found them, I was able to establishthe fact that the species is resident here in very small numbers, for Ihave seen them in every month of the year at some time during thepast 18 years." He further states that, in contrast to the scarcityabout Pensacola, the bird is "enormously abundant in the vast freshmarshes at the head of Mobile Bay, about 60 miles west, and commonall the way down both sides of the Bay to the restricted salt marshesjust behind the Gulf beaches."While collecting about Choctawhatchie Bay, about 70 miles east ofPensacola, Worthington and Todd (1926) found that "this species wasnot detected on the north side of the bay * * * but * * * on thesouth," where a flock of "about twenty birds, mostly females, wasencountered on May 4th * * * and two specimens were secured."The Pensacola region shows some surprising ornithological gaps, andthe occurrence of the boat-tail in that area is illustrative.Westward from Mobile along the coast it is abundant, and nodifficulty is experienced in observing it almost anywhere. Curiouslyenough, it does not appear to winter very commonly on the Mississippicoast although a common breeder. T. D. Burleigh (1944) says:
"Despite the comparatively mild winters and no apparent scarcity offood, very few of these birds remain on this part of the coast duringthe winter months. The last small flocks are usually seen late inOctober, and it is the last of February or even later before they re-appear again. On Deer Island [Miss.] I noted the Boat-tailed Grackleonly once during the winter months. * * * It is possible that thesegrackles winter more commonly on the outer islands. * * * On themainland and Deer Island, February 22 is the average date of^arrivalin the spring."
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Courtship.?The courtship antics of this race are similar to thosedescribed for the eastern form (see p. 366) . A great variety of locationsmay be used by the displaying or singing bird; E. A. Mcllhenny,(1937), writing about the bird in Louisiana, gives a clear picture ofsuch proceedings as follows:Their favorite station for plumage exhibition is the top of a small bush or lowtree. If these are not available, they will alight on the ground or on a muskrathouse or pile of debris. Here they stay quietly for some minutes, with theirfeathers compressed and beak and neck pointing skyward, then suddenly one ofthem will give a series of squeaking, chuckling, raucous cries, during which all thefeathers are fluffed, tail spread, wings half opened and vibrated rapidly, making aloud, rattling sound [see Voice]. The others of the group immediately follow theleader's example, and for a minute or two each individual is animated and noisy,only to drop back to the compressed statuelike pose. This noisy exhibition takesplace either while at rest or on the wing. * * *If, over such a group of males, flies a female seeking a mate, all of the males atonce take flight on loudly flapping wings and with rattling quills, squeaking andcalling in their most seductive manner, begin chasing her. Should none of thisgroup of males attract her, she quickly outflies them and proceeds to look overother groups until she finds her choice. When a mate is selected she flies in frontof and near him, leading him off to one side, until the other males in the groupdrop out of the chase. The pair then alights on the ground and mating isaccomplished.This race, like the eastern one, is more or less polygamous, as maybe inferred from a statement by C. J. Pennock (1931): "Observea glistening old male atop a buttonbush, in a sawgrass marsh, hisseraglio close under his view." Brooks (1932) commenting on this,said, "the implication of polygamy in Mr. Pennock's concludingparagraph also calls for investigation. Seraglios are always interest-ing. Is it possible that we have at our very doors an Icterine withthe fascinating habits of an Oropendola?" It is indeed possible.E. A. Mcllhenny (1937), however, remarks that, "the boat-tailedgrackles are not monogamous; neither are they polygamous. Theyseem to be promiscuous. The female chooses her mate, who is de-cidedly temporary, and as soon as sexual mating is accomplished,she leaves him, and he does not attempt to follow." On the otherhand, S. A. Grimes writes (MS.) that in his opinion, "the Floridabirds * * * are polygamous rather than promiscuous in breedinghabits." Thus, even experienced observers differ about polygamyand promiscuity.Courtship takes place in early February in Louisiana, and in southFlorida activity among the males usually starts about the middle ofthat month, though forward and backward seasons may vary thetime. Courtship has been noted at Lake Okeechobee in late January,but a month later is more normal.Nesting.?The nesting habits of the Florida boat-tail are similar
FLORIDA BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 359to those of the eastern race (see p. 367). In the Lake Okeechobeearea of Florida, the birds often nest in willows.Eggs.?Unlike the eastern grackle, for which four or even five eggshave been reported in many nests, three is the usual number of eggsfor the Florida race. E. A. Mcllhenny (1937) states that in Louisianathe complement of eggs is "invariably three," although he once didfind four in a nest. The eggs are identical with those of the easternboat-tailed grackle.Incubation.?E. A. Mcllhenny (1937) says: "The male pays notthe slightest attention to the female after copulation is accomplished;neither does he visit the nesting location in the early part of thenesting season with any regularity, nor does he assist in the buildingof the nest or in the care of the young." He prefaces these observa-tions by stating that in its courtship and lack of attention to theyoung, "the Boat-tailed Grackle differs from any other Americanbird I have ever observed."S. A. Grimes of Jacksonville, Fla., writes (MS.) that he has
"never seen a male mexicanus of any race lend a hand in any mannerto assist in nest-building, incubation, or care of the young," andIvan R. Tompkins of Savannah, Ga., tells me (MS.) that no malehe ever collected had "worn incubation patches."As might be expected, the peculiar breeding habits of the boat-tailed grackle is reflected in the sex ratio of the young. In a polyg-amous species one would expect a preponderance of females, andsuch is normally the case with the boat-tail. Illustrative of specificfigures in this regard, Mcllhenny (1940), who checked 89 nests atAvery Island, La., and found that the hatch comprised 70 malesand 145 females, rather more than a 2-to-l majority. In his extensivebanding operations Mcllhenny found this ratio consistently carriedout in trapped birds. In 1935 and 1936 he banded 1,848 boat-tails,of which 609 were males and 1,239 females, practically the sameproportion. He adds the interesting observation that banding hasproved that "while the females of the previous year nest as yearlings,the males do not reach the breeding age until the second year."Another characteristic at which I have often wondered is theunusual percentage of infertile eggs in nests of the boat-tail. Onmany an occasion, when investigating the home life of this bird andexamining nests of young, I have found at the bottom an unhatchedegg or even two; and now and then a search of the nests after theseason has revealed these lonely reminders of an unborn progeny.I have not heretofore mentioned this in print, nor have I ever madeany systematic count of the occurrence of this peculiarity. Theonly author who ever has, as far as I know, is E. A. Mcllhenny (1937),who found in one Louisiana colony that" twelve out of nineteen nests380928?57 24
360 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211examined contained one egg each that did not hatch, and three out ofnineteen * * * contained two." He also found that in the firstnesting there were no infertile eggs, in the second an occasional one,while in the third, "the majority of nests contained one or moreinfertile eggs." It may be that the unique breeding habits of themale are reflected in this manner, or perhaps these are examples oflowered vitality, decreased virility, and the like.Plumages.?The comments given in our account of the eastern raceof this species apply to this one as well (see p. 368).Food.?In his full and interesting study of the boat-tail in Louisiana,E. A. Mcllhenny (1937) notes that the food supplied to the young
"varies considerably. On some days it is almost exclusively small fish;on other da}^s it may be spiders, and on still other days almost entirelycrickets, grasshoppers or other insects. * * * Then again, when abatch of dragon-flies (either Libellula or Diplax) is coming off, the foodsupply consists entirely of dragonfly nymphs. On other days, if tad-poles or small frogs are especially abundant, these will constitute thefood for the young. The Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) is the one mostused. I have not seen seed or grain or plant food fed to the young."He adds that caterpillars are taken now and then by boat-tails, whichin so doing perform a distinct service to agriculture. He says: "Fre-quently, in the autumn, fields of soybeans may be infested by greatnumbers of caterpillars which sometimes destroy the entire bean crop.When the Boat-tails find such an infestation they flock to these fieldsin enormous numbers and do not leave them until all caterpillars areeaten." Thus, while some of the bird's food habits may not seem to beof marked benefit to man's interests, this, at least, certainly is, and sois the bird's destruction of such insects as crickets and grasshoppers.Behavior.?Like the eastern race, this boat-tailed grackle staysfairly close to water. It goes further inland from the coasts, whereverstreams or ponds occur, but the only area where it really penetratesfar into the interior seems to be in Florida. Occurring on both coasts,the birds are scattered across and through the Peninsula, and one findsit wherever there is any swampy or river-lake habitat. However, itis very much of a city bird as well as rural, and is found breeding inJacksonville, as well as at practically every small farm on the east coastof Florida. In its tendency to feed and to spend most of its time on theground this bird is also like its eastern counterpart. It is at timespredatory, not only attacking other birds but even on occasion prac-ticing cannibalism.Interesting instances of preying on other birds are given by E. A.Mcllhenny (1937), who states that the first instance he witnessed oc-curred in 1911, while he was in the company of George Bird Grinnell,on the coast of Louisiana. "We were in my big launch," he says,
FLORIDA BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 361
"anchored * * * off the mouth of Bayou Michow. Near the boatwas a stake * * * on which a swallow had alighted. A male Boat-tailed Grackle flew out from land, coming to the stake to alight. Theswallow did not move until the Boat-tail was almost upon it, when itspread its wings, but the Boat-tail gave a quick snap and killedit * * *. The grackle sat on the stake a half minute or so looking atits victim floating on the water, then swooped down, picked it up andwent ashore with it." He adds that he has "frequently seen maleBoat-tailed Grackles feasting on ducks that had been killed and driftedto shore." The muskrat trappers of Louisiana complain that thesebirds ruin the pelts of caught animals by pecking into them and eatingthe flesh. The writer heard many such complaints from trappers inCameron Parish when investigating muskrat trapping there in 1934,and was shown some animals which had been thus disfigured.Injured birds are taken by the boat-tailed grackle when opportunityoffers, and Mcllhenny lists broken-winged red-backed sandpipers(Pelidna alpina sakhalina) as such victims. Even its neighboringredwings are not safe from it, as the same author has seen gracklesdevour young in the nest while the impotent parents strove vainlyto drive away the marauder. It is also a confirmed egg thief andseeks out heron, egret, and other such nests to indulge this appetite.On the Texas nesting islands I have often seen the boat-tailed grackledespoiling nests of the reddish egret. In such instances it is not somuch the predation of the grackle as the attitude of the egret which isinteresting, for the latter simply stands by with a most fascinatedexpression and calmly watches the proceedings, making not the slight-est effort to interfere with them!Much to my surprise, I discovered osprey-jaeger tactics amongthese grackles in the Lake Okeechobee area, in Florida, while con-ducting Audubon wildlife tours there in 1941. One of the tour routeslay along the road which skirts the northern shore of the Lake and agreat attraction of it was the fact that flocks of feeding eastern glossyibis (Plegadis guarauna) were to be seen every trip. These flocks,often associated with snowy egrets (Egrelta thula thula), were attendedby numbers of boat-tails as they probed about for crayfish.When an ibis secured a crayfish it would, instead of gulping itsprey at once, spring into the air and fly upward. Instantly, it wouldbe beset by grackles which almost invariably either snatched thecra}^fish from the ibis's beak or forced it to be dropped, whereuponanother of the tormentors would seize it. This victimization, notsimply an isolated occurrence, was indulged in regularly and we sawit many times. Always, from the observer's standpoint, it was aspectacular performance, and at some little distance the birds lookedlike great grains of dark corn popping from a giant popper.
362 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211At times the boat-tail bedevils species much larger than itself,setting upon them and driving them off with vituperative and vocif-erous energy. Audubon relates that he has watched "seven or eightof them teasing a Fish Hawk for nearly an hour, before they gave upthe enterprise." It is not unusual to see them converge on turkeyand black vultures (Cathartes aura septentrionalis) and (Coragypsatratus), these slow-moving unfortunates having no protection fromtheir nimble and persistent tormentors but flight.The boat-tail often feeds in close proximity to cattle, both in barn-yards and on the open range, principally to secure the insects dis-turbed by the animals' feet. Whether they actually take ticks fromthe hides of cattle I am not sure, but I have, on many occasions,seen them alight on the backs of cows. The Florida crow (Corvusbrachyrhynchos pascuus) definitely secures ticks in this manner andis highly regarded in the cattle sections of that State as an aid in con-trolling the screwworm. About Lake Okeechobee the cattle are fondof entering the drainage canals, which are choked with water-hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes); from knee to shoulder depth, there, standingin water they feed to repletion on this plant. At such times one cansee numbers of boat-tails about them, walking about on the floatingvegetation or actually perched on the animals' backs, snapping upinsects stirred up by their movements.Albinism occurs in this form as in the eastern race (see p. 371).During February and March 1946, such an individual was observed onsix occasions on the north shore of Lake Okeechobee, Fla., alwayswithin one hundred yards of the same spot.Voice.?The voice of this bird is similar to that of the easternrace (see p. 371), including the characteristic rolling or rattling sound,as may be seen from the following accounts. A. H. Howell (1932)describes a bird he heard near Jupiter Inlet, Fla., as ending itssong "by a peculiar, guttural, clattering sound that seemed to be ofvocal origin, though accompanied by a fluttering of the wings."E. S. Dingle (1932) remarks: "Besides the great number of soundsthat issue from its throat, one frequently hears a curious rolling noise,made by the wings when the bird is perching, but occasionally duringflight." F. M. Chapman (1912) has likened this "singular rollingcall" to the sound produced by a coot in pattering over the water.That it is instrumental, indeed, is the first impression experiencedby all who have written about it, but to those who have followedit subsequently it is plain that this is not the case. The two mostconcise and detailed accounts of recent years are those of FrancisHarper (1920) and C. W. Townsend (1927).Harper says that while studying this grackle's voice in Florida he
?
Began to pay close attention * * * particularly to that part of it whichChapman describes as a "singular rolling call, which bears a close resemblance
FLORIDA BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 363to the sound produced by a Coot in pattering over the water". * * * I noticedthat the bird * * * vibrated or slightly fluttered its wings, so that their tipsappeared to strike either together or against the upper side of the tail. At thesame time the bill had the appearance of partly closing. I therefore concludedthat the sound was not vocal, but wing-made; a number of subsequent observa-tions strongly confirmed me in this opinion.It was not until my last morning in Florida * * * that I was undeceived.I then had an excellent view of a bird * * * and saw that its wing-tips did nottouch during the final part of the song, though they vibrated a little. A littlelater another bird * * * did not appear to vibrate its wings at all * * *. Icould plainly see the bill in a sort of rattling motion, however, and finally realizedthat it was the rapid striking together of the mandibles that produced the sound.Almost identical with Harper's first impresions and followingconclusions, are those of Bradford Torrey (1894) who says, in writingof this sound, "that the sounds were wing-made I had no thought ofquestioning. Two days afterward nevertheless, I began to doubt.I heard a grackle 'sing' in this manner * * * wing-beats and all,while flying * * * and later still, I more than once saw them producethe sounds in question without any perceptible movement of thewings, and furthermore, their mandibles could be seen moving intime with the beats. * * * My own * * * conjecture is that thesounds are produced by snappings and gratings of the big mandibles."Townsend (1927), who quotes both Harper and Torrey on the matterstudied the sound both in Florida and South Carolina, and he too wasat first under the impression that the noise was wing made, for hesays in his field notes that "they flutter their wings slightly, makinginstrumental music in the form of a rattle." Later observations,however, caused him to change his mind, for he says
:
On several occasions I noticed that during the rattle the wings were sometimesmoved but little, or were motionless. Once or twice I saw one wing slightlyelevated but not vibrated. I also heard the rattle many times given in flight, andthere was no perceptible modification of the actions of the wings at the time. Ithink it can be definitely stated therefore, that the evidence eliminates the wingsfrom any causative action of the rattle, although the vibrating movement isgenerally present and exactly synchronous with it. * * * But my observationslead me to think that the rattle is vocal, modified by throat vibration and notmade with the bill.Enemies.?S. A. Grimes of Jacksonville, Fla., writes that at timesnests of the Florida boat-tail are invaded by black ants. He saysthat while examining a colony near Jacksonville Beach, "the northern-most outpost of the brown-eyed birds," he found that "black antshad taken possession of all the nests, filling the interstices with theirlarvae and pupal cocoons. Only one grackle had held out againstthe ants. The eggs in her nest were pipped, but it was evident theyoung stood little chance of survival."These specific reasons why many young do not survive hardly
364 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
suffice to explain the high mortality among nestling boat-tails. Factson this phase of the life history are almost totally absent from theliterature. I must confess never having mentioned it, and in thisrespect am as much at fault as any. Mcllhenny (1937), who hasspent much time in observing the bird and its habits in Louisiana,found in a detailed study of 74 nests on Avery Island, La., that successin raising young was only 54 percent; only 20 nests raised 3 youngfrom that number of eggs; 26 raised 2 young; and 5 nests, 1 young.In 23 nests the entire setting was lost; nor could he discover the reason.One possible cause for the loss of eggs is suggested by Grimes'notes. He states that while investigating nesting boat-tails in theAmelia River marshes of Florida he found "six or eight nests, somewith and others without, fragments of eggshells. * * * Worthington'sMarsh Wrens (Telmatodytes palustris griseus) were numerous in themarsh and may have been guilty of the egg puncturing."Mcllhenny (1936) lists the purple gallinule (Ionornis martinica),as well as "many other species," as preying on young boat-tails, andgives the following interesting example:On Sunday, May 10, Stanley Solar and I were observing a large colony of nestingBoat-tailed Grackles. * * * We had already remarked the large number ofempty nests, that the Sunday before, had contained small birds. We heard ayoung grackle crying in distress, and on going toward the place from where thenoise came, saw a Purple Gallinule standing on the edge of the nest holding withone foot a half-grown grackle while it deliberately tore at its back with its beak.On our nearer approach, the gallinule took the still living young grackle in itsbeak and flew with it about 75 yards to the pond's bank, where we watched ittear it to pieces and eat it. It first tore a hole in the back of its victim, and pullingout the viscera in sections, swallowed the pieces as they came free. It thentore bits of tender flesh from the body, paying no attention to my approach in aboat to within about sixty feet of it.Field marks.?Essentially similar to its eastern counterpart (seep. 373), this race may be distinguished in the field by the iris, whichis dark brown, whereas it is yellow in the eastern one.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Florida boat-tailed grackle breeds and is mainlyresident, but wandering in winter, along the shores of the Gulf ofMexico from southeastern Texas (Galveston, Port Arthur), southernLouisiana (Ged, Madisonville), southern Mississippi (Bay SaintLouis, Deer Island), southern Alabama (Chuekvee Bay, AlabamaPort) to Florida (Bay County) ; south to the Florida Keys.Egg dates.?Florida: 41 records, March 3 to June 4; 24 records,March 20 to April 16.Texas: 103 records, April 3 to June 9; 54 records, May 1 to May 22.
EASTERN BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 365CASSIDIX MEXICANUS TORREYI HarperEastern Boat-Tailed GrackleContributed by Alexander Sprunt, Jr.HABITSDuring my boyhood I was accustomed to spend each summer onSullivan's Island, a beach resort across the harbor from Charleston,S. C. This stretch of sea sand, bearing little vegetation other thanbushes, small trees, and grass, has bulked largely in history for herewas the palmetto-log fort which, commanded by General WilliamMoultrie, saved Charleston from British invasion in 1776 03?" beatingoff the fleet of Sir Peter Parker. Again in the lSGO's Fort Sumter,a few hundred yards off the eastern end of the Island and directlyin the bottle-necked harbor entrance, withstood for four years theattacks of the Federal fleet.It was along the beaches of this Island, front and back, that I mademy first field studies of the birds of the Carolina Low County. Asa boy I roamed Sullivan's Island from end to end and across, hauntingits inlets, its myrtle thickets, and its grassy flats. There I began mylife list and there I started, as what boy has not, my first collection ofeggs. The first "cabinet" for this collection was a deeply cuppednest of what we called the "Jackdaw," a name by whicli many southerncoastal dwellers still know the boat-tailed grackle. In it weretreasured specimens (one of each, blown with a hole at each end) ofeggs of the nesting birds of the Island. Thus it was that this gracklewas literally one of the first avian species I came to know, and thisassociation continues today, for it is a daily sight about my home.Long contact has not diminished my interest for there is much aboutthis fine bird to attract and hold the attention of any student ofornithology. Its handsome plumage, remarkable vocal efforts, andpeculiar breeding habits all combine to make it an object of unusualinterest.Spring.?The boat-tailed grackle is not much of a migrant. Justwhat volume of movement may take place from the south Atlanticarea to the northern limit of its range in southern Delaware is un-certain. It is generally resident wherever found from TidewaterVirginia southward. It may appear to be more common in winterin many localities because of its gregarious habits, but I have nevernoted any appreciable seasonal change in population numbers incoastal South Carolina, and this seems to be true in North Carolinaand in Georgia.In Virginia it appears in spring, according to H. H. Bailey (1913)
366 tJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
"early in April" and nests as far north as Accomac County, with HogIsland supporting the largest concentration of breeding in the Tide-water area. "A few" he continues, "may be found as far north asCedar and Chincoteague Islands," and he concludes with the obser-vation that the species is "extending northward each season." Thislast has definitely proved true, and recent years have seen the boat-tail nesting in Maryland and Delaware. Accurate arrival dates arenot available but Cottam and Uhler (1935) found it "obviouslynesting" at Sinepuxent Beach near Ocean City, Md., on May 22.A definite breeding date for Delaware is illustrated by the discoveryon May 5, 1933, of a nest with eggs near Milford, by Herbert Buckalew(1934). He states that the birds nested in the same area in 1934.Recent observations have shown the boat-tail now to be resident inVirginia. J. J. Murray writes me that he would "sum up the presentstatus of the bird in Virginia as follows: common at Back Bay at allseasons; fairly common on lower Eastern Shore (NorthamptonCounty)."Courtship.?It would almost seem that the boat-tail is consciousof his good looks, for few birds display such elaborate posturings andgrotesque antics before the female. Indeed, it is not necessary for themale to have an audience of prospective consorts; often he is seenperforming with no female nearby. Spreading his wings and tailin a wide vareity of poses, he bows, bobs, sidesteps, and jumps aboutin a great flurry of excited movements. The undoubted beauty of hisglossy plumage, and the brilliantly metallic reflections of his feathersappear to wonderful advantage under such circumstances.One particular posture, frequently indulged in, is highly charac-teristic. It is accompanied by no movement whatever and is forthat reason perhaps even more striking. Often, in the midst of greatactivity, the bird will become quite still, then raise its head high,with the beak pointing straight up, neck stretched vertically, andremain so in statuesque immobility for many seconds, sometimesminutes. When several are performing in this way at a time, theypresent a ludicrous appearance, the wings drooping slightly, thehuge tail rigid and every head pointed upward as if they were intenton watching something hundreds of feet above in the sky. Thensuddenly, the pose is broken and they return to a vociferous andactive pursuit of other antics.Vocal accompaniment of practically all other poses is invariable,and the din resulting when numbers are engaging in courtship isastonishing. The ground, bushes, trees, and telephone poles are usedin these performances; where the bird is at the moment seems to makelittle difference.As noted in connection with the Florida race (see p. 358), the male
EASTERN BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 367by no means confines himself to one mate. The mention made bywriters of the gregarious nature of the bird, and the use of such termsas "loose colonies" or "small groups" in describing its domestic habitsdo not convey an accurate picture of the real state of affairs. F. M.Chapman (1922) states: "It is unknown whether the Boat-tail hasmore than one mate," and A. H. Howell and H. C. Oberholser, bothof whom have written extensively about southern birds, say nothingof this matter in their accounts. The fact is, as T. G. Pearson andthe Brimleys (1942) state, "the Jackdaw is decidedly polygamous,"and all the evidence I have been able to secure personally convincesme that this is correct, even though some experienced observerssuggest that the bud is promiscuous, rather than polygamous.In Georgia and South Carolina the average dates for courtshipactivities occur in mid-March, with eggs laid by early or mid April.North Carolina egg dates occur in late April, while in Virginia, Alary-land, and Delaware, they average from May 5 to 20.Nesting.?The nest is constructed by the female alone and iscomposed of grasses and mud, rather bulky and very firm and com-pact. Semidecayed rushes, flags, or marshgrass is usually thefoundation; when this material dries and hardens, the result is anexceedingly durable structure that is deep and basket-shaped. It isplaced in various aquatic growths such as sawgrass (Cladium effusum),flags (Typha latifolia) and bullrushes (Spartina alterniflora) , all beingtypical overwater locations, the growth varying with the locality. Onthe south Atlantic coast many colonies are over dry land but alwaysnear water. A favorite nesting shrub in the Charleston area is thewax myrtle (Myrica carolinensis) , very like the northern bayberry.Now and then the live oak {Quercus virginianus) is used, and in suchcases, of course, the nests are at much greater elevations, at timesbetween 40 and 50 feet. In the great majority of situations, elevationvaries from 3 or 4 feet to about 10 or 12.Eggs.?The eggs vary in number from three to five. Apparently,any excess of three is peculiar to the eastern boat-tail and not to theFlorida race. I have found four on scores of occasions on the SouthCarolina coast and sometimes five. The latter number is unusual,the former all but the rule. Audubon gives "four or five" as the setnumber, C. A. Reed (1904) puts it at "three to five." Two andsometimes three broods are raised.Bendire (1895) describes the eggs as follows:The eggs of the Boat-tailed Grackle resemble those of the preceding species[great-tailed grackle], both in shape and coloration, excepting that the cloudy purplevinaceous and pale umber tints are generally more evenly distributed over theentire shell, when present, and are not so noticeable at the small end of the egg.In some instances the lines and tracings with which they are marked are also
368 TJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211perceptibly finer as well as more profuse, being more like the markings found inthe eggs of the Baltimore and Bullock's Oriole. They also average somewhatless in size.The average measurement of 98 eggs in the U. S. National Museumcollection is 31.60 by 22.49 millimetres, or about 1.24 by 0.89 inches.The largest egg measures 34.29 by 24.64 millimetres, or 1.35 by 0.97inches; the smallest, 27.94 by 21.59 millimetres, or 1.10 by 0.85 inches.Incubation.?Incubation consumes 14 days and is accomplishedentirely by the female. Here again, confusion exists among writers.H. C. Oberholser (1938) states; "It takes about 15 days to hatch theyoung, in which performance the male seldom assists, although hedoes aid in taking care of the young." However, it is the universaland confirmed experience of those who have studied the bird on itsnesting grounds that the male never assists in incubation and does notaid in the care of the young.Audubon (1834) gives a curiously mixed account of the nestingbehavior, in that he intimated that both birds build the nest, which isan error, and that when this is done, the male departs and shows nofurther interest in the domestic proceedings, which is correctl Hestates further that the male "places implicit reliance on the fidelity ofhis mate * * * many pairs now resort to a place previously knownto them, and in the greatest harmony construct their mansions. * * *Each pair choose their branch of smilax." Also that the birds repairlast year's nest if any of it still exists, but if not, "they quickly forma new one from the abundant materials around." The reader cer-tainly gathers the impression that both birds engage in nest building,which is not the case. However, Audubon then observes that afterthe eggs are laid "all of the male buds fly off together and leave theirmates to rear their offspring." Rev. John Bachman's observations,so frequently of value to Audubon, who quotes him at length, bear outthis practice; they can be summarized by Bachman's statements thathe "never found the males in the vicinity of the nests from the timethe eggs were laid," and that "the females alone take charge of theirnests and young." The experience of present-day observers confirmthese observations, and although contemporary writers say remark-ably little about the apparent refusal of the male to take any part innesting activities, the statements given in the account of the Floridarace (see p. 359) should be conclusive.Plumages.?Dr. Chapman (1922) writes:The difference between the sexes is more pronounced in the Boat-tailed than inthe Purple Grackle, the female of the former being a generally brownish birdwith small trace of the glossy plumage of her mate. Furthermore, she has a muchshorter tail. Young birds of both sexes resemble^ their mother. The post-juvenile molt is complete. The female acquires a plumage essentially like that ofthe adult, but that of the male is much duller than that of the mature bird. There
EASTERN BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 369
is no spring molt and the shining fully adult plumage is not donned until thefirst post-nuptial, that is, second fall molt, after which there is no further change incolor.Food.?If any bird exhibits catholic tastes in its diet, it is theboat-tailed grackle. Practically anything is fish which comes to itsnet, and literally, fish, flesh, and fowl, as well as grain go to make upits food. Generally speaking, it might be said to be a grain eater infall and winter and a flesh eater the rest of the year.When indulging its highly gregarious habits in the fall, considerablewaste grain is consumed, predominantly corn and rice. Audubon(1842) noted the rice-eating propensities by saying that the boat-tail"commits serious depredations in such green fields." Some damageresults to these crops, particularly on the gulf coast, when gracklesdescend on both standing and stacked grain. Similar damage wasonce widespread on the South Carolina coast when rice was such agolden crop there. These birds sometimes follow spring planting anduncover grain as it is sowed. H. C. Oberholser (1938) points out,however, that "not all the consumption of grain should be consideredinjurious, since a considerable portion of this obtained is probablywaste, gleaned from the fields after harvest."F. E. L. Beal (1900) writes that an examination of 116 stomachsrevealed that the food was made up of 40 percent animal and 60percent vegetable matter. "Crustaceans amounted to about two-fifths of the animal food in the stomachs examined, and comprisedcrawfishes, crabs and shrimp. Grasshoppers are eaten in Juty andAugust, but few in other months. Beetles and various other insectsare taken in small quantities. Grain, chiefly corn, constitutes 46.8percent of the total food, and is taken in every month of the year,and as part of this is corn 'in the milk,' some damage must result tothis crop."During the spring and summer the food consists largely of a widerange of aquatic life?fish, frogs, insects, Crustacea, and spiders.The boat-tail's ability as a fisherman is considerable, and it is often tobe seen wading in pools or marshy creeks, up to its belly, makingaccurate stabs of the beak at minnows of various sorts. In some ofthese maneuvers it immerses the entire head, in others it hovers likea petrel. The boat-tail seems very fond of the crayfish, and oftensearches this creature out on its own; but, as related under "Behavior,"it sometimes seizes them from other birds, notably the eastern glossyibis and probably some of the herons. The bird is no mean performeras a flycatcher, and secures various insects on the wing with apparentease.In that part of the range where the cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto)occurs, and this is a large part, too, the boat-tail resorts to this tree to
370 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 1 1feed upon the small, blackish berries which are borne in great clusterson its pendant stalks.Behavior.?The boat-tailed grackle is essentially a coast dweller.Showing such a decided preference for salt water that it is seldomseen anywhere else, it frequents at all seasons the barrier and seaislands, the marshes, and the shoreline. Occasionally it follows upsome of the tidal rivers for a short distance inland; but Audubon (1834)noted that it "seldom goes further inland than forty or fifty miles, andeven then follows the margin of large rivers as the Mississippi, theSantee, the St. John's and the Savannah." For coastal South Caro-lina, 40 miles inland would be liberal and such distances are more aptto be characteristic of the Florida race on the gulf coast. Ivan K.Tompkins writes me (MS.) that he once saw "a number of boat-tailsat Nahunta, Brantley County, Ga., on March 14, 1938. Nahunta isabout 29 miles west of Brunswick, on the coast, and the birds werebusy around a gum-swamp habitat. All were definitely yellow-eyedbirds." In the range of the species in South Carolina, the writercannot recall having seen the species more than about 20 miles inland.It is very much of an urban, as well as a rural, bird; it abounds inmany coastal towns and cities, occurring as a breeder in such seaboardcities as Wilmington, N. C, Charleston, S. C, and Savannah, Ga.Brunswick, Ga., has a very large population, and even the hurriedtourist can hardly fail to be impressed by the number of these birds inthe many live oaks which add so much to the attractiveness of thatcommunity. At The Cloister, a resort hotel on Sea Island, nearBrunswick, the birds are semidomesticated in and about the patio,largely through the efforts of the genial hostess, Mrs. G. V. Cate,and will take food and pose for photographs for visitors with remark-able tameness.Conspicuous as this bird is at any season, it attracts perhaps moreattention in the fall and winter, for at these seasons it is particularlygregarious, going about in great flocks. The term "darkening thesky" seems still applicable to grackles, redwings, and cowbirds, suchveritable clouds of them are to be seen frequenting the grain fields inthe south in winter.The boat-tail is markedly terrestrial. It spends much time on theground searching for food, both in dry fields and the mud of marshesor extensive flats, where the rather long legs result in its being a goodwalker. Its attitude is at all times alert and vigorous, with the hugetail held high and the gait firm and sure-footed, though one gets theimpression of a waddle at times. In windy weather the tail appearsto be a positive encumbrance. Its great area catches the wind likea sail and at times turns the owner completely around. Sometimes
EASTERN BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 371the bird is all but upset, and is often obliged to sidestep ludicrouslyin order to turn broadside to a brisk breeze.In flight, the wings are moved rapidly, and here again the tail seemsto get so much in the way as to constitute a handicap. The flightis somewhat labored in appearance, particularly into the wind, andone is strongly reminded of the slow progress of a blimp in a headwindwhen watching the boat-tail in like circumstances. The wings oftenmake a pounding noise as the bud passes close overhead, makingevident the effort being put forth.Like the Florida race (see p. 360), the eastern boat-tail tends attimes to be a predator. It is also a highly proficient fisherman, oftenwading into pools and streams to belly depth, or stalking about theshallows with tail held high, making occasional and accurate jabs atminnows.Slightly wounded specimens are exceedingly agile and lead one anexhausting chase, at the termination of which they bite and scratchthe collector's hands vigorously, often to bloody effect.This species is occasionally subject to albinism and, as might besupposed, the effect is invariably striking. While I have never seena totally albinistic specimen, on two occasions I have observed it inthe partial state. In January 1944, in company with E. B. Chamber-lain of the Charleston (S. C.) Museum, we unsuccessfully pursuedsuch a specimen on James Island, which was very wild. A day ortwo later however, the bird was secured and brought to the museum,where it is now preserved. The body is white, the wings and tailblack.Voice.?Of the several characters which make this bird conspicuous,its vocal accomplishments are in the very front rank. There may bemore noisy birds but if so, I have yet to hear them! One or anothermay be noted for vociferous effort but the boat-tail is without equal.While some of its productions are not unmusical, most can hardly bedescribed as anything but raucous, harsh, guttural and rasping.Translation into words of even approximate equality is impossible;at any rate, none of the "chips," "chirrs," or "kwees" I might inventwould go far toward interpreting its astonishing medley of what mightas well be groans, grunts, clacks, and shrieks.In that characteristic style of the time, Nuttall (1832) dignifies theboat-tail's vocal attainments by saying that "their concert, thoughinclining toward melancholy, is not altogether disagreeable."Audubon renders the calls into "crick, crick, cree" with a variation inmore pleasing vein during tho "love season" of "tirit, tirit, titiri,rising from low to high with great regularity and emphasis." Thereis little point in giving other verbal renditions of the voice. Sufficeit to say that, during spring and early summer it is all but incessant
372 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211and no one can be within range of the birds' voice without beingabundantly aware of their presence throughout the entire day.The boat-tailed grackle produces one sound, however, which hasattracted the study and conjecture of many ornithologists, andwithout mention of which, no account of the voice would be complete.I speak of the remarkable rolling, or rattling sound so thoroughlycharacteristic of the "jackdaw." Many have noted it, some havecommented on it, but no one who watches or listens to this gracklevery long can fail to be impressed by it. Curiously enough, Audubondoes not mention it at all, although he could hardly have failed tonotice it, and his great friend and collaborator, John Bachman, alsoomits reference to it. Nuttail however, while not stressing this sound,at least recognized its existence, though he intimates that word of itcame to him second-hand for he says (1832) that "some of its jarringtones are said to bear a resemblance to the noise of a watchman'srattle." That this refers to the sound in question is not to be doubted.Contemporary writers have used the words "rolling" and "rattling"to describe the sound, but the point in controversy is whether it isinstrumental or vocal. A. T. Wayne (1910) says: "A peculiar habitof the male of this species is to perch upon a limb of some tree andwith their wings make a loud rolling sound. This peculiar noise isalso frequently made while the birds are flying."From his observations of the Florida race (see p. 363), Townsend(1927) concluded that the rattle was vocal, not mechanical, and mynotes of March 24, 1926, made at Charleston, S. C, explain this:"The bird was seen on a tree in a favorable light within twenty yardsand studied with eight power prismatic glasses. After three or fourwheezy trills with bill wide open, he would partly close it and appearto gulp and the feathers of the throat vibrated as the guttural rattlewas produced. I could see the bill vibrating also, but it did notoccur to me then, nor does it seem probable to me now, that the billmade the sounds. The vibration of the throat would seem to pointto its vocal origin. Certain parts of the song of the purple martinare very similar to this guttural rattle, and the throat of the bird mayin the same way be seen to vibrate. I observed this at Mr. Wayne'shome."I have watched literally hundreds of boat-tails make this rattlingsound and have studied them at very close range, with and withoutbinoculars, in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, particularly thelatter. While for some time I could not decide whether the soundcame from the throat or the clacking of the mandibles, it was per-fectly clear that it was most certainly not produced by the wings.On dozens of occasions the rattle sounded with the wings absolutelymotionless, not even the slightest vibration of their tips taking place.
EASTERN BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 373However, I often noted that immediately after the rattle had soundedthe wings were fluttered strongly. At times it appeared that themandibles produced it, for they were definitely moved, but with thismovement much less pronounced, the rattle sounded just as loud.Still not completely satisfied in my mind, I have come to the provi-sional conclusion that the sound is produced by a combination of therattle made in the throat and vibrations of the mandibles. It maytake slow-motion moving pictures to prove the source of this veryinteresting noise, as it did in the long controversy over the drummingof the grouse.Enemies.?One might assume that such a large and assertivespecies as the boat-tail would be about as free from natural enemiesas any passerine bird. This may be generally true of the adults, butnot of the young. In addition to the abnormally large loss in nest-lings already commented on, other agencies actively militate againstthem.Audubon (1834) has written that the alligator (Alligator mississip-piensis) is frequently attracted by the "cries of the young when theyare nearly fledged" and that, on hearing such notes, "well knowingthe excellence of these birds as articles of food, swims gently towardthe nest and suddenly thrashing the reeds with his tail, jerks out thepoor nestlings and immediately devours them," but predation fromthis cause today is rare; at least I have never observed or heard of it.Parasites cause some mortality among the young. Audubon (1834)stated that "My friend Dr. Samuel Wilson of Charleston, attemptedto raise some from the nest * * * and for some weeks fed them onfresh meat but they became so infested with insects that not with-standing all his care they died." That similar circumstances areoften present in the nest is well known. T. G. Pearson and the Brim-leys (1942) say: "This is one of the species whose nests at times un-fortunately are infested with parasites which, if they do not bringdeath to the young * * * certainly add nothing to the comfort ofthe household."Man, too must be listed among the enemies of the boat-tail, becauseof the bird's tendency to despoil grain crops. Numbers are shot invarious localities, and in past years it must have been also the prac-tice to use the young as food; Audubon (1834) quotes the Rev. JohnBachman as saying that grackles "are excellent eating whilst squabs."Field marks.?It is hardly possible to confuse the eastern boat-tailed grackle with any other grackle except its larger relative, thetype species, Cassidix mexicanus mexicanus. The completely darkplumage and huge, keeled tail and the fact that it seldom strays farfrom a maritime habitat will always distinguish it. The female isvery much smaller than the male, of a uniform dark brown above,
374 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211and ochraceous-buffy below. The startling difference between thesexes often astonishes those not familiar with the bird, as I have many-times noted while conducting Audubon wildlife tours in Florida andSouth Carolina.The bright yellow eye of torreyi, another character that distinguishesboth sexes of the eastern boat-tailed grackle, though not as apparentas either plumage or tail, is none the less invariable and easily visibleat some distance.When seen in bright light and close at hand, the eastern boat-tailedgrackle is a strikingly handsome bird. The brilliant metallic reflectionsof the plumage, the intense, glowing color, and the trim alertness ofthe carriage, all combine to command enthusiastic admiration.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The eastern boat-tailed grackle breeds along the Atlanticcoast from southern New Jersey (Fortescue) south to Georgia. Itwinters from Cape Henry, Virginia (in mild winters north along theEastern Shore of Virginia) south to Florida.Egg dates.?South Carolina: 25 records, April 26 to June 12; 20records, May 9 to May 23.QUISCALUS QUISCULA STONEI ChapmanPurple GrackleHABITSFrank M. Chapman (1935a) proposed the above scientific name forthe bird that we have always called the purple grackle (Quiscalus quis-cula guiscula), naming it in honor of Witmer Stone. He apparentlyrestricts this name to the grackles in which "the head varies fromgreenish to purplish blue and rarely violet, the back and sides arebronzy purple with more or less concealed iridescent bars, the rump ispurplish bronze, sometimes with bluish spots." In the same articlehe advances theories to show how the forms of the genus Quiscalus,as we now know them, probably originated and spread.Far too much has been published on the relationship, nomenclature,and distribution of the races of this genus of grackles to be even sum-marized here. The reader who wishes to follow the discussion is re-ferred to nine important papers on the subject: Dr. Chapman's pre-liminary study in the Bulletin of the American Museum of NaturalHistory (1892); his other articles were published in The Auk (1935a,1935b, 1936, 1939a, 1939b, 1940); Arthur T. Wayne's articles on thestatus of the species in South Carolina, also in The Auk, (1918); and
PURPLE GRACKLE 375Dr. Harry C. Oberholser's study of the*subspecies"?published in TheAuk (1919b).As far as can be gathered from a study of these*papers, map andtables, the breeding range of the purple grackle (Quiscalus quisculastonei), extends from northern South Carolina and Georgia throughthe Atlantic States, east of the Alleghenies, to southern New Yorkand southern Connecticut; I should extend this race eastward to in-clude extreme southeastern Massachusetts; and there seems to be awestward extension as far as south-central Louisiana, between theranges of the bronzed grackle on the north and the Florida grackle onthe south. In Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts I havecollected quite a number of our breeding grackles and have observedmany others at short range and in good light; although our birds hereare somewhat intermediate in their characters, I believe that they arenearer to the purple grackle (Quiscalus quiscula stonei) than to thebronzed grackle (Quiscalus quiscula versicolor) ; I shall therefore treatour local records as applying to the former race. Farther north inMassachusetts, the bronzed grackle seems to be the commoner form,though the purple grackle has been recorded much farther north.Robie W. Tufts writes to me: "On or about Nov. 20, 1931, a specimenwas taken at Grand Manan by Allen L. Moses, who mounted the bird.This specimen was taken to P. A. Taverner at Ottawa, who supportedMr. Moses in his identification. Mr. Moses shot the bird thinking itwas a bronzed grackle and was about to toss it into his fox pen whenhe noticed the transverse markings on the back."Spring.?Crow blackbirds, as they are often called, start migratingnorthward from their not far distant winter range during the latterpart of February and reach their breeding grounds in southern NewEngland around the middle of March. St. Patrick's Day, March17, has always been associated in my mind with the arrival of thegrackles about my home; then we may expect to hear the creakingnotes of the males and see the glossy black birds posturing in theleafless treetops or exploring the tops of the tallest pines and sprucesfor possible nesting sites, preparatory for the coming of the femalesa week or two later. If weather conditions are favorable, they mayremain, but a late snow storm or severe cold spell may cause them toretreat.Courtship.?On April 8, 1946, two grackles, apparently bothmales, were moving about in the branches of a big ash tree close tomy study window. One was evidently following the other as hetraveled along the branches or hopped from one branch to another.Every few seconds one would stop, crouch down on the branch,lower his head, puff out his body plumage, spread his wings downward,380928?57 25
376 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
andflower and spread his tail, at the same time giving voice to hisunmusical notes. The other male went through the same motions atintervals, alternating with the first one. Eventually they separatedand flew away in different directions. Apparently, it was a com-petitive display for the benefit of some hidden female, of which therewere several in the yard.Mating is evidently earlier at Cape May, N. J., for Witmer Stone(1937) writes:As early as March 13, many of the Grackles are flying in pairs, the male justbehind the female and at a slightly lower level. They are noisy, too, about thenest trees and there is a constant chorus of harsh alarm calls; chuck; chuck; chuck;like the sound produced by drawing the side of the tongue away from the teeth,interspersed with an occasional long-drawn, seeek, these calls being uttered bybirds on the wing as well as those that are perching. Then at intervals from aperching male comes the explosive rasping "song" chu-sieeek accompanied bythe characteristic lifting of the shoulders, spreading of the wings and tail, andswelling up of the entire plumage.As early as March 5 I have seen evidence of mating and sometimes two maleshave been in pursuit of a single female, resting near her in the tree tops, wherethey adopted a curious posture with neck stretched up and bill held vertically.Nesting.?At the extreme northeastern end of their breedingrange, near my home, we have found purple grackles nesting in avariety of situations. Many years ago, in eastern Rhode Island, acolony of a dozen or more pairs nested for several years in a hillsidegrove of red cedars (Juniperus virginiana) . The nests were placedin the cedars, 10 or 12 feet from the ground, and were made of driedgrasses and weed stems, lined with fine dry grass. In the extensivecattail marshes surrounding Squibnocket Pond on Martha's VineyardIsland, we found two well-hidden grackles' nests in the tall, dense,green flags, firmly attached to these cattails, and placed from 2 to 3feet above the water. In that same vicinity there was a colony ofeight or ten nests of these birds, 7 or 8 feet up, in a swampy thicketof large bushes.On May 29, 1904, at Chatham, Mass., while passing through anapple orchard in full bloom, we noticed a pair of grackles makingquite a fuss; their nest was soon located in an upright crotch nearthe top of one of the apple trees, about 12 feet from the ground; thenest, made of seaweed and coarse grasses and lined with fine grassand horsehair, contained five fresh eggs.By contrast, our local purple grackles sometimes select much moreinaccessible nesting sites. Within sight of my former residence is arow of tall white pines (Pinus strobus), along the banks of the TauntonRiver; every year several pairs of grackles have nested near the topsof the these trees, where the nests must have been between 50 and60 feet from the ground; the nests were never disturbed by egg-
PURPLE GRACKLE 377
collecting boys. We found another safe nesting site in a cedar swampon Cape Cod. The swamp had been flooded as a reservoir and thewhite cedars (Chamaecyparis thyoides) were standing in water from4 to 5 feet deep; it was a very large colony and there were evidentlymany nests in the cedars, but we did not care to make any accuratecount of the nests, nor could we even estimate the number of thebirds that were flying about over the swamp.Bendire (1895) gives the following description of the nests: "Thenests are rather loosely constructed and bulky. The materials usedvary greatly according to locality; the outer walls are usually com-posed of coarse grass, weed stalks, eelgrass or seaweed, sometimeswith a foundation of mud, and again without it. The inner cup ofthe nest is composed of similar but finer materials, and is generallylined with dry grass, among which occasionally a few feathers, bitsof paper, strings, and rags may be scattered; in fact anything suitableand readily obtained is liable to be utilized. Exteriorly the nestsvary from 5 to 8 inches in height, and from 7 to 9 inches in diameter,according to location. They are ordinarily about 3 inches deep by4 inches wide inside." After describing nesting sites, similar to thosementioned above, he adds:Sometimes natural cavities in trees or hollow stubs, as well as the excavationsof the larger Woodpeckers, are also used, and along the seashore, where theFishhawk is common, they often place their nests in the interstices of these bulkystructures, notably so on Plum Island, New York. Speaking of this locality, thelate Dr. Charles S. Allen [1892] says: "In every Fishhawk's nest, except those onthe ground, I always found from two to eight or ten nests of the Purple Grackle.They were situated in crevices among the sticks under the edges of the nest, oreven beneath the nest itself, so as to secure protection from rain and bad weather.They were very bold in collecting fragments from the table of their powerfulneighbors."Mr. J. H. Pleasant, Jr., of Baltimore, Maryland, writes as follows: "On May 19,1888, I discovered a colony of Purple Grackles nesting under the eaves and raftersof a hay barn. In some instances the entrance to the nest was so small that itwas extremely difficult to obtain the eggs. The crevices in which the nests werebuilt were very much of the same character as those frequently chosen by theEnglish Sparrow, and were situated at an average height of 25 feet from theground; over a dozen nests were observed."T. E. McMullen has sent me the data for 20 New Jersey nests: 9of these were in grapevines or ivy vines climbing over various deciduoustrees; 9 others were in red cedars; one was 20 feet up in a gum tree,the highest one was 45 feet from the ground in a large pine, and thelowest nests were 6 or 8 feet up in vines.Eggs.?The purple grackle lays ordinarily four or five eggs to aset, very rarely seven; sets of six are not especially rare; the only setof seven that I have found contained two eggs that were quite different
378 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211from the other five. The eggs are generally ovate in shape and areslightly glossy. Bendire (1895) describes them as follows:The ground color of the Purple Grackle's eggs varies from a pale greenish whiteto a light rusty brown; they are generally blotched or streaked with irregularlines and dashes of various shades of dark brown, and in an occasional set differenttints of lavender markings are also noticeable. Only in rare instances are thesemarkings so profuse and evenly distributed over the entire egg as to hide theground color. They vary greatly in style and character in different sets.The average measurement of 85 eggs is 28.53 by 20.89 millimetres,or about 1.12 by 0.82 inches. The largest egg in the series measures32.76 by 23.11 millimetres, or 1.29 by 0.91 inches; the smallest 25.65by 20.57 millimetres, or 1.01 by 0.81 inches.Young.?Of the young, Bendire (1895) says: "Incubation, inwhich both parents assist, lasts about two weeks, and they are equallysolicitous in the defense of their eggs or young; the latter are able toleave the nest in about eighteen days, and sometimes a second broodis raised. They are fed almost entirely on insects while in the nest."Eighteen days seems a long time for the young to remain in the nest
;
12 or 14 days would seem to be the usual time. It seems strange thatso little has been published on the care and development of the youngof such a common bird as the purple grackle.Plumages.?The plumage changes of the purple grackle are verysimple and hardly noticeable after the young bird's first summer.Dwight (1900) calls the color of the natal down pale sepia-brown.The whole juvenal plumage is "dull clove-brown, the body feathersoften very faintly edged with paler brown. Tail darker with purplishtints." A complete postjuvenal molt takes place early in August, atwhich the iridescent black plumage of the male is acquired, and oldand young birds become indistinguishable. The nuptial plumage is
"acquired by wear which produces no noticeable effect as is regularlythe case with iridescent plumages." Adults have one complete annualmolt, the postnuptial, beginning early in August.Of the plumages of the female, he says: "In juvenal dress the femaleis perhaps paler below than is the male and usually indistinctlystreaked. There is a complete postjuvenal moult and later plumagesdiffer from the male only in being much duller and browner with fewmetallic reflections. They also show more wear."Witmer Stone (1937) makes the following interesting observation:"The progress of the molt in Grackles can easily be noted by theappearance of the wings and tail as the birds fly overhead, althoughthe new and old body plumage of the adults are the same. Theyshow gaps in the flight feathers as early as July 18 and some are stillmolting as late as September 8, 11 and 16 in different years. Whenthe tail molt begins the long central feathers drop out first so that the
PURPLE GRACKLE 379
tail appears split or forked, this gap becomes wider as successivepairs of feathers are lost, but by the time the outer pair is dropped thenew central feathers have grown out and the outline of the tail ispointed or wedge-shaped."Harold B. Wood has sent me the following notes on the colors of theiris in the purple grackle : " The young have brown irides, which by theabsorption of the pigment, change to gray and lemon, ivory or white.The young of the year have uniformly dark brown irides until fall.Early spring birds have gray, lemon, ivory, or white irides. No birdwhich I trapped and banded with brown or gray eyes ever returned tothe traps." As the iris in the adult is pale lemon color, or almostwhite, it appears that the brown iris is confined to the youngest birdsand that the gray iris marks a transition stage of adolescence.Food.?Beal's (1900) report on the contents of 2,346 stomachs ofcrow blackbirds includes the food of both the purple and the bronzedgrackles, and will be considered under the latter subspecies. It seemsproper to discuss here only such reports as refer especially to the purplegrackle.In his report on the birds of Pennsylvania, B. H. Warren (1890)gives the following list of the contents of several series of stomachs,collected in various months:March?Twenty-nine examined. They showed chiefly insects and seed; infive corn was present, and in four wheat and oats were found. All of these grains,however, were in connection with an excess of insect food.April?Thirty-three examined. They revealed chiefly insects, with but a smallamount of vegetable matter.May?Eighty-two examined. Almost entirely insects, cut-worms beingespecially frequent.June?Forty-three examined. Showed generally insects, cut-worms in abun-dance; fruits and berries present, but to very small extent.July?Twenty-four examined. Showed mainly insects; berries present in limitedamount.August?Twenty-three examined. Showed chiefly insects, berries, and corn.September?Eighteen examined. Showed insects, berries, corn and seeds.October?During this month (1882), the writer made repeated visits to roosting-resorts, where these birds were collected in great numbers, and shot 378, whichwere examined. Of this number the following is the result of examinations, indetail, of 111 stomachs:Thirty, corn and coleoptera (beetles) ; twenty-seven, corn only; fifteen, orthoptera(grasshoppers); eleven, corn and seeds; eleven, corn and orthoptera; seven, cole-optera; three, coleoptera and orthoptera; three, wheat and coleoptera; two, wheatand corn; one, diptera (flies).The remaining 267 birds were taken from the 10th to the 31st of the month,and their food was found to consist almost entirely of corn.These examinations show that late in the fall, when insect food is scarce, corn isespecially preyed upon by these birds, but during the previous periods of theirresidence with us, insects form a large portion of their diet.
380 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Bendire (1895) makes the general statement that
?
Their food consists largely of animal matter, such as grasshoppers, caterpillars,spiders, beetles, cutworms, larvae of different insects, remains of small mammals,frogs, newts, crawfish, small mollusks and fish. While it must be admitted thatIndian corn, oats, and wheat are also eaten to some extent, much of the vegetablematter found in their stomachs consists of the seeds of noxious weeds, such as theragweed (Ambrosia) , smartweed (Polygonum) , and others. Fruit is used but spar-ingly, and consists usually of mulberries, blackberries, and occasionally of cherries.One of the gravest charges against them is the destruction of the young and eggsof smaller birds, especially those of the Robin. * * *They spend much of their time on the ground, being essentially ground feeders;they walk along close to the heels of the farmer while plowing, picking up beetles,grubs, etc., as they are turned up by the plow, or search the meadows and pasturesfor worms, grasshoppers, and other insects suitable for food.The purple grackle eats the Japanese beetle, that imported pest thatdoes so much damage to lawns, fruit trees, and flower gardens. Iconstantly see grackles and starlings feeding on my lawns, and like tothink that they are probing for the grubs of this beetle: but I havenever seen them feeding on the adult beetles in my rose garden. How-ever, Japanese beetles were found in all the stomachs of purplegrackles, meadowlarks, starlings, cardinals, English sparrows, woodthrushes, catbirds and robins, that were taken in the heavily infestedareas in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. Smith and Hadley(1926) say: "The purple grackle accounts for more of the beetles thanany other bird. * * * Several were completely gorged with them.* * * The percentage of beetles eaten by the more important birds isas follows: Purple grackle, 66.3; meadowlark, 50.7; starling, 42.3;cardinal, 38.6; catbird, 14.8."About our city parks these grackles are scavengers, picking anythingedible from the rubbish cans, or eating any crumbs or bits of fooddropped from the lunch baskets of visitors. Frank R. Smith sends me astory illustrating the sagacity of the bird: "This morning, as I passedthrough the park back of the National Museum, I noticed a gracklethat had found a dry, hard crust, left from a lunch. The bird madeseveral attempts to eat the crust, but its hardness resisted his efforts.Picking it up, he flew across the walk and alighted near a hydrant,beneath which a bird-bath was sunk to the level of the ground. Soak-ing in the water sat a pigeon; and the grackle, while evidently wantingto enter, feared to trust his prize so near the larger bird. After severalfalse starts, he waded boldly into the water and turned his back on thepigeon, so that his own body was between the bread and the bird hefeared. He dropped the bread into the water, waited a few seconds,picked it up and walked out to the grass, where he ate the softenedbread. During this time the pigeon sat watching him curiously."Hervey Brackbill writes to me: "Acorns are a prominent fall food.
PURPLE GRACKLE 381Flocks as large as a couple of hundred birds come into the oak-woodedsuburbs of Baltimore in late September and October, and feed both inthe trees and on the ground beneath. The grackles, incidentally,do not open the acorns as blue jays do, by holding them down withtheir feet and hammering them with their bills; they grip them backin the angle of their mandibles and crack them by direct pressure."Clarence Cottam (1943) observed an unusual feeding habit ofgrackles and crows at the outlet of a reservoir where
?
About 12,000 cubic feet of water per second was passing through the electricturbines, "boiling up" to form the headwater of the Cooper River. Apparentlythe turbines were cutting up or otherwise killing large numbers of gizzard shadand other small fishes. These, brought to the surface by the churning water,attracted Ring-billed, Herring, Laughing, and Bonaparte's Gulls, as well ascrows, Purple Grackles, and even a solitary Red-wing. * * * The grackles andcrows fed over the turbulent water, picking up morsels of food with the skill anddexterity of the typical water birds. The feet and even the breast feathers ofmany of the crows and grackles were seen to touch the surface of the watermomentarily as the birds hovered over this (for them) uncharacteristic feedingplace. * * * Purple Grackles * * * use a wide variety of foods, and we haveoccasionally observed them feeding in shallow water on stranded insects and evensmall fishes. To see several dozens of these birds feeding in deep and turbulentwater after the manner of gulls and terns, however, was indeed a surprise.Economic status.?The grackle's reputation among farmers isalmost as black as its plumage, for its faults, and it has plenty, aremore conspicuous than its good deeds. Nor is it any more popularamong its bird neighbors, as can be seen by the hostility they showtoward it, for many a robin's or other small bird's nest has been robbedof its eggs or callow young to satisfy the appetites of young grackles.Analysis of stomach contents does not show any large percentage ofsuch food, but it must be remembered that the yolks of eggs and thesoft parts of small young are quickly digested and thus not easilydetected; and the egg shells are not always swallowed.The grackles are condemned by farmers on account of the con-siderable damage done by them to the grain crops during the plantingseason and until after harvesting has been completed. They areaccused of pulling up the sprouting corn and wheat in the spring,but much of this is done to obtain the cutworms that are attacking theseedlings. Warren (1890) says on this point: "Some four years agoI was visiting a friend who had thirty odd acres of corn (maize)planted. Quite a number of 'blackies/ as he styled them, were plyingthemselves with great activity about the growing cereal. We shotthirty-one of these birds feeding in the cornfield. Of this numbernineteen showed only cut worms in their stomachs. The number ofcut worms in each, of course, varied, but as many as twenty-twowere taken from one stomach. In seven some corn was found, in
382 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
connection with a very large excess of insects, to wit: Beetles, earth-worms, and cut worms. The remaining five showed chiefly beetles."Perhaps the chief damage to the corn crop is done when the grain isin the milky stage in the summer; the grackles are flocking at thatseason and, where they are abundant, they swoop down in greatblack clouds into the standing corn; they strip the husks off the earsand eat the tender kernels, taking perhaps only a few from each ear,but rendering many unfit for the market. Sometimes as much as aquarter of the crop is thus damaged. The farmer is nearly helplessto protect a large field, for shooting only drives the birds from oneportion of the field to another. All that can be said in favor of thegrackle here is that it is a persistent enemy of the destructive cornborer.Later in the season, after the corn is harvested and shocked, thegrackles do some damage to the ripened ears by extracting the hardkernels; and Nuttall (1832) says that "in the Southern States, inwinter, they hover round the corn-cribs in swarms, and boldly peckthe hard grain from the cob through the air openings of the magazine."Referring to the attacks on sprouting winter wheat, Judd (1902)writes: "During November 1900, a flock of from 2,000 to 3,000 pulledwheat on the Bryan farm, and only continual use of the shotgun savedthe crop. At each report they would fly to the oak woods borderinglot 5, where they fed on acorns. Nine birds collected had eatenacorns and wheat in about equal proportions. The flock must havetaken daily at least half an ounce of food apiece, and therefore, ifthe specimens examined were representative, must in a week havemade away with 217 pounds of sprouting wheat, a loss that wouldentail at harvest time a shortage of at least ten times as much."Although grain forms nearly half (47 percent) of the food for the yearit is not all a loss to the farmer, as much of it is waste grain droppedduring harvesting or left on the ground after that. Some slightdamage is done to green peas, cherries, strawberries, blackberries,and other small fruits, but less than is done by some other birds.All this damage may seem considerable, but it is largely offsetby the good done in the destruction of those insects, harmful to theinterests of the farmer, which make up over 50 percent of the food forthe year. Consequently, where grackles are overabundant, theyshould be controlled or the crops be protected, otherwise they arefully as useful as harmful.Behavior.?While feeding on my lawn the grackle walks with aslow, dignified gait, head held high and tail somewhat elevated, orruns nimbly over the ground, nervously flirting its long tail up anddown and occasionally making long, high hops in pursuit of someinsect. Occasionally it jumps or flies up a foot or two to catch a
PURPLE GRACKLE 383flying insect in the air. It forages also in the shrubbery or trees,evidently after insects, but for the most part it finds its food on theground, picking something off the grass or probing in the earth forgrubs or worms. When robins are feeding on the lawn at the same time,the grackles watch them and follow them about; as soon as a robinis seen pulling up a fat worm, the grackle rushes in and seizes theworm, driving away the gentler bird; the robin seems to be unable todefend itself and must yield its prize to the more aggressive robber.I have often seen a grackle, while foraging on my lawn on a warmsunny day in spring, stop and squat close down on the ground, remain-ing there for several minutes with its body pressed close to the warmearth, as if it enjoyed the warmth or perhaps just taking a sunbath.It may have been "anting," as other birds do in order to anoint theirplumage with formic acid.In this connection, the following observation by Mary Emma Groffand Hervey Brackbill (1946) is of interest:The recent discussions of anting and supposedly substitute activities by birdsmakes it seem worth while to describe the behavior of Purple Grackles (Quiscalusquiscula stonei) in anointing themselves with a juice, apparently an acid, from thehulls of English walnuts (Juglans regia). * * * The walnuts grow in clusters ofas many as five or six, at the ends of branches. The grackles would alight uponthese clusters?just one bird to each?and begin pecking a hole in the stickyhull of one of the nuts, usually throwing away the pieces of hull they gouged out,occasionally seeming to swallow a piece. When a good-sized hole had been made,the birds would dip their bills into it, undoubtedly wetting them against thepulpy interior, and then thrust their bills over and into their plumage. A greatpart of the body was thus anointed?the breast, the under and upper surfaces ofthe wings, the back, and very often apparently the rump at the base of the tail.* * * Particularly birds that were watched worked as long as 10 to 15 minutesat a stretch. Many males sang at intervals, with display, and there was alsomuch noise because of commotion among the birds, two or three of which wouldoften contest for the same cluster of nuts. * * * The indication that it was anacid the birds were using was obtained when one of the English walnut hullswas cut open and litmus paper quickly placed against it; the paper instantlygave a strong acid reaction."In the air the purple grackle flies in a direct line, not undulatinglike redwings, and generally at a considerable height, with strongsteady wing beats; its flight is well sustained but not especially rapid.Witmer Stone (1937) says that when they descend from a height toalight in the trees "they sail down on set wings which form a triangu-lar, kite-like outline, with the long tails of the males deeply depressedinto the characteristic boat or keel." As fly-catchers the grackles arenot experts. Stone saw one "pursuing a flying beetle on the street,an unusual performance; the bird was exceedingly clumsy in turningon the wing and after following its erratic prey for several minuteswithout result it gave up the chase. On August 31, several Grackles
384 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
were observed darting up into the air from the tree tops in pursuit offlying ants in which activity they also proved very clumsy."In its relations with other species the grackle not only indulges inthe well-known habit of stealing eggs or young birds from the nestsof its neighbors, but sometimes attacks and kills other birds in openplaces. In the National Zoological Park, in Washington, MalcolmDavis (1944) saw a purple grackle kill an English sparrow, which ithad been stalking in almost catlike manner. * * * The sparrow wasnot long out of the nest, but was able to fly and take care of itself.A few days later I walked along the same area, and saw the kill. Thegrackle approached the sparrow and as the smaller bird flew away,the attacker seized its prey in its beak and gave it several hard shakes,with the body of the sparrow hitting the hard concrete pavement.At this moment passersby frightened the grackle away, but later thebird returned to eat the viscera of the sparrow."Frank B. Foster (1927) reports: "At my Game Farm on the Pick-ering Creek, in Chester County, Pa., we lost in the Pheasant field,almost three hundred little Pheasants (Phasianus), a few days old,which were destroyed by Purple Grackles (Quiscalus q. quiscala [sic]).The male Grackles were the ones that did the damage. They cameinto the enclosure and simply took the heads off the little birds, leavingthe bodies."The purple grackle is highly gregarious at all seasons; even duringthe nesting season the birds often breed in sizable communities; andthose that are not incubating resort to communal roosts at night. Inthe larger roosts they are often associated with starlings, redwings, orcowbirds.Several roosts in eastern Pennsylvania have been studied, of whichthe Overbrook roost, described by C. J. Peck (1905), is typical: "TheOverbrook Grackle Eoost is situated upon the property of Mr. DavidL. Hess at the corner of Sixty-third street and Lansdowne avenue,Philadelphia. The estate comprises about ten acres, is rolling andwooded and has an artificial lake of about an acre in extent. Thetrees are deciduous with a goodly sprinkling of conifers and are offair size. The roost has been in constant use for more than twentyyears?how much more I have been unable to ascertain." Thisroost was used by varying numbers of birds during every month inthe year, the smallest numbers being found in December and January.He gives a short account month by month showing the fluctuationsin the population of the roost. In January, fewer birds use theroost than at any other time of the year. "On a few very severe nightsthe roost may be deserted, but such nights are rare and usually four orfive hundred birds remain throughout the month." Conditions are
PURPLE GRACKLE 385about the same until the last week in February, when the migrationbegins. "Probably five thousand birds use the roost during the lastfew days in February." In March the "number of birds rapidlyincreases throughout the month until from twenty to twenty-fivethousand are using the roost nightly." In April and May, the nestingmonths, the numbers fall off, "but the number never seems to fall belowtwo or three thousand?birds which have not mated as yet or elsemales which have nests near by, probably both." June is very muchlike May, except that a very few females and the first of the earlyyoung begin to come in. But all this is changed soon after Augustfirst.The birds have for the most part completed their domestic cares and familygroups are rapidly consolidated into large flocks which come to the roost fromconsiderable distances. The numbers are very greatly increased and the birdsin flying to and from the roost follow much more closely a regular well-definedroute.During September and October the greatest numbers are reached and thebirds come in at night in great flights, one flock following another so closely asto give the impression of a single long-drawn-out flock. The flight begins about5:30 p.m. and lasts for about twenty or twenty-five minutes, but scattered birdsand small flocks continue to come in until dark. I believe that from fifty toseventy-five thousand birds visit the roost every night during these two months.* * * Robins use the roost to the number of one thousand or more, their num-bers being hard to judge with any degree of accuracy on account of the way theymix with the Grackles.By 6:30, on September 17, the noise from the birds had begun tosubside; and by 6:45 darkness and silence had come.When grackles and starlings select a roost in a thickly settled com-munity, or in the trees of a city street, as they sometimes do, theycreate a decided nuisance. Lewis W. Ripley (1914) tells how sucha roost was established in one of the finest residential streets inHartford, Conn., and what was done about it: "The birds, numberingprobably several thousand, began to come in just before dark, andby seven o'clock all had arrived, and from this time until about sixin the morning constituted a first-class nuisance, whistling andchattering until about 8 p.m., and beginning about 4 a.m., makinga tremendous racket so that it was difficult to sleep. Not less annoy-ing was the filthy condition of the walks and lawns, and the damage tothe clothing of those passing along the street was not inconsiderable."Several plans were discussed for getting rid of them and some weretried without much success; ordinary roman candles had no perma-nent effect, even when fired by men in the trees; but finally it waslearned that the persistent use of high-powered, 10-ball candles,weighing 56 pounds to the gross, would produce the desired result."As a net final result, about eight dozen candles were used at a total
386 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
expense of about $10 and, at the end of a week, only a couple ofdozen birds are to be found where there were thousands."Voice.?The unattractive voice of the purple grackle is describedin the following notes sent to me by Aretas A. Saunders: "Whilethe sounds produced by grackles are far from musical, neverthelesssome of them are largely confined to a definite season, including theperiod of nesting, and therefore may be considered to be songs. Thecommonest of these is a grating, metallic sound that might be writtenkuwaaaa. The main note is pitched about F ' ', and the short noteat the beginning is a tone to a tone and a half lower. The matter ofpitch, however, is more difficult to determine definitely in soundsthat are not of musical quality. This is particularly true in determin-ing the octave. The pitch of this note is near F, but whether F ', F ' ',or F ' ' ' I do not feel entirely sure. This particular sound is to beheard from the first arrival of the birds in March to the end of thebreeding season in late June. It is sometimes also heard in lateSeptember and October from individuals in the flocks that congregateat that season.
"In the time of courtship in late April or early May, grackles pro-duce another songlike sound that is accompanied by spreading ofwings and tail. This is a series of four or five notes, each higher inpitch than the former one. The lower notes are rather harsh, whilethe higher ones are squeaky. These sounds are something likeJcogubaleeJc or koochokaweekee. The pitch begins on C " or D " andrises to B flat ' ' or C ' ' ' at the end. The common call-note of thegrackle is a loud chak, very similar to that of the redwings, but louderand somewhat lower in pitch."To the nonmusical ear the squeaky notes of the grackles sound likethe creaking of a rusty hinge and are decidedly unpleasant, but whenheard in chorus from a migrating flock the effect is rather pleasing.During the courtship display the contortions of body, wings, and tailseem to indicate that the notes are produced with considerable effort.Field marks.?The grackles are the largest of our northern black-birds and have the longest tails; these are wedge-shaped and roundedor graduated at the end ; and the male often carries his tail keeled, themiddle feathers lower than the others. Grackles differ from redwingsin having a straighter, more level, less undulating flight. They canbe distinguished from rusty blackbirds by the longer tails. Thesharply defined bronze back of the bronzed grackle cannot be dis-tinguished from the more variegated back of the purple grackle, ex-cept at short range and in favorable light. There are, of course, manyintermediates to be seen near the borders of the ranges; these are verydifficult to identify as to race.
PURPLE GRACKLE 387Fall.?The migrations of purple grackles are not long ones. Theyleave the northern portions of their breeding range in November, buteven here a few remain occasionally in mild winters, though they arerare north of Washington, D. C, in winter.As soon as the breeding season is over and the young birds are wellgrown, they begin to gather in the summer roosts, the family partiesjoining to form immense flocks. During October and November,these great flocks wander about over the country, often joined bystarlings, cow birds, and other blackbirds, seeking suitable feedingplaces in the grain fields, grasslands, and swamps. Stone (1937)describes one of these large feeding flocks "which contained manythousand birds. They covered the ground in great black sheets, therear ranks constantly arising and flying over to take their place in thevan which gave the impression of rolling over the ground. When theytook wing in force the long procession streamed past shutting offfrom view all that lay beyond and when they alighted in the trees thebare branches appeared to be clothed with a dense black foliage."Winter.?The main winter range of the purple grackle seems toextend from the Carolinas southward to the Gulf coast, thoughSkinner (1928) says that it occurs mainly as a migrant in the sandhillregion of North Carolina, and Wayne (1910) considers it rare in coastalSouth Carolina. Probably most of these grackles spend the winterfarther south in the Gulf States.Wilson (1832) gives the following graphic account of a large winter-ing flock:A few miles from the banks of the Roanoke, on the 20th of January, I metwith one of these prodigious armies of Grackles. They rose from the surroundingfields with a noise like thunder, and, descending on the length of road before me,covered it and the fences completely with black; and when they again rose, and,after a few evolutions, descended on the skirts of the high timbered woods, atthat time destitute of leaves, they produced a most singular and striking effect;the whole trees for a considerable extent, from the top to the lowest branches,seeming as if hung in mourning; their notes and screaming the meanwhile re-sembling the distant sound of a great cataract, but in more musical cadence,swelling and dying away on the ear, according to the fluctuation of the breeze.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Central Louisiana, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Con-necticut to Florida and Georgia.Breeding range.?The purple grackle breeds from central andsoutheastern Louisiana (Lake Arthur, East Baton Rouge), centraland northeastern Mississippi (Shubata, Lucedale), southern andnortheastern Tennessee (Selmer, Shady Valley), eastern West Virginia(Franklin, Leetown), central and northeastern Pennsylvania (State
388 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211College, Scranton), central-southern and southeastern New York(Binghamton, Hempstead), and southwestern Connecticut (Bethel,Portland); south to Central Alabama (Greensboro, Auburn), north-ern Georgia (Kirkwood, Athens), western South Carolina (Greenwood),east-central North Carolina (Raleigh), and southeastern Virginia(Petersburg)
.
Winter range.?Winters within breeding range rarely north tosoutheastern Pennsylvania (Doylestown, Holmesburg) and RhodeIsland (Newport) ; south to the Gulf coast, northern Florida (CedarKeys, Gainesville), and southeastern Georgia (Riceboro).Casual records.?Casual in Texas (Sour Lake), Kentucky (Bar-boursville), western Pennsylvania (Wilkinsburg) , New Hampshire(Tilton), and New Brunswick (Kent Island).Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole.Early dates of spring arrival are: South Carolina?Spartanburg,January 27. North Carolina?Raleigh, January 29 ; Charlotte, Febru-ary 4. Virginia?Lexington, February 15. West Virginia?Blue-field, February 14. District of Columbia?January 21 (average of38 years, February 23). Maryland?Baltimore County, January 17;Laurel, January 28 (median of 7 years, February 16). Pennsyl-vania?Doylestown, February 1; Beaver, February 17 (average of19 years, March 8). New Jersey?Princeton, February 6. NewYork?Shelter Island, February 12 (average of 16 years, March 7);Geneva, February 24 (average of 12 years, March 13). Connecticut
?
Fairfield, February 16. Rhode Island?Providence, February 22(average of 23 years, March 9). Massachusetts?Harvard, February23 (average of 7 years, March 14). Vermont?Bennington, February28 (median of 29 years, March 25). New Hampshire?Exeter, March6. Maine?Orono, March 1. Quebec?Montreal, March 12 (aver-age of 16 years, April 9) ; Kamouraska, March 24. New BrunswickMemramcook, March 5; Scotch Lake, March 19 (median of 35 years,April 7). Nova Scotia?Shulee, March 12; Prince Edward IslandNorth River and Mount Herbert, April 4. Mississippi?Saucier,February 13. Tennessee?Elizabethton, January 28; Athens, Febru-ary 6 (median of 8 years, March 1). Kentucky?Bowling Green,February 4. Missouri?Kansas City, February 1. Illinois?Mur-physboro, February 2; Chicago region, February 22 (average, March10). Indiana?Worthington and Richmond, February 5. OhioToledo, February 1. Michigan?Three Rivers and Ann Arbor,February 20; Germfask, March 17. Ontario?Toronto, February 14(average of 17 years, March 21); Ottawa, March 8 (average of 38years, March 28). Iowa?McGregor, February 20. WisconsinMadison, Februaiy 26 (average of 21 years, March 21). MinnesotaMinneapolis, February 28 (average of 9 years, March 16); Fergus
PURPLE GRACKLE 389
Falls, March 14. Texas?Dallas, February 9. Kansas?Wilsey,January 29. Nebraska?Omaha, February 10; Red Cloud, February12 (median of 24 years, February 28). South Dakota?Aberdeen,March 4; Sioux Falls, March 19 (average of 8 years, March 25).North Dakota?Cass County, March 21 (average, April 1). Mani-toba?Treesbank, March 24 (median of 55 years, April 14). Sas-katchewan?McLean, March 29. Colorado?Fort Morgan, February27. Wyoming?Wheatland, April 1; Laramie, April 13 (average of8 years, April 23). Montana?Billings, March 21. Alberta
?
Alliance, April 1.Late dates of spring departure are: South Carolina?Charleston,April 3. North Carolina?Raleigh, May 8 (average of 7 years,April 15). District of Columbia, April 17. Maryland?BaltimoreCounty, April 20; Laurel, April 14 (median of 6 years, March 31).New York?New York City region, May 17. Connecticut?NewHaven, April 24. Ohio?Buckeye Lake, median, April 10. TexasSan Angelo and Cove, May 1.Early dates of fall arrival are: Texas?Pecos, September 9. OhioBuckeye Lake, median, August 9. Connecticut?New Haven, Octo-ber 6. New York?New York City region, October 5. North Caro-lina?Weaverville, October 25; Raleigh, October 26 (average of 12years, November 1). South Carolina?Chester County, November 1.Late dates of fall departure are: Alberta?Belvedere, November 12.Montana?Kirby, October 20. Idaho?Sandpoint, November 19.Wyoming?Douglas, December 18; Careyhurst, November 2. Colo-rado?Fort Morgan, November 20. Saskatchewan?Indian Head,November 7. Manitoba?Brandon, November 27; Treesbank, No-vember 9 (median of 52 years, October 25). North Dakota?Grafton.November 14; Cass County, November 3 (average, October 20).South Dakota?Vermillion, December 26; Sioux Falls, November 28(average of 5 years, November 9) . Nebraska?Blue Springs, Novem-ber 19. Kansas?Clearwater, December 10. Oklahoma?OklahomaCity, November 17. Texas?Dallas, November 30. MinnesotaMinneapolis, December 1 1 (average of 8 years for southern Minnesota,November 8); Isanti County, November 4 (average of 10 years fornorthern Minnesota, November 1). Wisconsin?Oshkosh, Decem-ber 13. Iowa?Marble Rock, December 11; Hudson, December 1.Ontario?North Bay, November 20; Ottawa, November 12 (averageof 26 years, October 11). Michigan?Detroit, December 6 ; McMillan,December 1. Ohio?Leetonia, December 7; Toledo, December 2.Indiana?Elkhart, December 4. Illinois?Urbana, December 13;Chicago region, November 18 (average, October 30). MissouriBolivar, November 26. Kentucky?Danville, December 2. Ten-nessee?Athens, November 12 (average of 6 years, October 29).
390 IT. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Prince Edward Island?Tignish, November 6. Nova Scotia
?
Wolfville, December 30; Halifax, November 9. New BrunswickMemramcook, December 20; Scotch Lake, November 12 (median of15 years, October 24). Quebec?Montreal, October 23 (average of9 years, October 6). Maine?South Portland, December 8; Avon,November 24. New Hampshire?Ossipee, November 13. Vermont?Woodstock, November 25. Massachusetts?Belmont, December 2;Harvard, November 24 (average of 6 years, October 29). RhodeIsland?South Auburn, November 27. Connecticut?Fairfield, De-cember 15. New York?Dutchess County, November 30. NewJersey?Milltown, December 19. Pennsylvania?Chester County,December 24 (average of 32 years, November 5). Maryland?Laurel, December 28 (median of 7 years, November 20). District ofColumbia?average of 8 years, November 16. West VirginiaBluefield, December 16. Virginia?Charlottesville, December 11.North Carolina?Weaverville, December 17.Egg dates.?Alberta: 6 records, May 12 to June 2; 3 records,May 18 to May 24.Florida: 20 records, March 30 to June 12; 10 records, April 12 toApril 25.Illinois: 46 records, April 21 to June 5 ; 25 records, May 6 to May 22.Massachusetts: 56 records, May 4 to June 17; 39 records, May 14to May 21.Maine: 42 records, May 12 to June 23; 22 records, May 25 toJune 6.New Jersey: 24 records, April 15 to May 12; 14 records, April 22 toApril 29.North Dakota: 10 records, May 10 to June 16: 5 records, May 19to May 31.Ontario: 13 records, May 3 to June 15 ; 7 records, May 16 to May 29.
FLORIDA GRACKLE 391QUISCALUS QUISCULA:QUISCULA (Linnaeus)Florida GrackleHABITSThe above scientific name, which for so many years was used forthe purple grackle of the Middle Atlantic States, is now restricted tothe southern race, which formerly bore the subspecific name aglaeus.The reason for this change is that the Linnaean name quiscula is basedon Catesby's (1731) description of the "Purple Jack Daw," which wasevidently collected in South Carolina, probably in the coastal region.As Arthur T. Wayne (1910) has shown, the purple grackle is veryrare in that region, the Florida grackle being the abundant residentform there, and since it is almost certain that Catesby's bird was thisform, the name quiscula must be applied to the Florida grackle, theformer name of which, aglaeus, must be relegated to synomymy. Fora further study of the relationships and nonmenclature of the gracklesof this genus the reader is referred to the papers mentioned under thepreceding race (p. 374-5).The best description of the Florida grackle is given by Bidgway(1902), who says that it is similar to the purple grackle
?
but decidedly smaller (except bill and feet), and coloration far less variable;adult male with color of head, neck, and chest varying from dark purplish bronzeto violet (the head usually more bluish) ; back, scapulars, and sides of breast darkolive-green or dull bottle green, often nearly uniform, but always with at leastconcealed bars of other metallic hues; rump varying from purplish bronze toviolet, usually more or less spotted with steel blue, bronze, etc.; abdomen andunder tail-coverts dark violet, sometimes mixed with dark blue; prevailing colorof wings varying from violet purple to steel blue (the color most pronounced ongreater coverts and secondaries) , the middle and lesser coverts more or less barredwith various metallic hues.The range of the Florida grackle, where it is practically a permanentresident, includes the whole of peninsular Florida and extends west-ward along the Gulf coast, south of the range of the purple grackle, asfar as southeastern Louisiana, and northward throughout the lowlandsof Georgia and South Carolina.Wayne (1910) says of the Florida grackle in coastal South Carolina:
"This form of the Purple Grackle is a permanent resident in the coastregion, being found at all seasons in great numbers. It is, however, afreshwater bird, rarely, if ever, visiting the salt marshes. In winterI have seen countless thousands of these beautiful buds on the riceplantations in company with the Boat-tailed Grackle, feeding uponrice which was left in the fields."Eugene E. Murphey (1937) reports the Florida grackle as an abund-ant permanent resident in the middle Savanna Valley of Georgia, and380928?57 26
392 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
says of its haunts: "Many of the fish ponds in this region have a densegrowth of young cypress trees around their margins and in theirshallower portions, the trees average fifteen to twenty feet in heightand with their lower branches overhanging the water, and here theFlorida Grackle breeds regularly. Its favorite breeding spot is, how-ever, some old fish or mill pond where the dam has broken and theentire bed grown up into a thicket of young trees and bushes. Hereit breeds in considerable colonies."In Florida, this grackle is an abundant resident over the entire State,including the Keys as far south as Key West, according to Arthur H.Howell (1932), who says: "The Florida Grackle inhabits a variety ofsituations and adapts itself to very diverse conditions. The birds areusually abundant around the towns and villages, nesting in orangegroves, in pines or live oaks in dooryards, or along roadsides. In thewilderness, they often nest in the smaller cypress swamps, or open pineforests, palmetto hammocks, or in bushes growing in or near a pondor stream."Thomas D. Burleigh (1925) found about a dozen pairs living onBilly's Island in Okefenokee Swamp, in southern Georgia near theFlorida line. This island "is merely a bit of solid land in the middle ofseemingly endless miles of swamp, and is characterized, as are theother scattered islands, by what was once a fine virgin stand of long-leaf pine {Pinus palustris)." The birds seemed to show a decidedpreference for the remaining trees near the logging camp.H. H. Kopman (1915) says of it in Louisiana: "This is the only formof the common Crow Blackbird that occurs in the swampy coastalsection of the State, so far as I have been able to learn. It is abundantand occurs in practically all situations except the open marsh. It isoften found in great flocks in the wet woods in winter and early spring.It nests chiefly in the neighborhood of habitation, especially in grovesof live oaks, and water oaks."Nesting.?Burleigh (1925) says of the nests found in the talllongleaf pines on Billy's Island:The nests, never more than one to a tree, ranged from twenty-five to fully ahundred feet from the ground, some of them being at the outer end of the upperbranches where they were quite inaccessible. The average height was fifty feet,and they were usually in a crotch of one of the limbs eight or ten feet from thetrunk. I managed to reach three of them, and found in two five eggs and in thethird four, all of them half incubated. The nests proved very similar in con-struction, being well built of gray usnea moss intermixed with dry pine needlesand grasses, coated on the inside with mud and then well lined with fine grasses.In each case the female was incubating but flushed quietly and showed practicallyno concern over the nest, disappearing and not being seen again.Referring to the nesting habits of this grackle in Florida, Bendire(1895) writes: "Most of the nests found by Dr. Ralph were placed in
FLORIDA GRACKLE 393low bushes, from 2 to 7 feet above the water in cypress swamps; otherswere found in orange trees and small pines, at no great distance fromthe ground. One nest, containing four eggs, in which incubation wasabout one-fourth advanced, taken by him March 30, had been placeddirectly under an occupied nest of the Green Heron, with an intervalof about 6 inches between them. * * *"He says, that the nests vary somewhat in composition:Some are made of coarse grass, leaves, etc., taken from the ground in swamps,pressed firmly together, and thickly covered on the outside with Spanish moss,with which a few pieces of grass, twigs, etc., are mixed, and they are lined withfiner dry grass. In other nests the outer walls are mainly composed of coarsegrass, weeds, and but little Spanish moss; these materials are cemented togetherwith cow manure and mud, and the nests are lined with wire grass (Aristida)
;
again flags, wet sphagnum moss, pine needles, and small twigs are used to a con-siderable extent in these structures. * * *A nest now before me, built in an orange tree, about 8 feet from the ground,measures 5J? inches in height and 8 inches in outer diameter. The inner cup ofthe nest is 3% inches deep by 4% inches in diameter.Howell (1932) says that the nests of the Florida grackle are some-times found "in bunches of pendant Spanish moss, and not infre-quently in hollow trees or broken-off stubs.Pigeon Key, near Key Largo, is typical of many small Keys borderingthe Bay of Florida; the dry, or nearly dry, land in the center supportsa growth of fair-sized black mangroves, while a dense fringe of redmangroves forms an almost impassable barrier around its shores.Here on May 8, 1903, we found a small breeding colony of Floridagrackles nesting in the black mangroves. I shot two of the birds foridentification and collected a set of two fresh eggs from a nest about 10feet up in a black mangrove sapling; this bulky nest, which I still have,seems to have been loosely constructed with a mass of seaweed, verycoarse weed stems, small dead twigs, with a lot of moss and otherrubbish in the foundation and sides ; the cup is built up with somewhatfiner weeds and grasses and lined with still finer grass, but it is far frombeing a neat structure. There were a number of other nests higherup in the larger trees; those that we examined contained young birds.Earle R. Greene (1946) mentions two nesting sites at Key West:"A 'sandbox' tree, standing in the courtyard of the Key West postofficehas long been a favorite nesting place and a number of nests areannually built among its branches. The custodian of the building iskept busy during the season looking after young that fall to theground, to the great concern of their parents. A 'Spanish laurel' treeon Simonton Street is another preferred nesting site; this tree is oneof the finest of its kind in the area."Eggs.?The four or five eggs usually laid by the Florida grackleare practically indistinguishable from those of the purple grackle.
394 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The measurements of 40 eggs average 29.4 by 20.8 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 33.0 by 20.0, 24.0 by 22.4, and28.8 by 19.2 millimeters.Food.?In a general way, the food of the Florida grackle is similarto that of the species elsewhere, but C. J. Maynard (1896) mentionsthe following items, some of which are peculiar to this race:In early Winter large flocks may be seen on the tops of the palmettoes, feedingon the fruit, and they also eat berries in their season. Later small flocks arefound on the margin of streams, frequently wading into them in search of littlemollusks, crabs, etc., and it is not rare to meet with one or two scattering individ-uals in the thick hammocks, overturning the leaves in order to find insects orsmall reptiles which they devour. I once saw one catch a lizard which was crawl-ing over the fan-like frond of a palmetto, and fly with it to the ground.The reptile squirmed all the while in its frantic endeavors to escape, but theBlackbird held it firmly and, after beating it to death, removed the skin as adroitlyas if accustomed to the operation, then swallowed the body.Wayne (1910) says: "The Florida Grackle is a very destructive birdas it eats the eggs of all birds which breed in swamps, making a system-atic search for nests which contain eggs, Swainson's Warbler (Helinaiaswainsonii) being generally the victim. It also eats the eggs of thefreshwater terrapin."Winter.?The Florida grackle is generally regarded as a permanentresident throughout its breeding range, but Mr. Greene (1946) saysthat his records indicate that it is absent from the Florida Keys fromSeptember to February, inclusive. He thinks that they may jointhose farther north on the mainland.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Florida grackle is resident from southeastern Louisi-ana (Isle Bonne, Chef Menteur) and southern Mississippi (Bay St.Louis, Agricola), to central-western and southeastern Alabama (Re-form, Dothan), central Georgia (Montezuma, Augusta), easternSouth Carolina (Anderson), eastern North Carolina (Lake Matta-muskeet, Kittyhawk), and southeastern Virginia (Newport News,Pungo); south to southern Florida (Key West, Grassy Key, KeyBiscayne).
BRONZED GRACKLE 395QUISCALUS QUISCULA VERSICOLOR VieillottBronzed GracklePlate 24Contributed by Alfred Otto GrossHABITSThe bronzed grackle is a bird that has well adapted itself to radicalchanges in environment brought about by civilization. More andmore of them have come to accept conditions existing about our farmsand many have even invaded our populous cities and towns to nestand to roost near human habitations. They have accepted eveiyadvantage thus afforded and have thrived on the food provided byman in the waste of his door and farmyards, and especially on hisbountiful crops. These birds through their extreme resourcefulnesshave been eminently successful as a species in maintaining and in-creasing their numbers in spite of persecution.The almost universal common name applied to the grackles as agroup is crow blackbird. The name is well chosen, for many of itstraits, as well as its dark coloration, suggest the crow; and it is a con-venience to have a common name that applies to the purple and theFlorida as well as to the bronzed grackle.These three birds are difficult for the layman to differentiate inthe field, and even the ornithologist has his troubles when it comes toidentifying individuals in immature plumages. Most of the detailsgiven in this account of behavior and habits, the song, food, nesting,molts, immature plumages, etc., can be applied equally to either ofthe other two races. The bronzed grackle intergrades with thepurple, the northernmost of the two southern forms where the rangescome in contact, nevertheless it is an exceptionally stable form andshows no geographic variation in color throughout its extensive range.Spring.?A considerable number of bronzed grackles spend thewinter in favorable places throughout southern New England. Thefirst flocks, many of which are made up of a hundred or more indi-viduals, appear during the first week of March to mark the beginningof the spring migration. They do not arrive in Maine until themiddle of the month; at this time the snow is still on the ground andin the dense interiors of the coniferous forests it is still several feetdeep. Usually the first arrivals I see at Brunswick are the individ-uals of a noisy, querulous band that land in my backyard to gobbleup the food provided for the evening grosbeaks, tree sparrows, andother winter birds which are still enjoying the hospitality of my
396 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211feeding stations. The grackles are audacious and greedy, but ex-tremely restless and wary. If one individual becomes frightened thewhole flock takes wing with a whirr and they are off to anothersection of the town, but in due time they return to repeat the raidon the feeding shelf, which meanwhile has been replenished.The coming of few birds attract more general attention than dothese conspicuous bands of noisy grackles. Their arrival createsmixed emotions. Most people have a greater thrill on seeing orhearing their first robin or bluebird. Later in the season when thegreat hordes of grackles have passed on and the summer residentssettle down for the season, they are a more welcome sight on ourlawns. The male especially is a trim and handsome fellow. Hisbright, piercing yellow eyes, his iridescent plumage flashing in thebright sun, his bold strides, and the swagger of his tail combine toform a personality well worth studying.Otto Widmann (1907) gives an account of the arrival of the bronzedgrackle in Missouri as follows:Real migration begins in the latter part of February and in early March inthe southeast; it reaches the central, and along the Mississippi River even thenorthern, in the second, less often in the third week of the month, very rarelylater, as in 1906, when winter reigned to the end of March. The first-comersare probably mostly transients, bound for the north, keep in dense flocks androost in the river bottoms. It is only after the bulk of the species has invadedthe state during the latter half of March, that the first of our summer residentsmake their appearance on the breeding grounds and announce that they intendto occupy them again as soon as their mates have arrived. They return inthe evening to the common roost and, should the weather turn bad, are not seenat their old stands again for days, but as soon as warm weather sets in theyreturn, are joined by the first females, and mating begins with much chasingand noise making. The transit of tremendous flocks of migrants continuesthrough the first two weeks of April, during which time the ranks of summerresidents fill up, and nest-building begins. During all this time of mating andnest-building, and until incubation begins, the whole colony leave the breedingground in the evening and go to the common roost, preferably willows in thebottoms, to which they come from all sides for miles to spend the night together.The grackles destined to go further north proceed leisurely on theirmigration during March. They seem content to rove about thecountryside in marauding bands in search of food, waiting for thefurther progress of spring. It is not until the first week of April thatthe first birds usually appear in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, andQuebec; and in the midwestern Provinces of Canada, as well as inColorado and Montana, it is well after the middle of April before thevanguard can be expected to arrive.Banding and wholesale trapping of grackles has shown that themigrating flocks are not mixed but are usually made up of eithermales or females. The first birds that arrive in spring are males.
BRONZED GRACKLE 397Courtship.?Courtship starts early in the season. It has beenfrequently observed long before nesting activities begin; early inMarch one may see the amorous but ludicrous males going throughtheir curious gestures and paying ardent attention to the females.Sometimes two or more males will be seen in rapid pursuit of asingle female. When alighting in the tree tops with other birds theyadopt peculiar postures, puff out their plumage, partly open theirwings, spread their tails, stretch out their necks, and hold their headsin a vertical position. Intermittently they utter the hoarse raucouscalls no doubt attractive to their intended mates, but not appreciatedby human ears. If disturbed, they all fly off together but when theflock returns they again separate in pairs to continue the performanceas before. Charles Wendell Townsend (1920), who has closely ob-served the courtship of many of our birds, gives the following accountof the performance of the grackle:The courtship of the Bronzed Grackle is not inspiring. The male puffs outhis feathers to twice his natural size, partly opens his wings, spreads his tail and,if he is on the ground, drags it rigidly as he walks. At the same time he singshis song?such as it is?with great vigor and abandon. * * *During the period of courtship the male in flight depresses the central feathersof its tail forming a V-shaped keel. I was first inclined to think that this was ofuse in flight like a rudder, but I am inclined to think that it is in the nature ofcourtship display, for this arrangement of tail feathers is not seen when a bird isactively engaged in flight for the purpose of obtaining food. Under these cir-cumstances the tail is spread in the ordinary manner.Francis H. Allen (M. S.) supplies these notes on courtship: "May17, 1905, Boston Common: A male following a female about. Hewalked close behind her with the feathers of his shoulders erectedinto a ruff behind his head. It was evidently to exhibit the irides-cence of the feathers. Meanwhile he repeatedly uttered the jarringnote which Bendire renders as tchch. June 5, 1938, West Roxbury,(Massachusetts): A pair courting on the road. The male walkedaround the female displaying, while the female stood still with tailclosed but held elevated at an angle of about 45?. They separatedwithout any culmination of the affair."Nesting.?The grackles are quite adaptable in their nesting habits;depending on the conditions at a particular locality, a diversity ofnesting sites ranging from marshes and nests in holes of tree stumpsto those near the tops of tall trees may be selected. There is littledifference in the nesting habits of the races of the grackle. Someindividuals nest alone in places apart from the nesting sites of theirfellows, but more often flocks of a hundred pairs or more will nestclose together in a grove of trees. I have seen as many as a dozenoccupied nests in a single giant boxelder tree standing near my boy-hood home in central Illinois. Some of the nests were saddled on
398 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211large horizontal limbs, at points well over 40 feet above the ground.Two of the nests were not more than 2 feet apart. Aliiton B. Traut-man (1940) found 28 pairs nesting in a large Norway spruce (Piceaabies) at Buckeye Lake, Ohio.These birds have readily adapted themselves to an environmentcreated by man and have taken over orchards and shade trees nearfarms. The nests have been found in a variety of hardwood treessuch as oaks, maples, elms, sycamores, willows, cottonwoods, etc.,but the grackles always manifest a strong partiality to conifers.They have invaded not only the shade trees of our cities and townsbut have built their nests in niches and suitable places on publicbuildings and homes, in direct competition with English sparrowsand starlings.A more primitive nesting site and perhaps one used long before thecoming of white man is that of holes in large dead trees and stumps;a few are found in old nesting cavities excavated by large woodpeckers.This practice is still common in certain localities especially in thewestern and northern sections of the nesting range. Hartley H. T.Jackson (1923) in an account of the birds of Mamie Lake, Wis.,writes: "Abundant in the vicinity of Mamie Lake, June 5 to 24, 1918,where they were nesting in the dead stumps and snags in overflows,usually at the mouth of creeks. The nests for the most part weretwo to four feet above the water, but were difficult of access in ourcanoe on account of logs, snags and fallen timber in the water."E. S. Cameron (1907) in writing of the nesting of the bronzedgrackle in Custer County, Mont., states:These birds nest here in the holes, or hollows, of dead trees, so that their nestsare generally invisible from the outside. However, on June 1, 1893, Mr. H.Tusler showed me a nest of this species placed in a hollow formed by the fork ofthe two main branches of a box elder. Although well protected on all sides bywood, it was possible to examine this nest, which was only six feet from theground, and made entirely of slough grass, with a thick internal layer of mud.It contained six lovely eggs. * * *In 1894 there was a small colony of grackles in the large cottonwoods on thesouth bank of the Yellowstone, below Terry ferry crossing. All the nesting holeswere high and very difficult to reach, excepting one where the nest was in thetop of a burnt cottonwood stump, about twelve feet from the ground. The birdshad eggs on June 3, and young hatched out on June 11 which both parents werefeeding on crane flies.Robert Ridgway (1889) found many nests built inside of holes inlarge dead trees and in tree stumps along the river near Mount Carmel,111. Similar conditions are reported for southeastern Missouri whereOtto Widmann (1907) states the birds "still nest in tree holes ofdeadenings." Many such reports seem to indicate that nesting inholes of trees is still a common practice. A modification of this habit
BRONZED GRACKLE 399
is a unique nesting site of a pair of bronzed grackles that built theirnest and reared their young in a squirrel box placed on the top of ahackberry tree at Nashville, Tenn., reported by J. R. Tippens (1936).They have also been found in birdhouses.A departure from the usual habit of nesting in trees on the uplandsis illustrated by Bendire (1895). He quotes Mr. J. W. Preston, whosaw a large colony in a tract of bushy land at the northern extremityof Heron Lake, Minn.: "Here the nests were placed in low shrubsand wild-gooseberry bushes, some not more than 1 foot from theground. * * * I have seen an odd nest of this Grackle built in abunch of common reed (Phragmites) , which looks like broom corn ata distance and grows from 5 to 12 feet high. This nest resembledthat of a Yellow-headed Blackbird, the material being evenly woventogether."Along the lower Mississippi and Illinois Rivers in Illinois I haveseen large numbers of grackles nesting in the willow swamps. Thenests were built in willow trees at various distances, some not morethan 3 or 4 feet above the water to other 30 feet high. Edmund S.Currier (1904) found one nest in an open marsh in the midst of acolony of red-winged blackbirds at Leech Lake, Minn. It is obviousthat the colonial instinct of this grackle was satisfied by the presenceof the redwings. "This nest was woven together in the top of aclump of flags, and its weight had lowered it to within a few inchesof the water." William Brewster (1906) in writing of the nesting ofthe bronzed grackle in the Cambridge region of Massachusetts states
:
Most of the grackles frequenting this locality build their nests in dense thicketsof alders and other low bushes sometimes not more than a foot or two above theground or water; others breed in company with the redwings in beds of cattailflags well out in the open marshes. Within the past ten years I have found afew nests placed in button bushes or among cattails growing in shallow water, atGreat Meadow. This habit of nesting in swamps and marshes is unquestionablyof recent origin in our neighborhood, for during earlier years of my experiencethe birds seldom or never resorted to very wet places excepting in autumn, whenthey used to assemble in large numbers at evening in the maple woods borderingon Little River where they roosted in company with Robins and Cowbirds.On June 22, 1937 at Churchill, Manitoba, Frank L. Farley (1938)found a bulky nest of the bronzed grackle in a dead spruce standingin the water at the edge of a marsh. It was built under a thickbrushy branch about 3 feet above the water.Several observers have reported finding nests inside buildings,where the unusual associates of the grackles were barn swallows.John and James Macoun (1909) quote W. H. Moore: "This speciesnests in barns on islands and intervales along the St. John river, N.B.; sometimes there being three and four nests in one barn. Theyare usually built on beams or in the'angle of a post and brace of the
400 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211framework." William Youngworth (1932) reports a similar situa-tion as follows: "In July 1929, I watched several pairs of bronzedgrackles attending to nesting duties at Scranton in southwesternNorth Dakota. The birds had built their nests on the steel beamsinside of a large coal briquet plant which was not in operation at thetime." In correspondence, Lyle Miller writes that a large colony ofgrackles nest on the girders of a large water tower at Youngstown,Ohio, and he has also found numbers nesting on the girders of a largesteel bridge at Lake Milton, Ohio. Others have reported findingthem in similar situations, sometimes in places shared by nestingphoebes. A most unusual nesting site is in the bulky masses of theosprey's nests. Apparently the grackles are not molested by thegiant birds, and from the associations have derived protection as wellas scraps from the osprey's dinner table.The nesting season ranges from the first week of March to the latterpart of June, depending on the latitude and various conditions of thelocality. In the extreme southern sections of the range, nests are com-mon early in March. The height of the nesting season in Massachu-setts is reached about the middle of May; but in Maine, and also inthe more northern sections of the range, most of the nests are builtin the latter part of May and in June.The structure of the nest of the bronzed grackle varies much lessthan do the nesting sites. It is always a substantially built, bulkyaffair of sticks, coarse grass, weeds, roots, leaves, and similar materials.In most nests a liberal supply of mud in the interior serves to plasterthe loose nesting materials into a more permanent mass. Inside themud layer is a lining of fine grasses and rootlets ; sometimes hair andfeathers are added. Many of the nests I have seen in the corn beltof the Midwest had foundations made up almost entirely of corn husks.Some of the nests, especially those near human habitations, had thefoundation materials interwoven with string, paper, and rags. Thenests are deeply cupped and serve well to hold the active young thatare to follow. A typical nest has an outside diameter of 7 inches anda depth of 5 inches; the nesting cavity is 4 inches in diameter a,nd 3%inches deep.The nests of the grackles are usually so well made that many ofthem remain in good condition even after being exposed to the buffet-ing of winter storms. H. Elliott McClure (1945) found many suchnests, eight of which were used by mourning doves.Eggs.?The eggs of the Florida, purple, and bronzed grackles aresimilar, and the reader is referred to Bendire's (1895) descriptionunder the account of the purple grackle. According to Bendire:"The average measurement of a series of one hundred and forty-eightspecimens in the United States National Museum collection is 29.02
BRONZED GRACKLE 401by 20.90 millimetres or about 1.14 by 0.82 inches. The largest eggmeasures 31.50 by 21.59 millimetres, or 1.24 by 0.85 inches; thesmallest egg, 25.40 by 19.05 millimetres, or 1 by 0.75 inches."The number of eggs in a set varies from three to six. Rarely haveseven been found. The vast majority of the nests containing com-plete sets that I have examined have had four or five eggs, but six arenot unusual. Ordinarily there is but one set of eggs in any one season,but if the first set of eggs or newly hatched young are destroyed, asecond set will be laid.The incubation period of the bronzed grackle is 14 days. The taskof incubation is performed by the female, and I have never seen themale assist at any of the nests I have had under observation. How-ever, the male is usually in evidence during this period and is quickto assist in defending the nest in the event an intruder appears. Infact, any unusual commotion about the nest brings the members ofthe entire colony to the scene after the alarm note of the male issounded.Young.?After the young appear the male shares with the femalethe work of feeding them, a task which increases in arduousness withthe constant demands of the young as they grow older.Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) in a study of a nest of 37oung in a colonynear Marshalltown, Iowa, made the following observations on thefeeding behavior:A blind was placed in position at a nest seven feet from the ground in a plumtree on May 30 at 11.00 a. m. At 1.00 p. m. I entered the blind and found theparents somewhat nervous so only remained about two hours. Only the femalesummoned up courage to feed during that time and fed both nestlings each tripbut the last. Eleven minutes after entering the blind the female appeared carry-ing two earthworms and two or more unrecognized insects. After hopping nerv-ously about from limb to limb above the nest she hurriedly fed both nestlingsand left. At the sixth feeding she carried seven cutworms in her beak and fedthem one at a time to the two nestlings. On the last feeding she came threetimes and thrust her bill into the nestling's mouth, apparently without feeding.On the fourth return she fed one nestling and the fifth time returned and gavethe remainder of the food to the same one.On May 31 I watched the nest from ten o'clock until three during which timethe young were fed 26 times, the male feeding nine and the female seventeentimes. On two occasions the parents arrived simultaneously to feed.By the time the young are 16 days old they are fully feathered andby the 18th day they are ready to leave the nest, but if not disturbed,may remain a day or two longer. The adults continue to feed them,but as they gain strength and ability to fly they go on foraging partiesand by the first week of July join the flocks at the common roost atnight.Amelia R. Laskey (1940) has written a very interesting account ofa bronzed grackle obtained in May from its nest in a tree at Nash-
402 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
ville, Term., after the parents had been shot. This bird was nevercaged. It was placed in a basket, which served as a nest ; had absolutefreedom, and was normal in its development. Much of its behaviorwas probably similar to birds brought up by their parents. During thefirst few days his hunger was expressed by characteristic squawkingbegging notes. About 2 weeks after his arrival the partially nakedlittle bird had become fledged and was given the freedom of theout-of-doors.This bird revealed many traits and characteristics that remind oneof pet crows kept under similar circumstances. "From July untilearly fall he gradually molted his juvenal plumage and acquired thebeautiful glossy black feathers of the adult bronzed grackle. In re-flected light his plumage was rich in glistening purples, blues, andgreens. His juvenal squawkings were replaced in mid-August by thecharacteristic squeaking, creaking songs of his kind." In late Augustthis bird exhibited a distinct courtship behavior toward a hand-raised female cardinal. The pet grackle paid no attention to othergrackles that visited the garden during the 4 months he was develop-ing. In September he made long trips of a mile or more, even visitingblackbird roosts in the vicinity, but always returning to his fosterhome to be fed. After September 17 there was a marked change inhis behavior, and from then on he seldom spent the night at home,but returned in the morning. During the first days of October hewas frequently absent during the day but made trips back to be fedand to receive the attentions of his hostess. Finally, on October 6,after being fed "he flew to the peak of the porch, wagged his taila bit and then flew to the west, singing. This is the first time he leftsinging and the last time he was seen." He probably left on themigration to the south with the other members of the roost he hadbeen visiting.Plumages.?According to Jonathan Dwight (1900), the plumagesand molts of the bronzed grackle correspond to those of the purple,the descriptions of which follow
:
Natal down. Pale sepia-brown.Juvenal plumage acquired by a complete postnatal moult. Whole plumage dullclove-brown, the body feathers often very faintly edged with paler brown. Taildarker with purplish tints. Bill and feet sepia-brown, black when older.First winter plumage acquired by a complete post juvenal moult early inAugust. The iridescent black dress is acquired, old and young becoming indis-tinguishable.Some birds assume metallic green heads and some blue, while the backs areof all colors and patterns so that age can have nothing to do with the variedcolors of this species.First nuptial plumage acquired by wear which produces no noticeable effectas is regularly the case with iridescent plumages.
BRONZED GRACKLE 403Adult winter plumage acquired by a complete post-nuptial moult beginningthe first of August. Indistinguishable from first winter.Adult nuptial plumage acquired by wear as in the young bird.Female.?In juvenal dress the female is perhaps paler below than is the maleand usually indistinctly streaked. There is a complete post juvenal moult andlater plumages differ from the male in being much duller and browner with fewmetallic reflections. They also show more wear.H. B. Wood (1945) made a study of the molt of 146 grackles whichhe trapped at Harrisburg, Pa., between March 19 and September 18,1944:Evidence of molting, with new feathers, first appeared on July 23. The molt-ing period extended until mid-September and with other observed grackles untilmid-October. The first feathers molted were those along the edge of the wing,the last were the central tail feathers. * * * the sequence of molting was deter-mined to be in the following order of feather groups: lesser wing-coverts, greatercoverts, secondaries, forehead, crown, nape, rump, primary-coverts, upper tail-coverts, cheeks, neck, back, belly, under tail coverts, scapulars, proximal pri-maries, breast, chin, and finally the distal remiges and then the median rectrices.The old axillars were retained by some birds until all but the primaries andrectrices were completed. * * * Practically all the birds exhibited great regu-larity in their molting areas. The proximal remiges were shed and regainedquickly, but the distal four were lost in regular order and slowly redeveloped. * * *In nearly all the birds, the secondaries were either all old or all new. * * * Themedian body feathers were shed and grown before the laterals, both dorsal andventral, as along the spine before the side areas.Frank M. Chapman (1921b) discusses the plumages of the bronzedgrackle as follows: "The nestling plumage of this species resemblesthat of the Purple Grackle, and, as in that species, the plumage ofthe adult is acquired in the fall (post-juvenal) molt. There is, how-ever, a more pronounced difference between the color of the winterand summer plumage in the Bronzed, than in the Purple Grackle,the shining brassy back and abdomen of the fall and winter BronzedGrackle becoming dull seal bronze in summer.""The Bronzed may be known from the Purple and Florida Gracklesby the absence of the iridescent bars which, whether exposed orconcealed, are present in the back and abdomen of the other twobirds."The head and upper breast of the adult male bronzed grackle variesfrom greenish blue to purple, the neck and chest sometimes brassygreen; rest of the plumage a uniform bronze or brassy-olive with morepurplish on the wings and tail. The lesser and middle wing covertsare not marked with bars or metallic tints. The females are similarto the males but are very much smaller and duller in coloration.L. L. Snyder (1937) in a study of 204 trapped grackles found theprismatic colors varied from a red-purple group at one end of the seriesto a metallic green at the other. Fourteen percent appeared in thefirst and 24 percent in the latter group; 62 percent were intermediates.
404 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211The average weight of 99 males was 131.4 grams and of 105 femaleswas only 100.8 grams. The average of each of the five measurementsmade of the males were decidedly greater than the average of the samemeasurements of the females.Mabel and John A. Gillespie (1932) have noted the eye color ofimmature bronzed grackles. "The youngest birds * * * possess adark brown iris. With the acquisition of black to the feathers, theiris becomes correspondingly paler in shade. Late summer immaturesoften have eyes of greyish green. This color presumably precedes thestraw yellow eye which we have always found in adult birds."A considerable number of albinistic, chiefly partially albinistic,plumages of the bronzed grackle have been reported by variousobservers.Longevity.?We do not have sufficient data to determine the lifeexpectancy of the bronzed grackle, but a number of recoveries ofbanded birds are of interest in this respect. Christian J. Goetz (1938)recovered three birds at his station at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1938 thatwere banded at the same station in 1931, an elapsed time of 7 years.Since these birds were adults, two males and a female, they were atleast 8 years old. Mr. Goetz also recovered two birds that were atleast 7 years old.May Thacher Cooke (1943) reports a bird banded as an adult atFort Smith, Ark., April 21, 1931, and recovered 11 years later atEndora, Ark., on March 12, 1942. This bird was at least 12 years ofage. A bird banded by R. T. Gordon in South Dakota, August 17,1924, was recovered in Minnesota in October 1940 (reported byGeoffrey Gill, 1946). If this bird was an adult when banded it wouldbe at least 17 years old, a longevity record for the bronzed grackle,as far as I have been able to ascertain.There have been a great many recoveries of birds from 5 to 6 yearsof age, which probably represent the average attained by the bronzedgrackle.Food.?The food of the bronzed grackle is so varied that it can beconsidered omnivorous. Its food, consisting of both animal and vege-table matter, varies so much with the season, the supply, and localconditions, that its economic status, like that of the crow, has arouseddiverse and controversial opinions. On the credit side is the fact thatmuch of the animal life eaten consists of destructive insects, but attimes when, in late summer and autumn, this gregarious bird assemblesin immense flocks, much grain, especially corn, is destroyed. It is thelatter that accounts for the vast majority of complaints lodgedagainst this bird.The food of the whole year based on the examination of the stomachcontents of 2,346 stomachs by F. E. L. Beal (1900), was 30.3 percent
BRONZED GRACKLE 405
animal and 69.7 percent vegetable matter. In addition to insectsthe animal matter was composed of spiders, myriapods, crayfish,earthworms, sowbugs, snakes, snails, fish, frogs, toads, salamanders,lizards, birds, eggs, and mice.Insect food constitutes 27 percent of the entire food for the year, and is themost interesting part of the bird's diet from an economic point of view. Whenit is examined month by month, the smallest quantity appears in February (lessthan 3 percent of the whole food)?In March it rises to one-sixth, and steadilyincreases till May when it reaches its maximum of five-eighths of the whole; itthen decreases to one-sixth in October and appears to rise again in November. * * *The great number of insects eaten in May and June is due in part to the fact thatthe young are fed largely on this kind of food.Analysis of the insect food presents many points of interest. Among the mostimportant families of beetles are the scarabaeids, of which the common June bugor May-beetle and the rose bug are familiar examples. These insects are eaten,either as beetles or grubs, in every month except January and November; In Maythey constitute more than one-fifth and in June one-seventh of the entire food.The habit grackles have of following the plow to gather grubs is a matter of com-mon observation which has been fully confirmed by stomach examinations.Many stomachs were found literally crammed with grubs.Next in importance to beetles as an article of blackbird diet are the grass-hoppers.?They constitute less than 1 percent of the total February food.?Theproportion of grasshoppers in the stomachs increases each month up to Augustwhen it attains a maximum of 23.4 percent of all the food. After August thegrasshopper diet falls off, but even in November it still constitutes 9 percent ofthe total for the month. The frequency with which these insects appear in thestomachs, the great numbers found in single stomachs (often more than thirty),and the fact that they are fed largely to the young, all point to the conclusion thatthey are preferred as an article of food and are eagerly sought at all times.Caterpillars, including the army worm, averaged 2.3 percent ineach month, but in May a maximum of more than 8 percent is reached.A letter, fromBenjamin J.Blincoe, tells of the bronzed grackle feedingon the larvae of the sphinx moth which were infesting a tobacco field:"A short time before sunset on the evening of July 21, 1932, whileMrs. Blincoe and I were motoring along a country road near Dayton,Ohio, we noticed a scattered flock of grackles, the individuals of whichwere alighting in a tobacco patch and in the road ahead of us. Stop-ping the car we soon saw dozens of the grackles alight in the road withlarge green larvae of the sphinx moth, that is so troublesome to thetobacco plant. Holding them securely in their mandibles, they beatthe fat larvae against the ground with such force that the impactcould actually be heard. We could also see many grackles picking thelarvae from the rather small tobacco plants. We counted at least ahundred grackles with the larvae and I believe many more were help-ing with the good work of ridding the plants of the destructive larvae."The Hymenoptera are represented mostly by ants, while flies areentirely absent. Spiders and myriapods are eaten to a small extent
406 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
every month. The spiders attained a maximum of more than 7 per-cent in May, not only the spiders but their cocoons full of eggs appearto be taken whenever found.In the South, A. H. Howell (1907) has revealed that the large flocksof grackles in February and March feed on the destructive boll weevil.W. J. Howard (1937) gives an account of the grackles among otherbirds that were feeding on the 17-year locusts at a time of an outbreakof these insects at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Ind.It is at the times of major insect infestations that birds becomeimportant factors in controlling destructive insects, and at suchtimes their work becomes obvious even to the casual observer.A few insects eaten by the bronzed grackle beneficial to man'sinterests and among these are a considerable number of predaceousbeetles belonging mainly to the family Carabidae. These valuabledestroyers of noxious insects are eaten, according to Beal (1900), inevery month of the year in quantities varying from more than 7 per-cent of the food in January to 13 percent in June.The comparatively few other forms of animal food eaten are of littleeconomic importance, yet they serve to emphasize the grackle'somnivorous nature and also some of its characteristic feeding behavior.There are numerous reports of the bronzed grackle feeding on cray-fish especially from the Middle Western States. Thomas S. Roberts(1932) has written an account of the habits of this bird in capturingand eating these crustaceans:It patrols the water's edge, often wading body-deep, and is quick to seize anymoving creature, be it insect, small fish, or crawfish. It does not hesitate toplunge from a low, overhanging bush or tree-trunk, though it lacks the power anddexterity of a Kingfisher. Of crawfish it is especially fond. Dragging them,squirming and struggling, from under the stones and roots, it carries them ashoreand onto a convenient, hard surface, where they are pounded and mauled untilthey cease struggling. The next move is to open a large hole in the back justbehind the carapace, through which the meat is extracted until nothing but theempty shell remains. The writer has watched both males and females thusengaged along the shore of one of the park lakes of Minneapolis. The dead craw-fish was held firmly on the ground with one foot while the white meat was pickedout bit by bit and piled in a heap near by until there was a good, sizable billful,when it was gathered up and conveyed to the waiting nestlings. The ground fora quarter of a mile was strewn with discarded and fresh remains of many crawfish,showing that for days the Grackles had been supplying their young with thisdelectable viand.Lorus J. Milne (1928) saw 20 bronzed grackles capturing specimensof the amphipod Gammarus jasciatus on the shallow sandy bank of asmall stream flowing into Grenadier Pond, High Park, Toronto,Canada. Each bird would gather several amphipods together intoa pile on the sand before eating them.Many reports have been made of the bronzed grackle catching
BRONZED GRACKLE 407
small fish. Mr. Frank C. Pellet (1926) observed bronzed gracklesfeeding on minnows at a Mississippi River power dam near Hamilton,111. The birds alighted in the shallow water running over the cementapron below the dam and watched for the passing minnows. Whena fish was caught they flew to a nearby rock, or to the top of the dam,and hammered their victim to death. Mr. Pellet, who observed theperformance for many days, is of the opinion that grackles living nearwater may depend upon fish to a considerable extent.L. L. Snyder (1928) observed a bronzed grackle, perched on a stonein the center of his bird bath, spear a minnow, which was then laidon the grass at the border of the bath. The performance was repeateduntil the grackle had secured three minnows; these were then pickedup and carried away. Upon examining the bath at a later date, hefound that every one of two dozen minnows had disappeared. Afterseveral days had elapsed, the bath was restocked with fish but theselikewise disappeared.P. A. Taverner (1928) had a similar experience with gracklescatching goldfish at a large pool located in his garden at Ottawa,Canada. Again and again one was seen to snatch up a fish, beat itto death on the concrete margin and then carry it away to its nest.When emptying the pool in the fall, Mr. Taverner usually took some300 goldfish of varying sizes, but that year there were no young fishand the breeding stock was greatly reduced. Others have reportedsimilar experiences at their fish pools.Stanton Grant Ernst (1944) observed bronzed grackles catching,killing, and devouring small leopard frogs at a small pool located in aswampy woodlot near Olean, N. Y. Mr. Ernst describes their be-havior as follows: "Circling the pool, they would suddenly run alongthe ground, fluttering their wings, and jab viciously at the small frogswhich abound in the pool. I watched the birds kill three frogs, thenfrightened them away and examined the remains. Each frog wasneatly pierced with a bill-sized gash in the soft throat or near theeyes." He observed them again two days later and reports: "Iobserved one bird eating a frog in a small oak above the pool andnoted that the other was actually in the water and that the bellyfeathers were wet. This bird repeatedly stabbed at frogs, apparentlywithout success, but I later found two dead frogs floating in the pool;both had been pierced through the head."Joseph W. Hopkins, of Colo, Iowa, writes concerning the habit ofthe bronzed grackle in capturing mice: "In Iowa, the bronzed gracklenests in colonies in nearly every coniferous grove. They soon takenotice of any farm work which involves stirring the soil and take fulladvantage of it. The disc harrow penetrates rather deeply, and380928?57 27
408 U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211frequently turns field mice uninjured from their burrows. I saw amale bronzed grackle pursue and stun an adult mouse. He had somedifficulty in doing it, for the mouse seemed able to dodge his blows,but after a half minute of chasing and vicious pecking he was success-ful and flew off with the mouse in his bill. Judging from the easewith which he sprang into the air and the rate of ascent, a consider-ably heavier load could be carried."One of the most serious complaints lodged by the bird lover againstthe bronzed grackle is its pernicious habit of destroying the eggs andyoung of other birds and its practice of killing small adult birds. J.Nelson Gowanlock (1914), Winnipeg, Canada, observed a bronzedgrackle visit all of the homes of an entire block at regular intervals ofevery 4 or 5 days. The grackle "entered the nests of the Englishsparrows built in the corners, and, after eating the eggs or young,would emerge, stand a moment or two ignoring the throng of dis-tracted sparrows, and then fly on to the next house where the scenewould be repeated. * * * he was certainly the coolest, most method-ical and heartless nest robber I have ever seen or heard of."Charles W. Townsend (1920) writes: "Robins' nests in the vinesof my house have been despoiled of their eggs and young by this bird,and I have known it to kill adult birds of moderate size. I oncefound a Grackle holding down the freshly killed body of a BicknelFsThrush while it pecked out its brains."J. M. Wheaton (1882) writes: "I have repeatedly seen them de-stroy the nest and eggs of the chipping sparrow, built in my owngarden. This appeared to be from mere love of mischief, as theywere not content with destroying the eggs but returned to demolishthe nest, and again pulled to pieces the half finished nest which thebirds rebuilt."K. Christofferson (1927), Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., saw a bronzedgrackle kill two pine siskins, benumbed by cold, by pecking the birdson the head. The brains were devoured, leaving only a part of theskull. He also saw a bronzed grackle kill a young barn swallow.There are many cases on record of bronzed grackles killing Englishsparrows. E. H. Forbush (1927) relates the following incident:I saw a Bronzed Grackle on Boston Common with a full-grown dead "English"sparrow which it tried to carry away, as I thought, in its claws, but it dropped thesmaller bird after flying up a few feet from the ground. In a letter received fromDr. John W. Dewis he says that he and others saw a flock of sparrows on the wing,pursuing and apparently attacking a Bronzed Grackle, also in flight and carryinga live sparrow in its bill. When a few feet from the ground the grackle droppedhis prey which was fluttering, and squatted over it, threatening the sparrows whichsoon gave up the fight. The grackle then pecked out the eyes of its victim, dis-embowled it, ate the muscle from its right breast and left it. The bird proved tobe a full-fledged "English" sparrow.
BRONZED GRACKLE 409In Maine, grackles are frequently seen at the edges of ponds, or onsalt water mud flats, where they secure worms, small crustaceans, andother edible articles. Occasionally, they will feed on a large deadfish left by the receding tide, and along fresh water ponds they havebeen known to pick up dead frogs and snakes, as well as fish that havedrifted ashore. At times grackles even visit garbage dumps, withstarlings, to pick up miscellaneous waste food.I have often seen them feeding among the animals in piggeries,where this sleek, well-groomed bird seemed decidedly out of place;and they frequent the door yards of homes in cities and towns, as wellas of farms, where they obtain bits of bread and other food. Hardbread they may first soak in water, if a convenient pool or bird bath isnear, until it is soft and easily swallowed. They have been seen toretrieve bits of food floating on the water. William Brewster (1937)gives an account of grackles taking bread and crackers from the waterat Lake Umbagog, Maine, as follows: "Today I saw them dip theirlegs to the thighs in the water and repeatedly one immersed the lowerhalf of its body, also apparently floating on the water for an instant.The food was invariably taken up in the bill however."The vegetable food of the grackle is as variable and diversified as theanimal food, showing plainly that when one article of diet is not avail-able, this very adaptable bird turns to food more easily obtained. Ofthe various items of vegetable food, the chief interest centers aboutgrain and fruit, and it is through the consumption of these that black-birds inflict the greatest damage on man. Frequent complaints havebeen made against the grackle by the farmer because of the largequantities of grain eaten, especially when immense flocks descend onthe grain fields. According to F. E. L. Beal (1900), "the stomachcontents were found to contain corn, oats, wheat, rye and buckwheatand of these, corn is the favorite, having been found in 1,321 stomachs,or more than 56 percent of the whole number. It is eaten in all seasonsof the year; and in every month except January, July, August andNovember amounts to more than one-half of the total vegetablefood. * * * "In August corn amounts to one-seventh of the wholefood, and this together with a part taken in September, is green corn
'in the milk'." The birds easily strip the green husks from the ears inorder to reach the growing corn and what they do not eat is leftexposed to the weather to dry or rot. The maximum amount of corn,82 percent, is eaten in February, according to Beal. At this season itis waste grain and of no economic importance.Oats, eaten in irregular quantities, in August, forms 26 percent ofthe total food, this being the only month of the year in which this grainreaches a higher percentage than corn. In the southern States,
410 V. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211bronzed grackles prey upon rice in company with other blackbirds andbobolinks.Fruit is eaten in every month from March to December, but itdoes not become important until "in June, July and August it reaches7, 13, and 10 percent respectively." The fruits of economic interestare blackberries, raspberries, cherries, currants, grapes, and apples.Blackberries and raspberries, the favorites, make up the bulk of thefruit eaten. The vast majority of the fruits eaten are wild and henceare not important from the standpoint of man's interests.Weed seeds are freely eaten, especially during the colder monthsreaching a maximum of 11 percent in October. Chestnuts, acorns,and beechnuts form an important item of the food in the fall andearly spring months.Mr. A. W. Schorger (1941) has found that the bronzed gracklefeeds freely on acorns, aided by a special ridge or keel located on thepalate. We found the birds successfully opened small acorns of theyellow, Hill's scarlet, bur and pin oaks, but the normal acorn of thewhite and northern oak were too large to be manipulated. Attemptsto open small acorns of the white oak were seldom successful due tothe toughness of the shell. No fragments of the shell are eaten butthe entire kernel is swallowed. Miscellaneous mineral substancessuch as sand, gravel, pieces of brick, bits of mortar, plaster of Paris,coal, cinders, etc., are eaten by the grackle to assist in grinding thefood.According to Beal, (1900) the food of 456 young collected fromMay 22 to June 30, inclusive, was made up of 74.4 percent animaland 25.6 percent vegetable matter. The animal food of the youngis chiefly insects, amounting to 70 percent of the total food. Duringthe first few days the young are fed chiefly on spiders and soft bodiedinsects in the form of larvae or grubs. Grasshoppers and cricketsare a common food of the young, and as they grow older, hard shelledinsects such as beetles are included in their diet.Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) in the course of a study of a nesting colonyof bronzed grackles near Marshalltown, Iowa, found the parent birdswere flying to a partially inundated pastureland to secure cutworms,earthworms, crickets, spiders, tumble bugs, ground beetles, andother insects that had migrated into the short grass on little knollsto escape the high water. There were 16 nests and each of the 32parents made an average of 6 trips for food per hour. At one nestobserved from a blind, Mr. Gabrielson witnessed 33 feedings duringthe course of 7 hours. He saw the adults deliver 12 earthworms, 9crickets, 60 cutworms, 2 spiders, 2 kernels of corn, and 7 unknowninsects which were taken from the bountiful source in the pastureland.The vegetable food of the young consists chiefly of corn and fruit
BRONZED GRACKLE 411but the corn, comprising 15 percent of the total food, is fed only tothe older birds. The nestling bronzed grackles, in eating insectpests such as cutworms, May beetles, weevils, and grasshoppers faroutweigh the harm done by the consumption of corn.Because of the variable nature of the food of the bronzed grackle,there is little wonder that a marked difference of opinion has arisenin regard to its economic status. However, not until we have a viewof the entire picture, can we safely pass judgment. There seems tobe no justification of a general control of this species but whenthousands of these birds descend on a farmer's cornfields, he shouldbe permitted to employ every reasonable means to protect his interests.Behavior.?The bronzed grackle, a sleek, well-groomed bird, isstriking in appearance when his iridescent plumage flashes its variedcolors in the bright sun. A single bird may sometimes appear cow-ardly toward an adversary, but in a group the grackles are aggressive.I have seen a mass of 40 give chase to a large, powerful eagle thatflew over the colony and continue to harass the intruder until it waswell away from their nesting place. Louis B. Kalter (1932) saw sixto eight hundred grackles perched in some oaks near a small lake.About a third of them, apparently without provocation, left andpursued an osprey, v/hich, with the birds in pursuit, circled the laketwice, then climbed higher into the air where the wind was muchstronger and colder. The grackles abandoned the chase.Two males will fight fiercely in competition for a female, and theyfrequently battle in the colony in defense of their territories. Gracklesare devoted to their young and seem fearless in defending them fromdanger. One only needs to climb a tree containing a nest of youngto be impressed with the vigor and boldness of their attacks. Ihave had them strike me with blows sufficient to knock off my hatwhen I attempted to remove a squawking young for closer examination.Sometimes, when subjected to unusual conditions or under stressof hunger, grackles resort to wholesale killing. Ruthven Deane (1895)gives an account, by Jesse N. Cummings, of the activities of crow black-birds at Anahuac, Tex. On February 14-15, 1895, an unusual snow-storm lasting 30 hours covered the ground to a depth of 20 inches onthe level and remained for 3 or 4 days. On a large piece of groundalong the bay shore, kept free of snow by water flowing from anartesian well, about 200 jack snipe gathered in a space not over 100feet square. There, Cummings saw rusty and bronzed grackles kill10 or 12 of the birds and he counted 30 or 40 dead ones in other places.At this same time the blackbirds also attacked the robins about hishouse, and while he did not ascertain the numbers killed, he sawmany lying on the snow about his place and along the shore of the bay.The blackbirds fed on the brains of their victims, leaving the remainder
412 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
of the body untouched. Presumably this behavior was brought aboutby the lack of other accessible food, as a result of the snowstorm.While the killing of birds for food is not unusual, in a number of cases ithas seemed that the killing of birds and destruction of their nests andeggs was purely an act of destruction.In striking contrast to this type of behavior is a case reported byWilson Baillairge (1930) in which a bronzed grackle served as a fosterparent to chipping sparrows at St. Michel, Quebec, Canada. Hewrites
:
I frequently noticed a pair of Bronzed Grackles about the house. Wheneverwe went on the gallery the female Grackle flew from branch to branch in a near-bytree, scolding noisily. I looked for her nest but could not find it, but did find aChipping Sparrow's nest containing three young, in a grape vine trained alongthe gallery. I was surprised not to see any sign of the parent Chipping Sparrows,and watched the nest carefully.* * * Finally, I saw the female Grackle go to thenest and feed the young Chipping Sparrows; she fed them three or four times inmy presence, not more than a few feet from me. That afternoon one of the youngChipping Sparrows flew from the nest to a tree nearby, and was followed by thefemale Bronzed Grackle, which showed every sign of maternal anxiety."Francis H. Allen (MS.) reveals the resourcefulness of this bird underunusual conditions: "For at least two years a male grackle that spentits summers on or near the Boston Public Garden lived and throvewith a malformed bill that interfered with feeding in the normal way.The upper mandible was about twice as long as the lower, which ap-peared to be normal length. It was also decurved and flattened andhad a squarish tip. When feeding on the ground the bird had to turnits head to one side to pick up its food, though no such accommodationwas necessary when it picked insects from the top of the grass. Prob-ably no bird less hardy and less resourceful than a grackle could havesurvived so long with such a handicap."On one occasion I saw a grackle get completely under a newspaperlying on the ground in the Boston Public Garden, for the purpose offeeding. Each time the paper, or part of it, was raised considerablyfrom the ground. This illustrates the enterprising character of thegrackle."Grackles have been seen anointing their plumage with the juicesof certain fruits, and with acid or pungent substances derived fromthe hulls of fruits and nuts. Certain birds are well known to use antsfor this purpose, a behavior called anting. This term has come to begenerally applied to cases where other substances are used. Thepurpose of this act is not clear although a number of theories, forexample, to repel parasites, have been advanced.Mr. H. R. Ivor (1941) has observed the bronzed grackle goingthrough the performance of "anting" with choke cherries. He hasseen none of the many other birds he has observed "anting" use this
BRONZED GRACKLE 413fruit for that purpose. On July 3, 1945, G. Hapgood Parks (1945)saw a male bronzed grackle anointing its feathers with juices devivedfrom the green fruits of the cucumber tree (Magnolia accuminataLinnaeus). The bird was seen to take pieces of the fruit, and, fre-quently, entire "cucumbers" in his bill and rub them vigorously againsthis breast and body feathers. The bird preened his feathers with un-usual industry. The tail and wing feathers as well as the body,breast, and neck received energetic attention. It also frequentlyscratched the head and neck first with one foot and then the other.The bird was trapped and found to be in normal condition and hadthe usual brilliant iridescence of its feathers. No parasites werefound. A half hour later after releasing the banded bird, Mr. Parkssaw two other unbanded, adult male bronzed grackles go throughthe identical behavior of "anting" with the cucumber tree fruits.Judging from the number of reports, the practice of anointing theplumage with various substances is not a rare behavior among grackles.Voice.?The notes of the bronzed grackle are not pleasing andbeautiful, nor are they at all musical, but they are characteristicand easily recognized. The song consists of one or two short notesfollowed by a prolonged squawk. The quality is harsh and squeaky,with a peculiar metallic sound difficult to describe. It has beenlikened to a noise of a squeaky hinge on an iron gate. A. A. Saun-ders (1935) has interpreted the call by Kuchaku wee ee k ee, ku w&a a,saying: "The male often produces this sound with a spreading andfluttering of the wings which resemble similar actions of singingRed-winged Blackbirds and Cowbirds." F. Schuyler Mathews (1921)compares the queer noises uttered by the grackles with "rattlingshutters, watchmen's rattles, ungreased cart wheels, vibrating wiresprings, broken piano wires, the squeak of a chair moved on a hard-wood floor, the chink of broken glass, the scrape of the bow on a fiddlestring, and the rest of those discords which commonly play havoc withone's nerves!" When a large number of grackles are singing in chorusall of these discordant sounds are beyond description.The ordinary call note is a hoarse loud chuck or harsh clack. Whenanswering the call, a fellow grackle may utter a kind of subdued cuk.Witmer Stone (1937) describes the notes uttered at a nesting colonyof grackles as follows: "About the nest trees there is a constant chorusof harsh alarm calls; chuck; chuck; chuck; like the sound produced bydrawing the side of the tongue away from the teeth, interspersed withan occasional long-drawn seeek, these calls being uttered by birds onthe wing as well as by those that are perching. Then at intervalsfrom a perching male comes the explosive rasping song chu-seeeekaccompanied by the characteristic lifting of the shoulders, spreadingof the wings and tail, and swelling up of the entire plumage."
414 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Francis H. Allen has sent us the following observations: "Amongthe less common notes of the bronzed grackle is a low-pitched mellowwhistle, rather short, with an r in it, which might be rendered as pree.The r is not prominent and the effect is sweet and pleasing and quiteungracklelike. Another note, probably a courtship note, heard April9, 1934, consisted of a sort of chi or shi; it was given generally threetimes in succession, but sometimes only twice. It was uttered bothwhen the birds were perched and when two or three were flyingtogether in what looked like a courtship flight."Robert Ridgway (1889) in comparing the notes of the bronzed andpurple grackles writes: "From an almost equal familiarity with thetwo birds, we are able to say that their notes differ decidedly, especiallythose of the male during the breeding season, the song of the westernbird being very much louder and more musical, or metallic, than of itseastern relative." However, Aretas A. Saunders who has studied thesongs of both forms intensely, fails to find any difference between thesongs of the bronzed and purple grackle.Enemies.?Man can be considered one of the worst enemies of thebronzed grackle, for great numbers are killed and poisoned, especiallyat the large roosts by farmers and others in their efforts to protecttheir crops. And many are killed for food, especially in the southernsections of the range. In a willow growth along the Mississippi Rivernear Cairo, 111., I saw a group of hunters enter a populous roost ofgrackles with shotguns, at sunset. After firing several volleys theypicked up over three hundred of the birds. When questioned thehunters stated the birds were to be used as food for themselves andneighbors.Grackles like other passerine birds have their enemies among thelarger hawks and owls. A. K. Fisher (1893) reported finding the re-mains of grackles in the stomach contents of the marsh, Cooper'sand red-tailed hawks and the short-eared owl. I found in the nest ofthe horned owl the remains of a grackle which had been brought bythe parent birds to feed the young. The behavior of the grackleswhen a hawk or an owl appears near their nesting places is evidencethat they are considered enemies.Squirrels have been known to destroy the eggs and young of thegrackle. Robert Ridgway (1889) saw a fox squirrel emerge from abronzed grackle's nest, built in a hole in a large tree, with a younggrackle in its mouth. "The squirrel was attacked by a number of theblackbirds, who were greatly excited, but it paid no attention to theirdemonstrations, and, after descending scampered into the woods withits prey."Bagg and Elliott (1937) report that live grackles have been foundwith sticks completely pierced through the body. One bird that was
BRONZED GRACKLE 415
shot had a smooth twig somewhat smaller than a pencil protrudingfour inches from the abdomen. "The bird must have carried thetwig for some time, as it was worn smooth and the skin had grownfirmly about it." Such accidents may occur when the birds aredisturbed and caused to dash about in wild confusion at the roosts.I have seen birds of other species that apparently had rammedthemselves into the stiff dead twigs of spruces.Kenyon and Uttal (1941) report an unusual case in which a younggrackle about two weeks old had met its death by swallowing a string."A double length of string passed through the esophagus terminatingin a tightly packed wad of string in the proventriculus and ventriculus;thus making an exit through the pyloris impossible. The total lengthof the string, including some three or four inches which protruded fromthe mouth, was eleven feet, ten inches."Although a hardy bird, the bronzed grackle may succumb to stormsand sudden changes of temperature. H. Elliott McClure (1945) foundnine bronzed grackles among other birds that had been killed in thecity park at Portsmouth, Iowa, by a tornado of moderate velocitythat had struck the city. In a winter roost of bronzed grackles,starlings, cowbirds and redwings at Urbana, 111., Odum and Pitelka(1939) found 63 dead bronzed grackles, among the many other birds,killed by a driving wind and rain storm followed by a sharp dip inthe temperature: "The proportion of Bronzed Grackles and Cowbirdsto Starlings in the total storm mortality was certainly much greaterthan that in the total roosting flock."The bronzed grackle is sometimes parasitized by the cowbird;Herbert Friedmann (1929) reports three nests in Illinois and onenest in Iowa which contained eggs of the eastern cowbird and one nestin North Dakota parasitized by the Nevada cowbird (Molothrus aterartemisiae). Later Friedmann (1931) reported a nest of the bronzedgrackle found in Texas which contained an egg of the Eastern cowbird.It is of interest to note, although not involving parasitism, thateggs of other birds have been found in nests of grackles. M. G. Vaidenof Rosedale, Miss., states that in a mixed colony of bronzed gracklesand mourning doves he found a nest of the bronzed grackle containingthree young grackles and an egg of the mourning dove.Most birds have been found to have a number of external parasitesand the bronzed grackle is not an exception. Harold Peters (1936)has found the two lice, Degeeriella illustris (Kell.), and Menacanthuschrysophaeum (Kell.), the fly, Ornithoica confluenta Say, and thetick, Haemaphysalis leporis-palustris Packard, on specimens of thebronzed grackle.A new blood parasite Haemoproteus guiscalus obtained from the
416 U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211blood of the bronzed grackle has been described by Coatney andWest (1938).Fall,?It is in late summer and autumn when the gregariousbronzed grackles congregate by the thousands, and often in hundredsof thousands, that they become one of our most conspicuous forms ofbird life. These birds attract unusual attention when the roosts arenear human habitations in the midst of our cities and towns. Dr.Lynds Jones (1897) has written an excellent paper concerning sucha roost that was located on the college campus at Oberlin, Ohio, duringthe summer and fall of 1896. He describes conditions typical of manysimilar roosts. The vanguard of the grackles, which reached Oberlinon March 9, was greatly increased by March 28. From this time onflocks of varying size visited the roost but none passed the night in it.On April 20 the first nest was found and by May 14, young birds.May 16 was the first day when considerable numbers began to spendthe night at the roost. On May 21, 100 birds were counted leavingthe roost in the morning and on May 23, 352, of which all were adultmales except one young with tail feathers half grown. Since thebirds did not go far, Jones assumed that most of them had nests inor near the village.This small company was recruited from day to day by old malesand a little later by the more forward young. About July 10 adultfemales and more young came to the roost as the nests were deserted.At this time the trees became so crowded with birds that other placeswere sought by the overflow. On July 17 the birds came in at therate of 52 per minute for an hour, the flight terminating with thearrival of an uncountable company just at sunset. Approximately5,000 birds were in the trees of the roost, and many others inneighboring trees.During the early part ofJhily the birds did not wander far from theroost at any time, but by August 1 none were seen in the town duringthe day. From this time on the birds arrived in greater companies,after considerable flights across the country. The gregarious instinctasserted itself more and more as the season advanced and the necessityof a wider feeding ground increased. The numerous small flocksjoined together until there was but the one huge flock, with a fewstragglers.On September 7 the first note heard in the colony was at 4 a.m. By4:30 many were singing and shifting about in the trees; and at 4:40,300 were counted leaving the trees. At 5:04, the birds of the roostarose, not in one mass
?
but in consecutive order from the south to the north edge of the group of trees, asthough by previous arrangement, giving the impression that the foliage was melt-ing away into that black stream. * * * As long as it could be seen, the flock re-
BRONZED GRACKLE 417
mained intact, and did not stop to rest. The flight was near the ground, and fol-lowed the contour of the country closely, rising only to clear farm buildings andwoods, then dipping again to the former level. The lowermost birds were scarcelymore than twenty feet from the ground. While the birds were flying there wasno singing and not much noise of any kind except that made by the wings. It wasevident that the birds had some definite feeding ground selected, toward whichthey were hurrying in a straight line.In the evening the first birds arrived at the roost at 5:14 p.m. Be-tween 5:34 and 5:45 about 5,000 arrived, coming in companies of from200 to 800, an almost continuous flight. The birds continued to comein until a few minutes after 6. By 6:15 practically all were out ofsight in the foliage and a few minutes later all noise had stopped.A study of the flocks at a point away from the roost revealed thatthe mass assumed definite patterns of narrowed and expanded parts.It became more drawn out and broken as it proceeded. The vanguardwould stop at some treetop and rest until the others had passed over,at which time it arose and formed the rear guard. In this way thewhole flock secured a short breathing time, part by part. Rarely, twoflocks were formed during the flight.
"There was no diminution in the number occupying the roost up toSeptember 21, but not one bird appeared at the old stand on the twosucceeding days. On the 24th less than a hundred occupied the treesduring the night and none visited it afterwards."Charles R. Keyes (1888) describes the great blackbird flights atBurlington, Iowa, as follows:During September and October the cornfields of Iowa are visited by countlessnumbers of these black marauders, which wander about in mixed flocks of severalthousands, passing the day in the fields and the night in woodland or marshes.And it is during this period that so many thousands are poisoned and killed by thefarmers. About the first of October the birds begin * * * to rise out of theswamps and radiate in all directions towards the inland cornfields, where theyspend the day, returning again to the swamps before sunset. These flocks areoften a quarter of a mile in width and are more than an hour in passing?a greatblack band slowly writhing like some mighty serpent across the heavens in eitherdirection, its extremities lost to view in the dim and distant horizon. Not un-frequently, three or four such vast flocks are in sight at one time. How far awayfrom their night resorts they go each day has not been observed; an hour and ahalf before sunset, twelve miles away from the river, the mighty armies of Black-birds are still seen coming over the distant hills and directing their course towardthe marshes. It is evident, however, that many miles are daily traversed in theirjourneys to and from the feeding grounds. Making liberal deductions for anypossibility of over estimating, the numerical minimum of individuals in a singleflock cannot be far from twenty millions.It has been noted by many observers that the times when blackbirdsarrive and leave the roost varies according to the length of day. Mar-garet M. Nice (1935) made observations of the bronzed grackles andstarlings which roosted in the shade trees of a residential district of
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Columbus, Ohio. For 9 days, October 6 through 15, 1934, she deter-mined with a Weston photometer the light values in the morning andevening at the times the birds left and arrived at the roost. On sevenclear mornings their first flights left from 7 to 9 minutes before sunriseat light values of 13 to 16 foot-candles (median 14). On one cloudymorning they left 3 minutes before sunrise at a light value of 13.5 foot-candle. The largest flocks left at light values of 20.5 to 29 foot-candles. In the evening the first flocks were seen about half an hourbefore sunset. Light values ranged from 114 to 40 foot-candles butthe height usually occurred between 65 and 52 foot-candles. Theflight ended just about sunest, from 1 minute before to 3 after. Mrs.Nice determined that leaving and returning to the roost was closelycorrelated with light, and that the grackles went to roost when thelight was about three times as bright as it was when they left it.E. H. Forbush (1907) gives a graphic account of bronzed grackleson their fall migration flight which he observed at Concord, Mass., onOctober 28, 1904, as follows:From my post of observation, on a hilltop, an army of birds could be seenextending across the sky from one horizon to the other. As one of my companionsremarked, it was a great "rainbow of birds;" as they passed overhead, the lineappeared to be about three rods wide and about one hundred feet above the hill-top. This column of birds appeared as perfect in form as a platoon. The in-dividual birds were not flying in the direction in which the column extended, butdiagonally across it; and when one considers the difficulty of keeping a platoon ofmen in line when marching shoulder to shoulder, the precision with which thishost of birds kept their line across the sky seems marvelous. As the line passedoverhead, it extended nearly east and west. The birds seemed to be flying in acourse considerably west of south, and thus the column was drifting southwest.As the left of the line passed over Concord meadows, its end was seen in the dis-tance, but the other end of this mighty army extended beyond the western horizon.The flight was watched until it was out of sight, and then followed with a glassuntil it disappeared in the distance. It never faltered, broke, or wavered, butkept straight on into the gloom of night. The whole array presented no suchappearance as the unformed flocks ordinarily seen earlier in the season, but was offiner formation than I have ever seen elsewhere, among either land birds orwaterfowl. It seemed to be a migration of all the Crow Blackbirds in the region,and there appeared to be a few Rusty Blackbirds with them. After that date Isaw but one Crow Blackbird. It was impossible to estimate the number of birdsin this flight. My companions believed there were millions.Dr. Charles Blake of Lincoln, Mass., has written us concerning aflock of 3,100 bronzed grackles he observed on their migratory flight,October 30, 1942. The flock, which required 15 minutes to pass, wasabout 300 feet wide but contained a fixed wave so that the flight wasundulated over a width of fully three-tenths of a mile.Recoveries of bronzed grackles banded by Charles B. Floyd (1926),Mabel Gillespie (1930), and others, clearly indicate that the fallmigration is in a southwesterly direction along the Atlantic coast.
BRONZED GRACKLE 419Many grackles banded in New England during the spring migrationtravel northeastward to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and easternQuebec.Samuel E. Perkins III (1932) in compiling the recoveries of bronzedgrackles banded at a dozen stations in different parts of Indiana dis-covered those birds wintered in a narrow, restricted area betweenLouisiana and Alabama. Purple grackles banded by Horace D.McCann (1931) in Pennsylvania likewise have the same habit ofkeeping to a restricted east-to-west winter range, not more than 100miles across. Many other birds, such as the robin and mourningdove, have shown a distinct tendency to spread out fanlike in theirfall migration to the south and to winter in a very wide area.Examples of other interesting recoveries of the bronzed grackle are
:
One banded at Ottawa, Canada, taken in North Carolina; one bandedin Saskatchewan, taken in Louisiana; and T. E. Musselmann haswritten me that a grackle banded at Quincy, 111., in the spring of 1947was taken 3 months later at a point 3,000 miles north in Alberta,Canada. As many such records accumulate in the future, we shallgain a clearer picture of the migratory routes as well as the summer andwinter distribution of specific populations.The distribution of the bronzed grackle over the various types ofcrops and farm land in Illinois was determined by a statistical surveyconducted in 1906-1907 and reported by Forbes (1907, 1908), andby Forbes and Gross (1923). The sight of large flocks in the grainfields, especially in the autumn, leads us to a natural misconceptionof their distribution as a whole, but when adequate samples are takenof all types of land and crops under all conditions of weather and alltimes of day, as was done on this survey, a truer picture is gained oftheir status in relation to the crops. The survey was conductedcontinuously throughout an entire year but the results of one triptaken from the Indiana line to Quincy on the Mississippi River, fromAugust 28 to October 17, 1906, will serve to illustrate this point.The accumulated records, revealed that the bronzed grackle was themost abundant of the native birds, representing 1 1 percent of the totalpopulation of all the birds of the agricultural areas, an average of 94grackles per square mile. The interesting fact, however, is that theirnumbers were greatest not on grain fields, but on pasturelands, where90 percent of this species was found at a population density of 307birds per square mile. Only 4 percent of the grackles, at a density ofonly 10 per square mile, were found in corn; and 4 percent, at a den-sity of 21 birds per square mile, were present in stubble.Winter.?The bronzed grackles which occupy the extremenorthern parts of the nesting range migrate to the south in thefall. In New England the great mass of birds leave by the end of
420 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211October, but in this region, especially southern New England, manyindividuals remain throughout the winter. Likewise, in the Mid-western States south of the Great Lakes at least a few birds seemsuccessful in combating the rigors of cold weather and snow. Inthese northern sections of the winter range, the birds are generallyseen as individuals, or else in very small groups, but large flocks aresometimes reported as late as November.Milton B. Trautman (1940) found bronzed grackles wintering atBuckeye Lake, Ohio. In some years not more than 12 individualswere noted, but in other winters the aggregate numbers of the smallgroups ranged from 100 to 300 birds. "The wintering birds remainedchiefly about the barn yards, in fields where stock was fed and in thelarger uncut cornfields. They roosted in spruces, in cattail marshesand in the brush of inland swamps."Otto Widmann (1907) writes concerning the wintering of thesebirds in Missouri as follows:As a winter visitant the bronzed grackle is rare except along the MississippiRiver from St. Louis southward. Opposite St. Charles along the bank of theMissouri River there is a large swampy tract of willows used as a winter roost forinnumerable red-wings and with them hundreds of bronzed grackles have beenseen going even in the middle of January, in mild weather, but as their numberschange constantly, there are hardly two days alike, showing that they also useother roosts farther south, to which they fly when the weather is not invitingnorthward. Should weather conditions remain unfavorable, the roost mayremain deserted or nearly so for weeks at a time, until a change sets in whenthey appear again. Away from the roost they are seldom met with, becausethey go far to favorite feeding grounds and scatter over a large territory.In the southern part of the winter range, along the Gulf coast fromFlorida to southern Texas, the bronzed grackle mingles with thesouthern forms of grackles and other blackbirds at the roosts as wellas on foraging expeditions for food during the day.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western and southern Canada to Alabama and Georgia.Breeding range.?The bronzed grackle breeds from northeasternBritish Columbia (Tupper Creek), central-southern Mackenzie (FortSimpson, Fort Smith), central Saskatchewan (Flotten Lake, Cumber-land House), central and northeastern Manitoba (Grand Rapids,Churchill), western, central, and northeastern Ontario (FavourableLake, Rossport, Moose Factory), southern Quebec (Blue Sea Lake,Anticosti Island, La Tabatierre), southwestern Newfoundland, andnorthern Nova Scotia (Baddeck, Sydney); south along the easternslope of the Rockies to central-southern and southeastern Colorado(Denver, Beulah, Fort Lyon), central and southeastern Texas (Abilene,Galveston), southwestern and central Louisiana (Calcasieu, Vidalia),
BRONZED GRACKLE 421
western and northern Mississippi (Centerville, Baldwyn), northernTennessee (Nashville), Kentucky, central West Virginia (NicholasCounty, Franklin), central Pennsylvania (State College), central NewYork (Ithaca, Troy), northern Connecticut (Litchfield), RhodeIsland, and southeastern Massachusetts (Martha's Vineyard, Dennis)
;
also on Shelter Island, at the eastern end of Long Island, New York.Winter range.?Winters casually north to northern Minnesota(Fosston, Grand Marais), southern Wisconsin (Racine), southernMichigan (Vicksburg, Ann Arbor), southern Ontario (Kitchener,Gananoque), and along the Atlantic coast to New Brunswick (Mem-ramcook) and central Nova Scotia (Wolfville) ; south to southernTexas (Mission), southern Mississippi (Biloxi), central Alabama(Greensboro), southern Georgia (Fitzgerald), and South Carolina(Aiken, Mount Pleasant).Casual records.?Casual in eastern Washington (WhitmanCounty), Nevada (Fallon, Crystal Springs), central-southern Texas(Fort Clark), northern Ontario (Fort Severn), and on Sable Island,Nova Scotia. MOLOTHRUS ATER ATER (Roddaert)Eastern Brown-Headed CowbirdPlates 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29HABITSThe two most characteristic habits of this bird are indicated in theabove names. The Greek word Molothros signifies a vagabond,tramp, or parasite, all of which terms might well be applied to thisshiftless vagabond and imposter. It deserves the common namecowbird and its former name, buffalo-bird, for its well-known attach-ment to these domestic and wild cattle. The species is supposed tohave been derived from South America ancestors, to have enteredNorth America through Mexico, to have spread through the CentralPrairies and Plains with the roving herds of wild cattle, and to havegradually extended its range eastward and westward to the coasts asthe forests disappeared, the open lands became cultivated, anddomestic cattle were introduced on suitable grazing lands.The cowbird is unique in a family of nest-building birds; the black-birds all build strong, well made nests, and the orioles show remarkablenest-building ability; the bobolink builds only a flimsy nest of grasson the ground, but the cowbird builds no nest at all, relying on otherspecies to hatch its eggs and rear its young. Whethertthe cowbirdever knew how to build a nest, and, if it did, how it happenedjtolose
422 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211the art and become a parasite, probably never will be known, thoughsome interesting theories on the subject have been advanced. Muchlight is thrown on this subject by Herbert Friedmann (1929) in hisstudy of the South American cowbird, to which the reader is referred.For the benefit of the readers who do not own this interesting andcomprehensive book, we shall quote from it freely.In his chapter on the origin and evolution of the parasitic habit hewrites
:
The evidence points unmistakably to the view that the Cowbirds originallybred in normal fashion and that parasitism is a secondarily acquired habit. Thereasons for making this statement are:1. The instincts of nest-building and incubation are so universally present inall groups of birds in all parts of the world that it seems likely that this is theprimitive condition of the Cowbirds.2. All the Cowbird's close relatives are nest-builders; in fact, its family, theIcteridae, is known as a family in which the nest-building instincts reach theirpinnacle of development. * * *3. Within the genera Agelaioides and Molothrus we find several stages in theevolution of parasitism exhibited by different species. The Bay-winged Cow-bird, A. badius, uses other birds' nests and lays its eggs in them but incubatesand rears its own young. Sometimes it makes its own nest. The Shiny Cow-bird, M. bonariensis, is parasitic but has the parasitic habit very poorly developed,wasting large numbers of its eggs. Rarely it attempts to build a nest but in thisit is never successful. This indicates that originally it built a nest but no longerknows how. The North American Cowbird, M. ater, is entirely parasitic but isnot wasteful of its eggs. * * *4. The parasitic Cowbirds (Molothrus) have definite breeding territories and aremore or less monogamous. Howard has shown that the territory precedes thenest in the evolution of the instincts of guarding associated with reproduction.If the Cowbirds were parasitic from the very beginning it would be very hardto explain their territorial instincts. * * * The facts that the Cowbirds arefairly monogamous indicates that they were monogamous originally and probablynested in normal fashion as all monogamous birds do.5. The most primitive of the existing species of Cowbirds is, * * * the Bay-winged Cowbird. This species is the only one of its group that is not parasitic anddoubtlessly represents the original condition of the Cowbird stock. * * *From the above it seems safe to assume that parasitism is not the originalcondition in the history of the Cowbirds. The problem, then is not whether theCowbirds were always parasitic or not, but how they lost their original habitsand became parasitic. * * *The best theory advanced as yet, and one which my studies tend to supportin part, at least, is that of Prof. F. H. Herrick. This writer studied the cyclicalinstincts of birds and found that not infrequently different parts of the cycle areinterrupted by various causes which result in a general lack of harmony betweensuccessive parts of the cycle. He suggested that the parasitic habit may haveoriginated from a lack of attunement of the egg-laying and the nest-buildinginstincts which resulted in the eggs being ready for deposition before a nest wasready for them. * * *The first writer to see that one explanation would not serve for all the differentgroups of parasitic birds was G. M. Allen (1925). * * * Wisely refraining fromoffering an explanation of parasitism, he suggests several "possible ways of origin."
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 423One of the possibilities is that parasitism may have arisen from the occasionallaying of eggs in strange nests by birds that are very sensitive to the ovarianstimulus provided by the sight of a nest with eggs resembling their own. Thisis substantiated by experimental evidence collected by Craig who found that indoves ovulation could be induced by comparable stimuli.Otto Widmann (1907) offered the following interesting theory toaccount for the origin of the parasitic habit:We know that fossil remains of horses, not much unlike ours, are found abun-dantly in the deposits of the most recent geological age in many parts of Americafrom Alaska to Patagonia.It was probably at that period that the Cowbird acquired the habit of accom-panying the grazing herds, which were wandering continually in search of goodpasture, water and shelter, in their seasonal migrations and movements to escapetheir enemies. As the pastoral habit of the bird became stronger, it gave riseto the parasitic habit, simply because, in following the roving animals, the birdoften strayed from home too far to reach its nest in time for the deposition ofthe egg, and, being hard pressed, had to look about for another bird's nest where-into lay the egg. * * * By a combination of favorable circumstances this newway of reproduction proved successful, and the parasitic offspring became moreand more numerous. In"the 'course of time the art of building nests was lost,the desire to incubate entirely gone, paternal and conjugal affection deadened,and parasitism had become a fixed habit.Dr. Friedmann (1929) disposes of this theory as "more interestingthan suggestive," and adds: "It is somewhat surprising to find anaturalist of Mr. Widmann's ability advancing such a theory. Prob-ably he meant it more as a suggestion to be taken for whatever itmight be worth than as a real attempt at an explanation." Thetrouble with the theory is that we have no known facts on which tobase it, there being no record of a cowbird leaving its nest to followcattle, horses, or bison. Probably the parasitic habit was developedbefore the cowbirds invaded North America. And we do not knowto what extent the primitive cowbirds, in South America, had de-veloped the habit of following the wandering herds.Dr. Coues (1874) makes'the following suggestion:Ages ago, it might be surmised, a female Cow-bird, in imminent danger ofdelivery without a nest prepared, was loth to lose her offspring, and depositedher burthen in an alien nest, perhaps of her own species, rather than on theground. The convenience of this process may have struck her, and inducedher to repeat the easy experiment. The foundlings duly hatched, throve, andcame to maturity, stamped with their mother's individual traits?an impressdeep and lasting enough to similarly affect them in turn. The adventitiousbirds increased by natural multiplication, till they outnumbered the true-bornones; what was engendered of necessity was perpetuated by unconsciousvolition, and finally became a fixed habit?the law of reproduction for the species.Much current reasoning on similar subjects is no better nor worse than this,and it all goes for what it is worth.The weakness in this theory is that such cases of adventitious layingin alien nests must have been very rare at first, and the inherited380928?57 28
424 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN" 211tendency to repeat the experiment would soon disappear by cross-breeding with individuals of normal breeding habits, unless thehabit proved to be beneficial to the species, and no such proof isevident. We frequently find fresh eggs of robins and other birdslaid on the ground, but failure to reach their nests has never de-veloped parasitic habits in these birds.The North American cowbirds have been split into three recog-nized races; two other races have been described, but have not beenadmitted to the A. 0. U. Check-List.The eastern cowbird, the subject of this sketch, breeds in easternNorth America from southern Ontario, southern Quebec, Nova Scotia,and New Brunswick south to central Virginia, southeastern Ken-tucky, central Tennessee, south central Arkansas, Louisiana andcentral Texas, and west to Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, south-easter Nebraska, southwestern Kansas and New Mexico.It may breed, or at least lay eggs, casually farther south in theAtlantic States. In this connection, the reader is referred to aninteresting paper by Thomas D. Burleigh (1936) suggesting thatthe cowbird may lay eggs during migration, of which he gives someevidence. This may account for some of the southern breedingrecords.Spring.?The eastern cowbird has not far to go on its springmigration. It is one of the earlier migrants, leaving its winter rangein the Southern States during March and reaching the northernparts of its breeding range during the first 2 weeks in April, or some-times before the end of March.According to Friedmann (1929):The Cowbird migrates by day, early in the morning and late in the afternoon.I know of no data tending to show that this species indulges in nocturnal migra-tion, but it may do so to some extent. * * * The Cowbird commonly migrateswith the Red-winged and Rusty Blackbirds and the Grackles; in fact these threeare usually found together. Other less common associates are Meadowlarksand Robins in the east, and Brewer's and Yellow-headed Blackbirds in the west.Doubtless many Cowbirds succumb annually to the perils attendant uponmigration but so far as I have been able to find there are no definite records ofsuch happenings. Because they migrate chiefly by day no Cowbirds have beenpicked up dead around lighthouses or the bases of tall monuments and buildings."Bendire (1895), however, tells of one that was blown out to sea and came aboarda vessel, "fully 1,000 miles east of Newfoundland."During his studies of the cowbird at Ithaca, N. Y., Friedmann(1929) divided the spring migration into six more or less separatephases, much like similar phases in the migration of the red-wingedblackbird. The first to appear were the vagrants, at dates rangingfrom March 1, 1919, to March 14, 1922; these were wandering in-dividuals coming before the true migration, consisting mostly of
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 425
males, which were usually not in song and did not display. Thesecond group to come were the migrant males, passing through ontheir way to points farther north; they were arriving and departingat various dates ranging from March 20 to April 27. "These birdsusually are seen scattered among flocks of Red-wings, not formingany solid flocks of their own kind. They come to the marshes topass the night with the Red-wings and the Rusty Blackbirds butduring the day scatter over the fields on the uplands, where, in smallgroups, they forage for food."The third phase is marked by the arrival of the resident males,which come on the average between March 23 and April 8.The resident males on arrival at once establish themselves on their posts andremain in their territories for a few hours early in the morning every day, spend-ing the greater part of the day in foraging around for food, often going to stubblefields, and to plowed areas a little later in the season. As the season advancesthey spend more and more time in their respective territories and at the time theresident females arrive the males are spending at least half of each day withinthe limits of their areas. * * * The testes of these resident birds are noticeablylarger than those of the migrants, and as all the birds collected at dusk in themarshes averaged smaller testes than those shot from their singing trees, it seemsthat the two groups do not associate in the marsh, the resident birds sleepingin their territories.The migrant females are the first of that sex to arrive, passing tomore northern points between March 23 and April 28. At first theyappear as lone individuals among the flocks of migrating redwings,grackles, and cowbirds, but later they pass through in flocks of adozen or more.The fifth group is made up of resident females, arriving betweenApril 3 and 11. "The arrival of these resident females acts as aspark to set off the pent-up energies and passions of the males andarouses them to an unbelievable frenzy. The persistence and de-termination with which the resident males pursue these femalesmakes one wonder if either ever rest. The females evidently recog-nize the limits of the territories of their respective pursuers as theyusually fly in wide circles closely followed by one or more males,but do not leave the general vicinity of their territories. The ovariesof these resident females are considerably larger than those of mi-grant birds of the same date."The sixth and last phase of the migration marks the arrival of whatare apparently the immature males and females. "About the begin-ning of May or even the last of April all the resident birds are estab-lished and no more migrants are to be found coming in to the marshes.There is a decided slump in the migration lasting until about thesecond week of May when suddenly there appear numerous flocks ofCowbirds of mixed sexes in the upland fields, around the cattle, and
426 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
near barns. * * * The gonads of these birds are smaller than thoseof the only other Cowbirds then present (resident birds)." The malesof this group do not seem to take much notice of the females, whereasthe resident birds do, and, to some extent, so do the last of the migrantmales. "These two facts", says Friedmann, "point to the conclusionthat these birds are really the immature individuals."Territory.?Friedmann (1929) proved to his own satisfactionthat both the female and the male cowbird are confined to a definitebreeding territory:Not only has the female a definitely marked off breeding area, but the male hasa definite post, entirely comparable to the "singing tree" that Mousley describes.During the summer of 1921 numerous individual male birds were seen dailyon certain trees or on definite telegraph poles. From these perches they wouldsing and display; they might fly off but would soon circle around and come back.There was no question but that they were tied down to their respective singingtrees. In one case the identity of the male was made certain because of a peculiarharshness of his song, and as this individual was to be found daily in the same tree,it seemed safe to assume that each day the same bird was seen at a given perch.Not only was a certain tree used by each male, but a certain part seemed to bepreferred, usually the higher branches. * * *That the female has a definite territory is not so easily noticed as she has no
"singing tree," and is, as in most birds, less conspicuous and less often seen thanthe male. * * *At Ithaca in the late spring and summer of 1921 I found that certain females(probably the same one in a given place each day) seemed to have definite terri-tories. Just off the northeastern corner of the main quadrangle of the Cornellcampus is a small body of water called Beebe Lake. One pair of Cowbirds stayedon the north shore of the lake, another pair on the south shore. I was sure thatthe birds I saw on the north shore were not the same as those of the south sidebecause on several occasions I saw the pair on one side and simultaneously heardor saw the birds on the opposite shore. All the Cowbird eggs found in eachterritory were very similar to each other and uniformly different from those foundin the other. * * *The size of the territories is very variable, some being a mile or more long andcomparatively narrow, others * * * much smaller. * * *The Cowbirds do not make any very spirited attempts to defend their terri-tories and consequently in regions of unusual abundance the territorial factor ismuch less noticeable. I have never seen Cowbirds fight and their method ofdefense is restricted to an intimidation display.The females are probably not always confined to definite territoriesfor their egg laying, for eggs evidently laid by two different femalesare often found in the same nest.Mrs. Amelia R. Laskey, of Nashville, Tenn., has sent me notes onher 3-years' study of cowbird behavior. She remarks on territoryand mating: "In the area about our home, in each of the three breed-ing seasons, one male and one female became dominant. This areamay be called a 'domain' rather than a territory. The dominant maleand the dominant female used this area in their pair formation and
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 427
mating. They did not drive others from the food in the domain,carried on no boundary line defense, but tolerated both sexes insocial contacts, feeding and flying together. I believe these birdsdisplayed vestigial territory behavior in intimidating others so as tokeep the domain for their own use in pair formation and mating,and this behavior perhaps may function to some extent in keepingother females from utilizing host nests within the domain of thedominant female.
"All evidence indicated that pairing and monogamous matinggenerally prevail. Although both sexes on many occasions through-out the breeding season associate in trios or larger groups, there was noindication of polygamous or promiscuous mating."Courtship.?Friedmann (1929) noted three types of courtshipdisplay, the terrestrial, the aerial and the arboreal displays. Hedescribes the first of these as follows: "The male would run alongsideof the female, and when slightly ahead of her would turn a little so asto be placed somewhat diagonally to her, and would then ruffle thefeathers of his neck and the interscapular region. Then he wouldbow or bend down his head a little and emit his squeaky, shrill note
?
pseeee. The wings and tail are not involved in the terrestrial modeof courting." Charles W. Townsend sent Friedmann the followingnote on this performance: "April 9, 1922?Three males and onefemale busily engaged in eating in a field. Every now and then amale would look up, puff up feathers, spread wings and tail and fall onhead. This is evidently the bowing, as in trees, where he does notfall. Since this time I have seen the performance several times andit always impressed me as a falling and being stopped by his head andbreast striking the ground. * * * It seems to me that the tree actis a low bowing, while on the ground act is an actual fall, for the birdsuddenly lets himself go and brings up against the earth, a comicalprocedure."Of the aerial display, Friedmann (1929) says: "The display of themales in mid-air consisted of ruffling out the feathers of the neck,interscapulars and throat, bending down the head, and arching thewings more than in usual flight, and giving their squeaky song.During the instants when the wings were arched in display the flightseemed unsteady, a sort of half-hearted attempt at a glide during anunaccustomedly long interval between wing beats." Two malesthat he watched following a female "seemed to display and sing inunison. The two males and the female kept on flying back and forth,at an altitude of about two hundred feet, from 7:15 a. m., when theywere first seen, until about 8:30 a. m., when they were last seen, with-out resting or alighting even for a second,"
428 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Of the arboreal display, which is the commonest and best known,Friedmann writes:The display is often, but not always, begun by the bird pointing its bill towardthe zenith. This is usually done whenever another bird, especially another male,is very close to the displaying bird. Next it fluffs out the feathers of its hindneck, breast and sides and flanks. * * * It is during this part of the display thatthe bubbling guttural notes are given. Wetmore has written it bub ko lum andI cannot improve on his description. These notes are quite low and not audiblein the field at a distance of more than fifty feet. During this stage of the per-formance the bird sometimes rises and falls gently on its legs in a vertical direc-tion, the rise hardly ever amounting to as much as the length of the tarsus.After this the bird begins the display proper by arching its neck and spreadingits tail * * *. Then it begins to raise its wings and bend forward * * *. Allthis time the feathers of the back are fluffed out just as are those of the under-pays. Then the wings are brought out to their full expanse * * *, and thetoppling over proceeds from now on with accelerated rapidity, the tail being liftedbefore the body pivots and swings over. * * * The display ends when thewings are brought back to the body * * *. The bird then rights itself and isready to repeat the whole performance. [See plates 28 and 29.]The entire display lasts about three or four seconds and the tseee note [see under
"Voice"] usually has a duration of about a second or a little over. The frequencyof display is extremely variable. I have seen a male display with almost clock-like regularity at intervals of five seconds for several minutes when no female wasin sight, and I have also watched a male display once and not do it again for overan hour. Display becomes less and less frequent as the season wears on and isusually not indulged in to any extent after the middle of June, while song continuesuntil a month later. Those displays that are given after the middle of June areusually incomplete. This incomplete display consists of spreading the tail,hunching the back and slightly arching the wings, but the bird does not fall for-ward.A male bird, observed by Wetmore (1920) in New Mexico, "wouldsit quietly for a few seconds, then expand the tail and draw the tipslightly forward, erect the feathers of the back and to a less extentthose of breast and abdomen, and then sing bub ko lum tsee. Ingiving the first three notes he rose twice to the full extent of his legsand sank back quickly."C. J. Maynard (1896) describes the courtship flight as follows:Two or more males often pay their attentions to one female, singularly, withoutattempting to quarrel, when she will suddenly take wing and all will start inpursuit. The flight of a female at this time is exceedingly swift, for she willusually manage to keep ahead of her followers who ardently press on, giving arather sharp, prolonged cry as they dart through the air. All the males withinhearing join in, and it is not unusual to see a half dozen at a time after one of theother sex who will lead them a long chase, now darting upward to a considerableheight, then doubling, will glide through the tangled branches of a clump of trees,emerging on the opposite side with great rapidity. This exciting race is evidentlymaintained merely as a matter of sport, for when the object of chase becomesweary she will quietly settle on the branch of a tree, and her admirers gatheraround her, calmly arranging their feathers. After resting for a time one will
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 429commence his gallantries once more, when the female darts into the air again andthe males dash vehemently after her as before.In this connection, it may be well to consider the sex ratio andthe sex relations. The prevailing impression that the males far out-number the females is probably more apparent than real, for themales are more conspicuous and less retiring; Friedmann (1929) says:"From my observations I would put it as about three males to twofemales." The sexual relations of the cowbirds may not be abovecriticism, but they are probably not as bad as they are often painted.Cowbirds have been called monogamous, polygamous, polyandrous,and even plain promiscuous; probably any one of these terms couldbe applied to certain individuals under certain circumstances; butthere is much evidence to indicate that the cowbird was originallymonogamous and is so by preference today in most cases.Friedmann (1929) writes:At Ithaca I have found that each male and each female has a definite terri-tory * * * and that there is a more or less definite pairing between the birds.My experience has been that if the birds are not strictly monogamous, at leastthe tendency towards monogamy is very strong. My observations have beensupported by those of Dr. Alexander Wetmore, of the Smithsonian Institution.He informs me that in Utah he had exceptionally favorable conditions for observ-ing the sexual relations of the Cowbirds, and that in a relatively small area,(which was quite open and made observation of the birds an easy matter), hewatched six pairs of Cowbirds, each pair having their own territory, and thebirds remaining true to their mates. The male of pair A stayed with female A,and did not consort with any of the other five females.At Lake Burford, N. Mex., Wetmore (1920) noted that a pair ofcowbirds, mated on June 2, "remained constantly nearby for tendays or more. On June 5 and 6 a second female appeared and fedwith the others. The male was seen running at them with his billpointing straight in the air and then pausing to sing and display.The second female disappeared at once while the pah* remainedtogether until June 13."Cowbirds are often seen in small flocks even during the breedingseason, which might give the impression of loose sexual relations, andit is well known that, if one of a pair of mated birds is killed, thesurvivor secures a new mate in a surprisingly short time, showingthat there is always an available supply of unmated birds ready tofill in the gap. These flocks are probably made up of such unmated,surplus individuals and are usually seen in places where there arefew or no nests; they are not, therefore, breeding birds. Moreover,these flocks may consist of immature, 1 -year-old birds, which cannotbe distinguished in the field from adults, which have arrived laterin the season than the adults and have not mated.
430 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211As evidence of polyandry, Friedmann (1929) relates the followingexperience:A pair with whose territory I was fairly familiar was noted several times andeach time there was just a single male and a single female. The male used tostay in his singing tree and so was easy to find. The female, when wanting hermate, would fly into the open and give her flight rattle. The male would quicklytake off after her. One day it was noted that when the female called for hermate he came directly from his favorite perch as always but another male, newto the territory, also answered her summons. This interested me not a littleand I went back there the next day and waited for the female to call for hermate. Again both males answered her summons, the original male coming asalways from his singing tree and the new one from a tall tree near a railroadtrack. Some time later in the afternoon the original male was seen again inhis singing tree and the second male was noted in the tree from which he hadflown in answer to the call of the female. On the next two successive days thismale was seen in or near this tree and it certainly looked as though he hadestablished himself there. A week later the place was revisited and both maleswere found, each in his own tree and both again answered the summons ofthe female.This apparently was a case of polyandry?an unmated male established him-self in the territory of a mated pair. He was not there originally as the pairhad been watched considerably before his advent. The original male seemednot to mind the presence of the other. However, no actual intercourse betweenany of the birds was observed.Mrs. Nice (1937) writes: "With a small population of Cowbirds,this investigator found the species predominantly monogamous, withsome tendency towards polyandry. But here on Interpont, with anabundance of Cowbirds, promiscuitj7 prevails just as the older writersmaintained. A banded male has been seen with three differentbanded females and one unbanded female, while banded females areseen with varying numbers of males from one to five." And Forbush(1927) says: "Cowbirds are free lovers. They are neither polyga-mous nor polyandrous?just promiscuous."Nesting.?The remote ancestors of the cowbirds may have been,and probably were, nest builders, incubating their eggs and rearingtheir own young, as other birds do. It is difficult to imagine howthey could have evolved otherwise. I once saw a poor apology fora nest that I thought might have been built by a cowbird. Whiledriving across the North Dakota prairies, on June 14, 1901, we sawa crude bunch of straws and dried grasses lodged in a bush; it hadthe appearance of a roughly built nest, but it was too large and bulkyand too loosely and carelessly put together to have been built byany other bird in that region; a hollow in the center held a single eggof a cowbird. As cowbirds were abundant in that section and othernesting birds were scarce, it occurred to me that perhaps a cowbird,being unable to find a suitable host, had made an attempt to buildits own nest. It is more than likely, of course, that some small
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 431
animal may have placed the material there and the cowbird hadmistaken it for a bird 's nest. We were too far away from any humanhabitation for any man or boy to have put it there, so I will let thereader decide how it got there; I offer it only as an interestingsuggestion.Regardless of what significance the above suggestion may have, ourNorth American cowbirds, as we know them today, are all whollyparasitic, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds and leaving theiryoung to be raised by their foster parents. In the long list of birdsthus imposed upon, the vireos, the wood warblers, and the smallsparrows figure most prominently. No attempt will be made to listhere all of the victims of the cowbirds; this has been well done byBendire (1895) and more thoroughly done by Friedmann (1929). Thelatter makes the following general statements as to the familiesafflicted
:
Most of the victims of the Cowbird are contained in four families?the tyrantflycatchers, the finches, the vireos, and the warblers. Of the thirty-six speciesand subspecies of tyrant flycatchers in the North American fauna eleven are knownto be parasitized, while of the remaining twenty-five, seven do not breed withinthe breeding range of the Cowbird. * * * The Cowbird is known to victimizesixty-two species and subspecies of finches. The total number of North Americanforms of this great family is one hundred and ninety-four, of which about a hundredare not known to breed within the range of the Cowbird. Yet the family is one ofgreat importance to the parasite as some of its component species are very fre-quently victimized. The Cowbird is probably one of the chief factors in checkingthe increase in the smaller Sparrows and Finches.The Vireos, while relatively few in species, are nevertheless a very importantfactor in the natural economy of the Cowbird, and the latter is undoubtedly themost serious single enemy of the birds of this family. No birds are more frequentlyaffected, either absolutely or relatively, and none make less protest at the frequentimpositions of the parasite. Of the twelve species of Vireos in the North AmericanCheck-List, nine are known to be victimized. Including subspecies, twelve of thetwenty-five forms are included in the present list of victims. Of the remainingthirteen, five do not breed within the Cowbird's range and six others have rangeswhich only slightly coincide with that of Molothrus.Of the fifty-four species of Warblers in the North American fauna thirty-six areknown to be more or less imposed upon by the Cowbird, and, of the remainingeighteen, at least ten do not breed in any part of the Cowbird's range, or are, atmost, so rare, that the absence of records means nothing. The other eight are stilllittle known and very few of their nests have been found. Including subspecies,forty-four, of the seventy-three kinds of Warblers, are included in the list of thevictims of the Cowbird.Of other families of less importance in the economy of the cowbird,he says that five species of mockingbirds and thrashers, are rarelyvictimized by the Cowbird ; with only one of the five has the Cowbirddefinitely known to be successful. He continues:The Wrens are almost negligible factors in the ecology of the Cowbird, and thelatter is of no great consequence in the life histories of these birds. Four of the
432 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211fourteen species in the A.O.U. Check-List are known to be victimized by the Cow-bird, all of them very infrequently. Counting subspecies, six, of the thirty-six inthe North American fauna, are included in the roll-call of the Cowbird's victims.Paridae are of little importance in the economy of the Cowbird, and the latterplays an inconsequential role in the lives of the Titmice. Five species of the elevenin the A.O.U. Check-List are recorded as victims of the Cowbird; all of them un-commonly.The kinglets and gantcatchers are, with one exception, infrequently molestedby the Cowbird. They are interesting in that they are among the smallest birdsdefinitely known to be affected by the parasite. Three of the six species in theNorth American fauna are included in the list of hosts: one of the three being repre-sented by two geographic races.The Thrushes are of considerable importance in the natural history of the Cow-bird, and are among the largest birds commonly and regularly parasitized. Notonly do we often find Cowbirds' eggs in the nests of some of these birds, but fre-quently they may be seen caring for the young Cowbirds. Even here, where therightful young are of approximately the same size as the young parasites, it israther unusual to find any but the Cowbird surviving in a victimized nest. * * *Seven of the fifteen North American species in this family are more or less im-posed upon by the Cowbird, two of them being represented in the present listby two races each.Bendire (1895) listed 91 species and subspecies victimzied by theeastern cowbird, including a few victims of the Nevada cowbird, whichhad not at that time been given separate status. Friedmann (1929)listed 114 species and subspecies as victims of the eastern cowbirdalone, adding three species, the ruby-throated hummingbird, Nelson'ssparrow, and the brown creeper as hypothetical. In subsequent papers(1934, 1938, 1943, and 1949), he increased the known hosts of theeastern cowbird to 149 forms.Cowbirds' eggs are sometimes found in nests of birds that are whollyunfitted to become foster parents for the young, in which cases theeggs never hatch or the young never survive. If the eggs of the ownerof the nest are much larger than those of the parasite, the cowbirds'egg will not receive enough warmth from the body of the incubatingbird to hatch. If the young of the selected foster parents are fed onfood unsuitable for the young cowbird, the latter cannot be expectedto thrive on it; one can hardly conceive of a mourning dove, which islisted as a victim, feeding a young cowbird on "pigeon milk," or of akingfisher feeding it on fish. A swallow might hatch a cowbirds' eggand feed the young one in the nest, but not afterward, as youngswallows are taught to feed on the wing. It is quite important for thecowbird to select an open nest of some altricial bird that feeds itsyoung in the nest until they are nearly able to fly; the young of pre-cocial birds leave the nest soon after they are hatched and the youngcowbird would be deserted; the egg of a cowbird has been found in akilldeer's nest, but, if the egg ever hatched, the young must have beenleft in the nest to starve or die of exposure.
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 433The temperament of the host species is also of importance; thehawklike character of the shrikes makes them absoultely free fromcowbird molestation; and the pugnacious kingbirds are seldomimposed upon. Birds nesting in holes are mostly free from cowbirdinterference; Friedmann (1929) says that woodpeckers, house wrens,nuthatches, chickadees and bluebirds are "very seldom molested, infact the Bluebird is the only one of these birds for which I have foundmore than a very few records." Some birds are intolerant of cowbirds'eggs; He mentions the robin, catbird, and yellow-breasted chat as
"examples of absolutely intolerant species. Others such as theYellow Warbler are intolerant to a certain extent." I should exceptthe catbird, as I once found a catbird sitting calmly on a nest thatcontained four eggs of the cowbird and only one of its own! Fried-mann adds: "Birds react to Cowbirds' eggs in several ways. Thegreat majority of species seem not to mind the strange eggs in theleast and accept, incubate and hatch them. Of these birds, someoccasionally cover over the parasitic eggs by building a new floor overthem if they have no eggs of their own at the time. This is true ofsuch birds as the Red-eyed, Warbling, Blue-headed and Yellow-throated Vireos, the Prothonotary, Yellow and Chestnut-sided War-blers and the Redstart. This has also been recorded in the followingspecies?Meadowlark, White-crowned Sparrow, Cardinal and IndigoBunting, but only a single time in each case."He conducted experiments with a robin's nest and a catbird's nest tolearn what the reaction of these birds to strange eggs would be. Therobin threw out a song sparrow's egg, which was spotted much like acowbird's, but accepted a chipping sparrow's, which was mainly bluelike the robin's, though much smaller. The catbird ejected both thesong sparrow's and the chipping sparrow's eggs. Of the yellow-breasted chat, he says: "The eggs of the Chat are very similar to thoseof the Cowbird, but nevertheless the nest is almost invariably desertedif a parasitic egg is laid in it. This is doubtless due to the extremeshyness and nervousness of the Chat, rather than to any superiorability to distinguish the strange eggs from those of its own. * * *Nevertheless on at least two occasions Chats have hatched and rearedCowbirds." Some other birds, perhaps more than we know about,eject the alien eggs from the nests, B. H. Warren (1890) says: "Ihave twice found broken eggs of Cowbirds on the ground near nests ofthe Yellow-breasted Chat, and on three occasions have discovered theshattered remains of these eggs directly beneath the pendant nests ofBaltimore Orioles."Among the birds that show their intolerance by burying the cowbird'segg in the bottom of the nest, or by building a second story over it,so that the alien egg fails to hatch, the yellow warbler is the star
434 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211performer. Two-story nests of this warbler are fairly common, wherecowbirds are numerous, * * * three-storied nests are not very rare, and asmany as four or even five stories have been built. In addition to thosebirds mentioned above as addicted to this habit, R. M. Anderson(1907) reports a "Traill Flycatcher's nest with a Cowbird's eggimbedded." C. R. Keyes (1884) found a scarlet tanager's "nest witha Cowbird's egg embedded in the bottom." Amos W. Butler (1898)reports a nest of the Maryland yellowthroat, containing three stories."Two additional nests were built upon the original structure, buiyingbeneath each the egg of a Cowbird." E. A. Samuels (1883) claimed tohave a double nest of the American goldfinch in his collection, butthis seems open to question, as the goldfinch usually nests later in theseason than the cowbird.The female cowbird is an expert nest hunter; in fact, she has to be.Coues (1874) describes her nest hunting graphically:It is interesting to observe the female Cow-bird ready to lay. She becomesdisquieted; she betrays unwonted excitement, and ceases her busy search forfood with her companions. At length she separates from the flock, and salliesforth to reconnoitre, anxiously indeed, for her case is urgent, and she has no home.How obtrusive is the sad analogy! She flies to some thicket, or hedge-row, orother common resort of birds, where, something teaches her?perhaps experience
?
nests will be found. Stealthily and in perfect silence she flits along, peering fur-tively, alternately elated or dejected, into the depths of the foliage. She espiesa nest, but the owner's head peeps over the brim, and she must pass on. Now,however, comes her chance; there is the very nest she wishes, and no one at home.She disappears for a few minutes, and it is almost another bird that comes out ofthe bush. Her business done, and trouble over, she chuckles her self-gratulations,rustles her plumage to adjust it trimly, and flies back to her associates.Russell T. Norris (1944) gives the following account of a cowbirdlaying in a song sparrow's nest, which was photographed by Hal H.Harrison (see pi. 25)
:
Just before 4:30 a.m., about 22 minutes before sunrise, we heard the sputteringnote of a Cowbird, and a few seconds later a female Cowbird alighted on thecamera. After looking around cautiously, she flew to the ground at the base ofthe tripod and began to walk nervously toward the nest. As she reached the rimof the nest, she paused and carefully surveyed the surrounding territory, thenstepped into the nest, and turned about several times. Finally she settled down,and Harrison pressed the button on the battery. As the flash went off, the Cow-bird flushed. She had been on the nest no more than 15 seconds and had notdeposited her egg. * * *At 4:38 a.m. I noticed a movement in the grass behind the nest, and after afew seconds the Cowbird appeared. She approached the nest warily, stepped uponto the rim, and paused there. Then she entered the nest and began to turnabout as she had on her previous visit. After a few seconds, she stepped backonto the rim and looked around. She three times repeated this procedure ofstanding on the rim, then uneasily turning about in the nest. In one instance shemounted the rear rim and looked back into the grass. At approximately 4:40 a.m.she settled on the nest, and Harrison released the shutter. The Cowbird raised
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 435herself slightly but remained a few seconds before flying away. Upon examiningthe nest I found a fresh Cowbird egg. Undoubtedly the egg was being laid as thepicture was taken.He ends the story with the statement that: "Two sparrows and theCowbird hatched and were reared successfully until the Cowbird wasseven, the sparrows six days old, when the nest was destroyed by apredator."Harry W. Hann (1941), in the studies of the cowbird at the nestof the oven-bird, came to the following conclusions:1. The female Cowbird regularly finds the nest of the host by seeing the birdsbuilding.2. She sometimes watches the building process intently and this doubtlessstimulates the development of eggs, which are laid four or five days later. Thistheory, first suggested by Chance for the Cuckoo, accounts for the delicate syn-chronization of the egg-laying of the Cowbird with that of the host, and does notpreclude the possibility of laying several eggs^on successive days.3. The eggs of the Cowbird are usually laid during the egg-laying time of thehost, but exceptions are common. Extremes noted during the study were threedays before the first Oven-bird's egg was laid, and three days after incubationbegan.4. A Cowbird lays but one egg in a nest unless nests are scarce; in that case itlays more.5. The female Cowbird makes regular trips of inspection to nests during theabsence of the owners, between the times of discovery and laying, and knows inadvance where she is going to lay.6. Her regular time for laying is early in the morning before the host lays, andshe will frighten the owner from the nest if she happens to be there first. * * *7. The Cowbird is both alert and determined when she come to the nest to lay.She moves about in the vicinity of the nest and looks carefully for as much asthree minutes before entering, but will return to the nest if she is frightened away.8. She spends from a few seconds to a minute in the nest when laying and fliesdirectly from the nest as soon as the egg is laid.9. The Cowbird disturbs the nest of the Oven-bird but little when she enters tolay, and I have found no broken eggs which were attributable to her entering.10. Parasitized nests regularly have one or more eggs removed by the femaleCowbird. These are not removed at the time of laying, but during the forenoonof the previous day, or the day of laying, or rarely on the following day. * * *11. Eggs removed are eaten by the Cowbird, but are not removed for that pur-pose along, or their disappearance would not be correlated so closely with the lay-ing of her own eggs. The number of eggs removed from parasitized Oven-birds'nests was eighty-five per cent of the number of eggs laid [by the cowbird] and in-cluded four eggs of the Cowbird itself. From nonparasitized nests of the Oven-bird only a single egg disappeared during the study.12. The statement by Borroughs that a Cowbird takes an egg from a nest onlywhen two or more eggs are present is borne out by this investigation.Mrs. Nice (1939) has twice seen a cowbird remove an egg from asong sparrow's nest, "the thief eating the egg and shell," in one case.And T. S. Roberts (1932) has seen one remove an egg from a scarlettanager's nest and from the nest of a chipping sparrow. W. V.Crich, of Toronto, has sent me a photograph of a cowbird 's egg in a
436 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211last year's nest, showing that this clever nest hunter sometimes makesa mistake.Eggs.?To determine the number of eggs laid by the cowbirdduring a season is a question that cannot be answered with certainty,but we have some data indicating that it lays no more eggs thanmany other passerine birds. Friedmann (1929) made a careful andthorough study of three well-known cowbird territories, in which all,or nearly all of the nests were located and in which the eggs of the threedifferent females could be recognized. Of these he says:Two of the birds laid five eggs each and the other laid four. In one of the caseswhere five eggs were laid (Terr. A.), I found no more after the fifth one althougha great deal of time was spent in this breeding area. It was just because no eggwas found on the sixth day that I kept very close watch of the bird and its terri-tory on that and the following day. On the day this individual laid its fifth eggthe other "five-egg" bird, (B), laid its first. For four days thereafter this bird(B) laid an egg daily and no more were found for individual A. On the dayCowbird B laid its fifth egg a heavy storm broke out and for a month and a halfthereafter it rained more or less violently every day. As fast as nests were found,they were destroyed or washed away by the heavy rains, and, of course, it becameimpossible to keep any check on the actions of the Cowbirds. * * *Above it was stated that no eggs were found in the territory of Cowbird A afterthat bird had laid its fifth. Of course the mere fact that none were found is noindication that none were laid. However, the second of the "five-egg" birds(individual B), was collected three days after it had laid its fifth egg. Only fivedischarged egg follicles were found in its ovaries and the oldest of these follicleswas still very prominent so that if any more eggs had been laid, follicles wouldhave betrayed the fact. This shows pretty conclusively that only five eggs werelaid in the case of this bird. This, together with the fact that bird A was knownto lay at least five eggs and, judging by the four-day rest (?) after the laying ofthe fifth egg, probably did not lay any more, suggests the idea that five eggs maypossibly represent what in other birds would be called a clutch "'although this isdoubtful. We cannot be certain that Cowbird A laid only five eggs although Ifeel that I would have found at least one more egg in the four days between thefifth egg and the stormy season, if the bird had kept on laying. * * *A record of the eggs laid by each bird and the nests used may be of some inter-est. Cowbird A laid its first egg on May 23 in the nest of a Chestnut-sided War-bler; its second egg, May 24, in a Veery's nest, its third, May 25, in anotherVeery's nest, its fourth, May 26, in a nest of a Redstart, and its fifth, May 27,in the same Redstart's nest.Cowbird B laid its first egg May 27 in a nest of Redstart, its second egg May 28,in the same nest, its third, fourth, and fifth, on May 29, 30, 31 respectively, allin one nest of a Red-eyed Vireo.Cowbird C laid its first egg May 22 in a Veery's nest, its second, May 23, in anest of a Redstart, its third, May 24, in the same nest, and its fourth and lastrecorded egg, May 25, in a Red-eyed Vireo's nest.From the above it may be seen that the cowbird lays one egg eachday, and that it is not specific in its choice of hosts. As evidence thatthe cowbird may sometimes lay more than five eggs, Friedmannquotes F. L. Rand, who had kept cowbirds in captivity, as saying
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIBD 437that "a little hen Cowbird that had the liberty at all times in a suiteof rooms, was tempted by me to enjoy as nearly as possible its naturalbent in the direction of egg laying and the results obtained in the wayof information were somewhat surprising. Eight or ten last year'snests were placed around the room, with dummy (candy) eggs inthem; each morning about six o'clock the little hen would seek somenest or other in which it would drop her egg, but not always in thesame nest; often times, the candy egg would be found on the floor; so,in fourteen successive days, the little hen had laid thirteen eggs; thiswould indicate apparently that the destructive nature of the bird iseven greater than it has been thought to be."Lawrence H. Walkinshaw (1949) concluded during his studies inMichigan, that 25 eggs were laid between May 15 and July 20, 1944,by a single cowbird "because (1) they were very similar in coloration(2) no two were laid on the same day (3) the length of 11 similarlycolored eggs had significantly less variability than the length of 22not-similarly colored eggs."As to the number of eggs laid in any one nest, we have plenty ofpositive information; Friedmann (1929) writes on this subject:In order to determine definitely whether or not the Cowbird normally laysbut a single egg in a nest, data on approximately nine thousand victimized nestsof one hundred and ninety-five kinds of birds were assembled, and it was foundthat in over two-thirds of the cases only one parasitic egg was found in a nest.This shows pretty clearly that the normal, the usual, the characteristic thing isfor a Cowbird to deposit one egg in a nest.Nevertheless about a third of the nests held more than a single Cowbird'segg apiece. This is no inconsiderable number or percentage of exceptions to theabove rule, and calls for an explanation. It has been shown that under normalconditions each pair of Cowbirds has a more or less definite territory and thatthe female tends to restrict herself to nests within that particular area. However,the cyclical instincts of the female are so aborted that she is probably quiteeasily induced temporarily to forsake her territory long enough to deposit anegg in a near-by nest. * * * Again, in regions where the Cowbird is very common(and this applies to a great part of its range) territories are apt to overlap and inthis way two Cowbirds may make use of the same nest. In this way I believewe can account for the fact that not infrequently eggs of two or more rarely eventhree different individuals are found in the same nest."Furthermore, a cowbird may lay more than one of her own eggs in anest, provided she can find at the proper time no nest in which shehas not already laid.Mrs. Nice (1939) says: "During seven years' study on Interpont,98 of the 223 Song Sparrow nests located contained Cowbird eggs;69 held one egg, 26 held two eggs and three held three. Only oncedid I find four Cowbird eggsunla ^single nest; this happened in June,1928, and the nest belonged to a Maryland Yellowthroat." (See,also, her (1949) paper on the laying rhythm.)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211One cowbird's egg in a nest is evidently the prevailing rule, but twoeggs, often laid by two different females, are not a rare occurrenceand we have numerous records of three or more in a nest. A. C.Reneau tells me that he has twice found three eggs in the nest of aphoebe and once in the nest of a Bell's vireo. A. D. Du Bois' listcontains a record of three eggs in a cardinal's nest, three in a woodthrush's nest and five in another nest of a wood thrush. Frank R.Smith writes to me of three eggs in the nest of a wood thrush, de-posited before the thrush had laid any eggs, and apparently laid bydifferent females. T. S. Roberts (1932) says: "Three or four areuncommon, though Mr. Kilgore and the writer once found a WoodThrush's nest containing two eggs of the Thrush and six of the Cow-bird, the latter of two distinct patterns, suggesting that two Cowbirdshad laid three eggs each in this nest. * * * At Mille Lacs on July 7,1934, Mr. Marius Morse found a Willow Thrush's nest containingtwo eggs of the owner and eight of the Cowbird. * * * Apparentlyfour different Cowbirds had laid one or more eggs each."J. H. Langille (1884) writes: "I have frequently found more thanone in the same nest; once not less than four in the nest of a ScarletTanager, which had only room enough left for two of her own. Mr.Trippe once found a Black-and-white Creeper's nest with five of theeggs of the interloper and three deposited by the owner." Isaac E.Hess (1910) mentions a scarlet tanager covering four eggs of thecowbird and an oven-bird's nest that contained seven eggs of theparasite. I have already mentioned the case of a catbird sitting onfour cowbird's eggs and one of her own. F. A. E. Starr writes to me
:
"I once found a red-eyed vireo's nest with the vireo sitting on sixcowbirds' eggs and none of her own. A nest of the Wilson thrush wasfound containing one egg of the thrush and four eggs of the cowbird."Sanborn and Goelitz (1915) report a towhee's nest that "contained oneTowhee egg and eight Cowbird eggs."Bendire (1895) describes the eggs as follows:The shell of the Cowbird's egg is compact, granulated, moderately glossy, andrelatively much stronger than that of its near allies, the Icteridae. The groundcolor varies from an almost pure white to grayish white, and less often to palebluish or milky white, and the entire surface is usually covered with specks andblotches varying in color from chocolate to claret brown, tawny, and cinnamonrufous.In an occasional specimen the markings are confluent and the ground coloris almost entirely hidden by them; in the majority, however, it is distinctlyvisible. These markings are usually heaviest about the larger end of the egg,and in rare instances they form an irregular wreath. The eggs vary greatly inshape, ranging from ovate to short, rounded, and elongate ovate, the first pre-dominating.
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 439The average measurement of 127 eggs in the U. S. National Museumcollection is 21.45 by 16.42 millimetres, or 0.84 by 0.65 inch; thelargest egg measures 25.40 by 16.76 millimetres, or 1 by 0.66 inch;the smallest, 18.03 by 15.49 millimetres, or 0.71 by 0.61 inch.Incubation.?Friedmann (1929) says that the incubation periodof the cowbird "is ten days, about the shortest of any of our passerinebirds." But Mrs. Nice (1939) says: "On Interpont with the SongSparrow as host the Cowbird egg has never hatched in ten days.Sometimes it hatches in eleven days, sometimes in twelve, andoccasionally in thirteen or even fourteen days. It requires aboutone day less of incubation than the Song Sparrow egg, hence it normallyhatches first and the bird gets an advantage from the start. Someeggs have been laid after incubation has started; these have hatchedfrom one to five days later than the Song Sparrows, and most of thelittle birds perished."Hervey Brackbill gives me the following personal observation on thesubject: "The incubation period that I observed for one egg at Balti-more was about 11^ days. This egg was laid on May 18 before 8:47a. m. (studies by other investigators indicate that laying is usuallydone at about 5 a.m.), and after steady incubation by a Wood Thrushhatched on May 29 at 1 : 25 p.m. ; that is, at that hour I found the birdenclosed in only half of the shell and, when I touched it, it wriggledfree of that. The incubation period of the thrush's own eggs was12 to 13 days."Young.?It will be seen from the above that the young cowbirdusually hatches at least 1 day ahead of the young of its foster parents.It does not, apparently, make any effort to oust its nest mates, as theEuropean cuckoo does, but it is so much larger than the young of thesmaller foster parents, and grows so much faster, that some of thesmaller young are often crowded out of the nest; also, it gets more thanits share of the food brought to the nest, a condition that sometimesproves fatal to its nest mates. Mrs. Nice (1939) says on this subject:Many writers assert that each Cowbird is raised at the expense of a brood ofyoung. This is not true with Song Sparrows. Sixty-six successful nests withoutCowbirds on Interpont raised an average of 3.4 Song Sparrows, while twenty-eight successful nests with Cowbirds averaged 2.4 Song Sparrows. So, takenby and large, each Cowbird was reared at the expense of one Song Sparrow. * * *Song Sparrows often raise all of their own young that hatch along with a pen-sioner, anywhere from one to five Song Sparrows having been fledged in suchnests. With two Cowbirds of like age in the nest, the Song Sparrows have beenable to bring up only one or two of their own children. Smaller birds undoubtedlysuffer more than do Song Sparrows, but there is little information on this subject.Once I found a nest containing three young Maryland Yellowthroats and a Cow-bird just ready to leave.880928?57 29
440 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211T. C. Stephens (1917) studied the feedings of a young cowbird andtwo young red-eyed vireos in a nest of the vireo; during a period of aday and a half, the young cowbird received 58 percent of all the food
;
the cowbird was both older and larger than the vireos; the older vireoreceived 27 percent of the food and the younger one only 15 percent.Alexander F. Skutch writes to me: "On May 20, 1931, 1 found undera bridge near Ithaca, N. Y., a phoebe's nest containing four of itsown eggs and one newly hatched cowbird, half of its shell still remain-ing in the nest. On May 22, there were two young phoebes, hatchedsince the preceding day. The cowbird appeared to be fully four orfive times their size. Its eyes were partly open and the sheaths ofits remiges were sprouting. By May 25, one phoebe nestling andone of the unhatched phoebe eggs had mysteriously vanished. ByMay 28, the cowbird was well feathered, could perch, and showedfear. The young phoebe, six days old, was still blind and was veryweak and helpless; its pin feathers were just sprouting. Ob May 29,I found the cowbird on the rim of the nest. The young phoebe'seyes were just opening. By May 30, the cowbird had left the nest,aged ten days. By June 3, the phoebe was well feathered. ByJune 6, the young phoebe had departed, at the age of fifteen days.The parent phoebes were feeding the young cowbird nearby, andthe female had already laid a new egg in the nest! Returning onJune 12, I found her incubating five eggs of the second brood in theold nest."On July 29, also near Ithaca, I found a nest of the red-eyed vireowith two young vireos and one cowbird, all about a week old. ByAugust 2, the cowbird had left the nest; the vireos, still inside, werein a thriving condition and seemed about ready to depart."Friedmann (1929) made a careful study of the growth and develop-ment of the young cowbird in the nest; it is not essentially different inpattern from the development of other young passerine birds, exceptlor its increase in weight?the really important factor in its survival:
"This Cowbird, probably less than an horn- old, weighed 2.5 grams.* * * The average weight of a day old Cowbird is 4.5 grams. * * *At the end of the second da}r the young Cowbird may weigh from7.5 to 8.5 grams. * * * For the first two days, the daily increase isclose to 100 per cent, but from then on the rate is slower, averagingabout 50 per cent on the third day and gradually lessening until itcomes to be about 10 per cent on the eighth day and only 5.5 per centon the ninth. When the Cowbird leaves the nest it averages about33 grams or approximately 13 times its weight on hatching."The rate of growth varies considerably, depending largely on thekind and amount of food furnished by different species of foster parents.
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 441A lone cowbird, in a nest by himself, grows faster than one that hascompetition from other nest mates.Probably all the altricial species that successfully hatch a cow-bird's egg feed the young imposter, or attempt to do so, while it is inthe nest, but the larger species are not always successful in rearingit to a nest-leaving age. The smaller flycatchers, the vireos,the wood warblers, and the smaller sparrows are the mostsuccessful in this and therefore make the best foster parents. AsFriedmann (1929) remarks: "Obviously only those species that serveas foster-parents of the young Cowbird are important in the economyof the parasite. Of the 195 birds on the list, 91 have been definitelyrecorded as rearing young Cowbirds. Of the remaining number, alarge number doubtless could, and do, act in this capacity but are lesscommonly victimized and so have been less often recorded."In order successfully to rear a young cowbird until it attains itsgrowth and is able to shift for itself, the foster parent must feed it forsome time after it leaves the nest. The smaller flycatchers, the vireos,the wood warblers, and the smaller sparrows that have acted as hostsusually do this, and most of them have been definitely recorded asdoing so, as have also the house wren and the Carolina wren.Milton B. Trautman (1940) lists, among the larger birds observedfeeding fledgling cowbirds out of the nest, the catbird, eastern robin,wood thrush, starling, yellow-breasted chat, eastern cardinal and red-eyed towhee; most of these were observed in the act only once ortwice, but the cardinal was seen more than 13 times. Baird, Brewer,and Kidgway (1874) mention that J. A. Allen saw a brown thrasherfeeding a nearly full grown cowbird. Probably the above lists couldbe considerably enlarged.In at least three cases, a female cowbird has been seen to feed ayoung cowbird that was supposed to be its own young, but in no casecould the relationship be proven. J. R. Bonwell (1895), of NebraskaCity, Nebr., reported seeing a female cowbird feed a young cowbirdin a nest with young rose-breasted grosbeaks. "Nearly every eveningshe would come and feed the young Cowbird, but if the young Gros-beaks would open their mouths for food she would peck them on thehead and refuse them food." Forbush (1927) mentions two othercases. He knew Mason A. Walton, of Gloucester, well enough toaccept his report of seeing a female cowbird feed a young cowbird ina yellow warbler's nest, but he had no way of knowing that she wasthe parent.The other case cited was based on a careful observation by LaurenceB. Fletcher (1925), who trapped a female Cowbird with a young one,saw the female feed it, banded both birds and saw the two togetherafterward, the same adult still feeding the young. The adult, which
442 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211bore Biological Survey band No. 64782, continued to feed the bandedfledgling and no other, although there were other young Cowbirdsnear.None of these observations prove that the female cowbird recognizesits own young; but they do indicate a lingering vestige of the lostmaternal instinct.Since the above was written, Russell T. Norris (1947) has publishedthe results of his extensive study of the cowbirds of Preston Frith, towhich the reader is referred. The conclusions he arrived at are notfar different from what is indicated above, but the following paragraphsare of special interest:Of 19 Cowbird eggs, one hatched four days before the host; 4 hatched one daybefore; 10 hatched the same day as the host; 3 hatched one day later than thehost; and one hatched five days later than the host. * * *In the 237 observed nests, the hosts laid 668 eggs, of which 383 (57.3 per cent)hatched; the Cowbirds laid 108 eggs, of which 46 (42.6 per cent) hatched; 37.7 percent of the host eggs, 26.8 per cent of the Cowbird eggs produced fledglings. Ofthe host eggs that hatched, 64 per cent produced fledglings; of the Cowbird eggsthat hatched, 63 per cent produced fledglings.With four exceptions all parasitized nests that produced young produced atleast one host young.The 35 non-parasitized (successful) nests produced 2.94 fledglings per nest;19 parasitized (successful) nests fledged 2.05 host young per nest, indicating thateach parasite was raised at the expense of about one host young.Plumages.?The plumage changes of the cowbird are simple.The natal down is described by Dwight (1900) as olive-gray. He de-scribes the juvenal plumage in which the sexes are alike, as "above,including sides of head and neck, wings and tail, dark olive-brown, thefeathers edged with pale buff, whitish on the primaries. Below, dullwhite, buffy on throat, breast and flanks much streaked with olivebrown. Chin white or yellowish."A complete postnuptial molt occurs in August or early September,producing a first winter plumage which is indistinguishable from thatof the adult. In the male, the head, throat, and nape are purplish
"clove-brown," but all the rest of the plumage, including the wingsand the tail, is clear lustrous black with green and purple reflections.The female assumes at this molt the "mouse-gray" plumage ofmaturity. The nuptial plumage in both sexes is acquired by wear,which is not conspicuous. Adults have a complete molt in Septemberand no prenuptial molt. The seasonal changes are inconspicuous.Food.?Beal (1900) reports on the contents of 544 stomachs ofthe cowbird, taken in 20 States during every month in the year, ex-amined by the Biological Survey:The total food in these stomachs was divided as follows: Animal matter, 22.3percent; vegetable, 77.7 percent. * * * The animal food consists almost entirely
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 443
of insects and spiders, a few snails forming the exceptions. The insects comprisewasps and ants (Hymenoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), a few flies (Diptera), beetles(Coleoptera) , grasshoppers (Orthoptera), and caterpillars (Lepidoptera). * * *Grasshoppers appear to be the cowbird's favorite animal food, and compose almosthalf of the insect food, or 11 percent of the whole. * * *The vegetable food of the cowbird exceeds the animal food, both in quantityand variety. When searching the ground about barnyards or roads the bird isevidently looking for scattered seeds rather than insects, though the latter areprobably taken whenever found. Various other substances are also eaten, butthey are mostly of the same general character, such as hard seeds of grasses orweeds, with but little indication of fruit pulp or other soft vegetable matter.In his list of vegetable matter the following items are the most prom-inent: Corn was found in 56 stomachs, wheat in 20, oats in 102, andbuckwheat in one, as against seeds of ragweed in 176 stomachs, barn-grass in 265 and panicgrass in 133. Grain as a whole amounted to16.5 percent, or about one-sixth of the total food for the year, andprobably one-half of this was waste grain. "In summing up the resultsof the investigation," he says, "the following points may be consideredas fairly established: (1) Twenty percent of the cowbird's food con-sists of insects, which are either harmful or annoying. (2) Sixteenpercent is grain, the consumption of which may be considered a loss,though it is practically certain that half of this is waste. (3) More than50 percent consists of the seeds of noxious weeds, whose destruction isa positive benefit to the farmer. (4) Fruit is practically not eaten."Dr. B. H. Warren (1890) says that cowbirds eat blackberries,huckleberries, cedarberries, wild cherries, and summer grapes (Vitisaestivalis). E. R. Kalmbach (1914) includes the cowbird among thebirds that eat the alfalfa weevil; from the first of May to the middleof July, the weevil forms more than half of the bird's food. A. H.Howell (1907) credits the bird with feeding on the cotton boll weevil.And Hervey Brackbill sends me the following note: "One afternoon Icame upon a female cowbird eating dandelion seeds from a full-blownseed-head. It must have found feeding from the upright stem incon-venient, for after I had seen it take a few billfuls, it suddenly thrustout one foot and pinned the stem to the ground and finished its eatingthat way."Economic status.?It appears that in its food habits the cowbirdis decidedly more beneficial than harmful, doing very little damage tothe farmer's crops and destroying many destructive insects. Thechief cause of its unpopularity is the harm that it does through itsparasitic habits for it undoubtedly interferes with the successfulhatching and rearing of large numbers of small insectivorous birds.Paul Harrington, of Toronto, has sent me his notes on the study of100 nests of various birds that contained cowbird eggs or young.Most of these were nests of small birds, 48 of warblern, 37 of finches,
444 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 1 15 of vireos, 5 of flycatchers, and 5 of various other birds. Cowbirdshad deposited 115 eggs in these nests, only a single egg in 80 of them.He estimated from his records that, approximately, for every cowbirdraised to a self-sustaining age there is a loss of three and one-thirdbirds of some smaller species.Before we condemn the cowbird for its parasitic habits, however,it must be shown that the young birds sacrificed for the cowbirds havemore economic value than the parasites. Beal (1900) comments onthis point: "When a single young cowbird replaces a brood of fourother birds, each of which has food habits as good as its own, there is,of course, a distinct loss; but, as already shown, the cowbird mustbe rated high in the economic scale on account of its food habits,and it must be remembered that in most cases the birds destroyed aremuch smaller than the intruder, and so of less effect in their feeding,and that two or three cowbird eggs are often deposited in one nest."Behavior.?Cowbirds are highly gregarious at all seasons: althoughthe females and mated males scatter out in their breeding territories,in the vicinity there are generally to be found flocks of unmated orpromiscuous birds with which the breeding birds associate more orless. They are sociably inclined toward each other and there seems tobe no jealousy among them. Friedmann (1929) never saw themfighting, but Mrs. Nice (1937) has seen it five times, "the occasionbeing disagreements between males during communal courtingparties."The outstanding features of the cowbird's behavior is its well-knownfondness for, or association with, grazing cattle from which it derivesits appropriate common name. In its association with these animalsit is quite fearless, searching for food about the heads of the grazinganimals or even between their feet, sometimes even alighting upontheir backs, where they are supposed to relieve the animals of annoyinginsects. The movements of the cattle undoubtedly stir up grass-hoppers and other insects, making them more easily available for thebirds. The statements by some earlier writers that cowbirds searchthe droppings of cattle to feed on intestinal worms is not substantiatedby stomach analysis.On the ground the cowbird walks or runs, but seldom hops; whilefeeding it often holds its tail erected high in the air, with the wingsdrooping below it. Its flight in the air seems rather unsteady, muchlike that of the red-winged blackbird, from which it can be distin-guished in the mixed flocks by its smaller size. Cowbirds seem tobe on good terms with other blackbirds and starlings, associatingwith them in enormous mixed flocks on their feeding grounds orroosting with them at night. They also, sometimes, join with swallowsor martins in their night roosts. Forbush (1927), however, says
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 445that "in New England Cowbirds usually roost by themselves; oftenthey choose thick coniferous trees or other thickets in the shelter ofwhich they pass the night in great numbers. Another favoriteroosting place is in the grass and reeds far out on wide meadows."John E. Galley has sent me some notes on a large winter roost ofcowbirds and starlings at Midland, Tex. At the height of theirabundance, he estimated that the roost contained "between 10,500and 11,000 individuals, of which 2,000 to 2,500 were cowbirds."They were roosting in Chinese elms around the courthouse. "Thestarlings were grouped in the topmost branches, the cowbirds belowthem."Voice.?Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following study:"Some of the sounds produced by the cowbird are distinctly seasonal,produced mainly, if not entirely, by the male, and therefore should beconsidered songs, though they are not particularly pleasing musically.The commonest of these consists of a prolonged, high-pitched, squeakynote, followed by two or three shorter, lower-pitched, usually sibillantnotes. This song may be written wheeeee tsitsitsi. My records are allsomewhat different in details, but the first note is pitched from C""to F"", and the notes that follow are from one and a half to two and ahalf tones lower, the lowest note in all the records pitched on G'".The first note may be all on one pitch or slurred slightly upward. Anot uncommon variation of this has the first note followed by a down-ward slur which is explosive and sibilant at its beginning; this soundslike wheeeee tseeya and is strongly suggestive of a sneeze."During courtship, when the male is going through his bowing andhis wing and tail spreading, another kind of song is produced, some-thing like that described for the grackle under similar circumstances,but it usually goes from low to high pitch abruptly?two or three lownotes and then a few high, squeaky ones. The low notes are not harsh,but gurgly. It sounds like glub-glub-kee-he-heek. The interval betweenthem is from three and a half tones to an octave, and the pitch betweenthem varies from C" to C""."The seasons for these songs last from the arrival of the birds toearly July, when the egg laying is over and the birds gather in flocks tofeed in fields for the rest of the summer. Call notes are a short chuck,a slurred preeah, and a loud, harsh rattle."Eugene P. Bicknell (1884) says: "There seems to be no regularityabout singing in the fall; but I have heard imperfect songs and half-songs at different times within a month after the middle of September.Sometimes, in the autumn, when Cowbirds are assembled in smallflocks, they become garrulous, when their commingled utterance^oflow notes produces a sound as of subdued warbling."
446 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Field marks.?The cowbird is the smallest of our blackbirds andcan generally be recognized in the mixed flocks by size alone, even ifthe brown head and glossy black body of the male and the plain dark-gray coat of the female cannot be distinguished.Enemies.?Some of the host species are hostile to the cowbird,but few succeed in driving it away. Some remove the eggs of theparasite and some bury them; many eggs are removed by humanobservers, and the total egg loss must be considerable. An interestingdemonstration of hostility is mentioned by Dr. George M. Sutton(1928). He noted that in Pymatuning Swamp the swamp-nestingsmall species were nearly immune from cowbird parasitism, becausethe red-winged blackbirds ganged up against the cowbirds and drovethem out of the swamp. He "saw a flock of Red-wings once pursue afemale Cowbird until she was utterly exhausted and plunged into thewater to escape. Her pursuers chased her to the edge of the Swampthen headed her off and forced her back to the opposite bank."While roosting in the swamps, cowbirds are preyed upon by minkand weasels and perhaps owls; during the day, they are subject toattack by hawks and falcons.Harold S. Peters (1936) lists one louse, two flies, two mites, and onetick as external parasites on the eastern cowbird.Fall.?As soon as the egg-laying season is over, the cowbirds beginto gather into large flocks and wander about over the country, feedingin the fields and pastures. The young birds join these flocks as soonas they are able to fly. While molting, in August, the young males arequite conspicuous, the glossy black feathers of the new plumage beingscattered among the old brown feathers of the juvenal dress and givingthem a curious, mottled appearance.The enormous flocks are often quite spectacular as the great, blackclouds of birds swoop down into the fields to feed or pour into theirroosts at night, sometimes in association with other blackbirds orstarlings. Elon H. Eaton (1914) says: "The flocks of cowbirds foundduring September in the grain fields and pastures are so large that onone occasion after discharging my gun into a flock which was passingI picked up 64 birds from the two discharges of the gun, which willindicate the density of the flock. My estimate of the flock referred towas that there were between 7,000 and 10,000 birds. The usual flockin the fall, however, consists of from 50 to 200 birds."The fall migration gets under way in September, but is mainlyconducted during October, some individuals lingering well intoNovember.Winter.?A few cowbirds sometimes remain to spend the winter asfar north as Massachusetts and southern Ontario. During mildwinters considerable flocks sometimes spend the winter on Cape Cod,
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 447
which is usually free from snow, and along the coastal marshes ofsouthern New England. On February 12, 1935, I was surprised to seeseven male cowbirds on my window feeding shelf in Taunton, Mass.,all fighting for the food. The weather, below freezing, was clear andcold, and the ground was covered with deep, hard-frozen snow, as ithad been for the past few weeks of unusually cold weather. The malescontinued to visit the feeding shelf all through that month, and on the28th three females appeared.Thomas Mcllwraith (1894) says: "In Southern Ontario nearly allthe Cowbirds are migratory, but on two occasions I have seen themlocated here in winter. There were in each instance ten or a dozenbirds which stayed by the farm-house they had selected for theirwinter residence, and roosted on the beams above the cattle in thecow-house."Milton B. Trautman (1940) noted wintering cowbirds in Ohio fornine winters. "Usually, only a few individuals or a few small flockstotaling less than 20 birds were noted in winter. In 2 years 50 to300 wintered. The birds remained throughout the day about barn-yards and adjacent fields where cattle were kept. Some roostedat night in brushy inland marshes or in cattail swamps, and whenonly a solitary individual or a few were present, they most frequentlyroosted and associated with English Sparrows."The regular winter range is south of the Potomac and Ohio RiverValleys and extends to Florida and the Gulf coast. Here they joinin large mixed flocks with redwings, rusty blackbirds, starlings,grackles, and meadowlarks, feeding in the stubble fields and ricefields.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southeastern Canada and central and eastern UnitedStates to Mexico and Florida.Breeding range.?The eastern brown-headed cowbird breedsfrom southeastern Colorado, northwestern Kansas (Decatur County),eastern Nebraska, central Iowa (Polk County, Clayton County),eastern Minnesota, northern Michigan, central Ontario (Biscotasing,Ottawa), south-western and central-eastern Quebec (Blue Sea Lake,Capstan Island), New Brunswick (Tabucintac), and southern NovaScotia (Digby, Yarmouth) ; south to central Texas (San Angelo,Waco, Caddo), south-central Louisiana, southern Mississippi (Saucier,Gulfport), central Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Birmingham), centralGeorgia (Augusta, Athens), western South Carolina (Clemson),western North Carolina (Asheville, Weavcrville), and central andsoutheastern Virginia (Naruna, Virginia Beach).Winter range.?Winters from central Oklahoma (CanadianCounty, Tulsa), central Missouri (Mount Carmel, St. Louis), southern
448 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Michigan (Kalamazoo County, Jackson County), southern Ontario(Chatham, Ottawa), New York (Rochester, Utica), and Connecticut(North Haven), rarely north to northern Maine (Presque Isle) ; southto Chihuahua (Chihuahua), Morelos (Cuernavaca) , central Veracruz(Tlacotalpam), the Gulf coast, and southern Florida (Fort Myers,Key West).Casual records.?Casual in Bermuda.Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole. Earlydates of spring arrival are: North Carolina?Raleigh, January 29.Virginia?Blacksburg, January 19; Naruna, January 24. WestVirginia?Wheeling and French Creek, March 8. Maryland
?
Laurel, January 25 (median of 6 years, February 17). PennsylvaniaHarrisburg, February 12. New Jersey?Milltown, February 20.New York?Orient and Smithtown Branch, February 22. Connect-icut?Fairfield, February 26. Massachusetts?Manchester, March3. Vermont?Rutland, March 11. New Hampshire?Hanover,March 6. Maine?Topsham, March 15. Quebec?Montreal, March20 (average of 12 years, April 11); Quebec, March 26; Kamouraska,April 2. New Brunswick?Fredericton, March 22. ArkansasFayetteville, February 20. Tennessee?Nashville, February 12.Kentucky?Eubank, February 10. Missouri?Bolivar, February 10.Illinois?Rantoul, February 13; Chicago region, February 19 (average,March 25). Indiana?Hobart and Frankfort, February 20. OhioOberlin, February 13; Buckeye Lake, February 22 (median, February28). Michigan?Vicksburg, February 23; McMillan, March 22(median of 23 years, April 6). Ontario?Harrow, March 8; Ottawa,March 21 (average, April 6). Iowa?Sioux City, February 21. Wis-consin?Dane County, March 7. Minnesota?Hamel, February 28(average of 16 years for southern Minnesota, April 13); Lake of theWoods County, April 13 (average of 16 years for northern Minnesota,April 24). Texas?Boerne, January 20; Dension, January 25.Oklahoma?Caddo, January 19. Kansas?Clearwater and WiGhita,February 12. Nebraska?Red Cloud, February 12 (median of 25years, April 25). South Dakota?Vermillion, March 12 (averageof 6 years, April 5). North Dakota?Marstonmoor, March 28; CassCounty, April 6 (average, April 29). Manitoba?Oak Point, April14 ; Treesbank, April 22 (median of 57 years, May 3) . SaskatchewanMcLean and Qu'Appelle, April 6. Mackenzie?Fort Simpson,May 14. New Mexico?Clayton, April 11. Arizona?Phoenix,February 10. Colorado?Pueblo, March 9. Utah?Saint George,April 26. Wyoming?Laramie, April 26 (average of 8 years, May 1).Idaho?Rupert, May 8. Montana?Fortine, March 22. AlbertaVeteran, April 7. California?Gilroy, February 20; Berkeley,
EASTERN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 449March 24 (median of 13 years, April 13). Nevada?Carson City,April 28. Oregon?Albany, February 28; Sauvie Island, March 28.Washington?Pullman, May 4. British Columbia?Mirror Lake,April 20. Okanagan Landing, May 10 (median of 15 years, May 19).Late dates of spring departure are: Tamaulipas?G6mez Fariasregion, April 29. Bermuda?Hamilton, April 11. Florida?Pensa-cola, April 20 (median of 12 years, April 3). Alabama?Fairhope,April 17. Georgia?Athens, April 23 (median of 4 years, April 14).South Carolina?Meriwether, April 30. North Carolina?Weaver-ville, May 10; Raleigh, April 29 (average of 9 years, April 4). Vir-ginia?Naruna, May 12. District of Columbia?-Washington, May10. Maryland?Laurel, May 7 (median of 4 years, April 15). Ohio
?
Buckeye Lake, median, April 18. California?Yermo, June 7;Farallon Islands, June 2.Early dates of fall arrival are: Oklahoma?Fort Sill, August 13.Texas?El Paso, August 7. Iowa?Osage, July 3. Ohio?BuckeyeLake, median, August 18. Arkansas?Delight, August 10. Louis-iana?Gueydan, September 7. Connecticut?Hartford, August 10.New Jersey?Cape May, July 5. Maryland?Cambridge, August 10.West Virginia?Jefferson Countj', August 10. Georgia?Athens,July 13 (median of 5 years, July 19); Augusta, July 16. AlabamaGreensboro, July 17. Florida?Pensacola, July 14 (median of 11years, October 21); Jacksonville, July 23. Baja California?LosCoronados Islands, September 5. Sonora?Rancho La Arizona,August 10. Coahuila?Las Delicias, August 15. Jalisco?Autl&nAugust 4.Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?Port Hardy,October 10; Atlin, September 4; Okanagan Landing, August 30(median of 5 years, August 26). Washington?Callam Bay, No-vember 18. Oregon?Klamath County, September 28. NevadaYucca Pass, October 13. California?Berkeley, July 18 (median of10 years, July 13). Alberta?Ferintosh, December 31; Warner,November 16. Montana-Fortine, November 1. Idaho?Rupert,September 17. Wyoming?Yellowstone Park, October 19; Laramie,September 5 (average of 8 3Tears, August 13). Colorado?El PasoCounty, October 29. New Mexico?Clovis, December 12. Saskatch-ewan?Wise ton, October 21. Manitoba?Killarney, October 30;Treesbank, October 2 (median of 30 years, August 31). NorthDakota?Inkster, October 18; Cass County, October 4 (average,August 26). South Dakota?Forestburg, November 20. NebraskaCortland, November 23. Kansas?Harper, December 9; OklahomaTulsa, November 25. Minnesota?Faribault, November 17 (averageof 4 years for southern Minnesota, August 17; Otter Tail
450 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211County, November 1. Wisconsin?Superior, Burlington, and Prairiedu Sac, November 10. Iowa?Newton, December 3. Ontario
?
Port Dover, November 22; Ottawa, November 17 (average, October5). Michigan?Schoolcraft, December 15; McMillan, November 17(median of 20 years, August 30). Ohio?Toledo, December 21;Buckeye Lake, November 30 (median, November 23). IndianaRichmond, November 28. Illinois?Chicago region, December 9(average, October 1); Odin, November 27. Missouri?Bolivar,December 3; Concordia, November 20. Kentucky?Versailles, No-vember 15. Tennessee?Nashville, December 8; Athens, November21. Arkansas?Rogers, November 20. New Brunswick?St. An-drews, October 18. Quebec?Montreal, October 23. Maine?Port-land, December 5. New Hampshire?Hanover, December 15.Vermont?West Barnet, November 25. Massachusetts?Belmont,December 8. Connecticut?Meriden, November 23. New YorkPhelps, November 27. New Jersey?Milltown, December 13.Pennsylvania?Berwyn, November 23; Renovo, November 16(average of 5 years, October 15). Maryland?Laurel, December 23(median of 4 years, December 3). West Virginia?Bluefield, No-vember 19. Virginia?Naruna, December 16. North CarolinaRaleigh, November 27.Egg dates.?Alberta: 51 records, May 24 to July 1 : 40 records,June 1 to June 15.Arizona: 37 records, May 2 to August 2; 19 records, June 17 toJuly 16.California: 130 records, April 3 to July 21; 66 records, June 7 toJune 29.Illinois: 162 records, April 26 to July 11; 86 records, May 21 toJune 6.Massachusetts: 68 records, May 14 to June 29; 34 records, May 30to June 12.Michigan: 39 records, April 30 to July 7; 23 records, May 29 toJune 14.North Dakota: 28 records, May 23 to July 15; 14 records, June 7 toJune 18.Oklahoma: 21 records, April 29 to June 26; 12 records, May 7 toMay 29.Ontario: 15 records, May 15 to July 1 ; 8 records, June 4 to June 20.Texas: 40 records, April 7 to July 2; 20 records, May 10 to May 25.
NEVADA BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 451MOLOTHRUS ATER ARTEMISIAE GrinnellNevada Brown-Headed CowbirdHABITSThis large race of the species breeds in western Canada and in thenorthern part of western United States and winters south to southernTexas and Mexico. It was originally described by Joseph Grinnell(1909) as similar to the eastern cowbird, "but somewhat larger, withproportionally longer and more slender bill; similar to M. a. obscurus(Gmelin), of the lower Sonoran zone in Arizona and southeasternCalifornia, but larger." In its plumage changes, feeding, and generalhabits it does not differ materially from its better-known easternrelative. It is reported to eat the Mormon cricket and many otherharmful insects, an action greatly to its credit.Spring.?Dr. Ian McT. Cowan (1939) writes of the arrival of thesecowbirds in the Peace River District of northeastern British Columbia:"Ten cowbirds were seen on May 6 at Tupper Creek but not untilMay 10 did they become numerous. On that date a flock of aboutforty males and four females and another containing fifty-five malesand one female appeared and fed for some time in the pasture onAustin's ranch. Later on May 14 the proportion of females increasedto about a quarter of the aggregate of birds in each flock and flocksup to fifty birds were common. * * * At its maximum the sex ratiowas approximately one female to three males. In May the main hostsof the cowbirds were hermit thrushes and juncos."Nesting.?Friedmann (1929) gives a list of 52 birds known to havebeen imposed upon by the Nevada cowbird; they belong mainly tothe same classes of birds that are hosts of the eastern cowbird andincluding some of the larger birds, such as the blackbird, towhee,grosbeak, catbird, brown thrasher, and robin. Eggs have beenfound in a nest of the California gull and of the ferruginous rough-legged hawk, which were, of course, wasted eggs.Eggs.?The eggs of the Nevada cowbird are similar to those of theeastern cowbird, and the measurements have not been separated fromthose given by Bendire (1895) for the eastern form; they averageslightly larger. The measurements of 40 eggs average 21.8 by 16.8;the eggs showing the four extremes measure 25.4 by 16.8, 23.4 by18.0, 19.8 by 17.0, and 20.1 by 15.2 millimeters.Behavior.?Coues' (1874) account of the behavior of this cowbirdin the west is worth quoting, as follows:Every wagon-train passing over the prairie in summer is attended by flocks ofthe birds; every camp and stock-corral, permanent or temporary, is besieged bythe busy birds, eager to glean sustenance from the wasted forage. Their famili-
452 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 1 1
arity under these circumstances is surprising. Perpetually wandering about thefeet of the draught animals, or perching upon their backs, they become so accus-tomed to man's presence that they will hardly get out of the way. I have evenknown a young bird to suffer itself to be taken in hand, and it is no uncommonthing to have the birds fluttering within a few feet of one's head. The animalsappear to rather like the birds, and suffer them to perch in a row upon their back-bones, doubtless finding the scratching of their feet a comfortable sensation, tosay nothing of the riddance from insect parasites.A singular point in the history of this species is its unexplained disappearance,generally in July, from many or most localities in which it breeds. Where it goes,and for what purpose, are unknown; but the fact is attested by numerous ob-servers. Sometimes it reappears in September in the same places, sometimesnot. Thus, in Northern Dakota, I saw none after early in August.This disappearance, which occurs also with the eastern cowbird isevidently for concealment during the molting season. Seton (1891)states: "I noticed that on the Big Plain the cowbirds disappear fora time, apparently joining the rusty grackles and other species amongthe swamps and wet lands until after the attainment of the fallplumage, when for a time they again become conspicuous, and con-tinue about the pastures until October."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western Canada and western United States (except thesouthwestern portion) east to southern Louisiana south to Mexico.Breeding range.?The Nevada brown-headed cowbird breedsfrom central and northeastern British Columbia (Nulki Lake, SwanLake, Peace River District), central-southern Mackenzie (Fort Simp-son, Fort Resolution), northeastern Alberta (Athabaska Delta),central Saskatchewan (Flotten Lake, Emma Lake), southern Manitoba(Lake St. Martin, Hillside Beach), and western Ontario (Rainy River;intergrades) ; south through central and eastern Washington (rarelywest to Tacoma) and eastern Oregon (Klamath County) to northeasternand central-eastern California (Alturas, Independence), southern Ne-vada (except Colorado River jValley), Utah (except extreme south-western section), northeastern and central-eastern Arizona (Kayenta,Springerville), western New Mexico, Colorado (Fort Lyon), westernNebraska, and through western Minnesota to northwestern Iowa(Sioux City).Winter range.?Winters from western and southern California,southeastern Arizona (Tucson), northeastern Texas (Dallas), andsoutheastern Louisiana (New Orleans, Pearl River) ; south to southernBaja California (Miraflores), Michoacdn (Morelia), Guerrero (Chil-pancingo), and Veracruz (C6rdoba). Rarely east to eastern Iowa(Linn County, Johnston County), and eastern Kansas (Lawrence,Neosho Falls).
DWARF BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 453Casual records.?Casually in northern and coastal British Co-lumbia (Massett, Atlin, Calvert Islands), and northeastern Ontario(Moose Factory); apparentl}7- only casual west of the Cascades inWashington (Cape Flattery), Oregon (Mercer Lake; one breedingrecord from Medford, and California (Farallon Islands).MOLOTHRUS ATER OBSCURUS (Gmelin)Dwarf Brown-Headed CowbirdHABITSThis small cowbird is resident in Mexico and the southwesternUnited States, north to southern Louisiana, southern Texas, south-western New Mexico, southern Arizona, and southern California.The molts and plumages of the dwarf cowbird are like those of theeastern bird, and its coloration is similar, but it is decidedly smaller.It feeds on similar food.Bendire (1895) writes:It can only be considered a summer resident in southern Arizona, althougha few appear in winter there, as I shot an adult male on Rillito Creek, near Tucson,on January 24, 1873. It usually arrives from its winter home in southern Mexicoabout the middle of March, and is then found associating with different speciesof Blackbirds, especially Brewer's Blackbird, frequenting the vicinity of cattleranches, roads, and cultivated fields. By April 15 the flocks have scattered,and small parties of from five to twelve may now be seen in suitable localities, suchas the shrubbery along water courses, springs, etc , where other small birds areabundant. The character of its food, and its general habits as well, are similarto those of the common Cowbird, which it closely resembles, being only a triflesmaller. In middle Texas the two races intergrade to some extent, and it isclaimed both breed there. In the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, the typicalDwarf Cowbird is common.This cowbird is not supposed to breed above the Lower AustralZone, but J. Stuart Rowley tells me that he found an egg in the nestof a Cassin's vireo near Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino County,Calif., at an elevation of about 5,000 feet.Nesting.?Friedmann (1929) lists 65 recorded hosts of the dwarfcowbird, mostly small flycatchers, small sparrows, vireos, warblersand other small birds, but the list includes a number of larger birds,such as the Mexican ground dove, scissor-tailed flycatcher, RioGrande redwing, five orioles, two towhees, two cardinals, both racesof blue grosbeaks, summer and Cooper's tanagers, Western mocking-bird, two thrashers, and two thrushes. Bendire (1895) says: "Ac-cording to my observations, the Least Vireo seems to be oftenerimposed upon, in southern Arizona at least, than any other bird, the
454 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Desert Song Sparrows, Black-throated Sparrow, and Vermilion Fly-catcher following in the order named."Usually only one egg of this cowbird is laid in the nest of the host,but often two are laid and sometimes more. In the W. C. Hannacollection is a set of two eggs of the orchard oriole with four of thecowbird, and a set of the Arizona hooded oriole, containing foureggs of the dwarf cowbird and one of the bronzed cowbird.W. L. Dawson (1923) tells of a pair of least vireos that "showednotable valor in driving off from time to time a snooping femalewho spied upon their progress. Rousing one morning to a sudden out-cry, I arrived upon the scene in time to see an irate Vireo drag aCowbird from the nest and hold her for a dramatic moment suspendedin mid-air?until the Vireo's strength gave out and both fell strugglingto the ground. But in spite of this instant and summary punishment,the Cowbird had accomplished her mission."Wilson C. Hanna writes to me that he has a set of eggs of theCalifornia black-chinned sparrow that contains an egg of the dwarfcowbird, and a set of the black-throated gray warbler with one eggof this cowbird; each nest held two eggs of the host and one of theparasite; both sets were taken in San Bernardino County, Calif.Eggs.?Bendire (1895) says: "In general appearance and shapethe eggs of the Dwarf Cowbird resemble those of the preceding species[eastern species], and the same description will answer for both; butthey appear on an average to be somewhat less heavily spotted, whichgives them a lighter appearance, and they are also considerablysmaller."The average measurement of thirty-seven specimens in the UnitedStates National Museum collection is 19.30 by 14.99 millimetres, or0.76 by 0.59 inch. The largest egg in this series measures 20.57 by15.49 millimetres, or 0.81 by 0.61 inch; the smallest, 18.03 by 13.74millimetres, or 0.71 by 0.54 inch."Young.?It has been stated that the young cowbird does not pushits nest mates out of the nest, as the European cuckoo does, but Daw-son (1923) says: "I once found a nest which contained only a lustyCowbird, while three proper fledglings clung to the shrubbery below,and one lay dead upon the ground."Behavior.?Dawson (1923) describes a habit, common to all theraces of the species, as follows: "In feeding upon the ground aboutcorrfds the Cowbirds are quickly actuated by the flock impulse, risingas one bird at a fancied alarm. After alighting upon a fence or uponthe unprotesting backs of cattle, they hop down again one by one asconfidence becomes established. They greet each other always withquivering bodies and uplifted tails, and that upon the most trivialoccasions."
MILLER'S BRONZED COWBIRD 455DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southwestern United States, east to southern Louisiana,south into Mexico.Breeding range.?The dwarf brown-headed cowbird breeds fromnorthwestern, central, and southeastern California (Hoopa, DeathValley), the Colorado Valley in southern Nevada, extreme south-western Utah (St. George), north-central and southeastern Arizona(northeastern slope of San Francisco Mountains, Showlow), north-western and central-southern New Mexico (Manuelito, Grant County,Playas Valley, Las Cruces), western and southern Texas (El Paso,Houston), and southern Louisiana (Marsh Island, St. James Parish);south at least to northern Baja California (San Quintin, Colonia),southern Sonora (Guaymas, Alamos), northern Durango (RanchoBaillon), and northern Tamaulipas (Matamoros).Winter range.?Winters from north-central California (Sacra-mento Valley), southern Arizona (Parker, Phoenix, Tucson), andcentral Texas (Fort Clark, Boerne) ; south to southern Baja California(San Jose del Cabo, Santiago), Colima (Manzanillo, Colima), Guerrero(Iguala, Rancho Correza), Oaxaca (Tehuantepec City), and westernVeracruz (Orizaba).TANGAVIUS AENEUS MILLERI van RossemMiller's Bronzed CowbirdHABITSThis western race of the bronze-backed, red-ej'ed cowbirds is foundin northwestern Mexico, from the Territory of Tepic on the souththrough Sinaloa and Sonora and into southern Arizona, breeding asfar north as Tucson, Sacaton and the valley of the San Pedro River,where I collected a specimen near Fairbank.Members of this race are slightly larger than those of the easternrace, with a stouter bill. The adult male is hardly distinguishable,except that the rump is violet, like the upper tail coverts, rather thanbronzy like the back. The adult female is paler, dark mouse grayabove, rather than dull black, and paler mouse gray below, ratherthan dark sooty brownish, as in the eastern race.Nesting.?Friedmann (1929) lists the following seven species ashosts of the bronzed cowbird; Derby flycatcher, Audubon's oriole,Arizona hooded oriole, Sclater's oriole, canyon towhee, yellow-throatedsparrow and Guatemala mockingbird. In later papers (1931, 1933and 1938) he adds western white-winged dove, western kingbird,Giraud's flycatcher, Cooper's tanager, Griscom's tanager, Xantus'sbecard, scarlet-headed oriole, and Durango wren.380928?57 30
456 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211M. French Gilman (1914) shows a photograph of a hooded oriole'snest containing two eggs of the bronzed cowbird and four eggs of thedwarf cowbird, also another that held two eggs of the bronzed cowbirdand two of the oriole, both found near Sacaton, Ariz.Herbert Brandt tells me that he examined a nest of this oriole inSabino Canyon, Ariz., that held one egg of the oriole and six eggs of thebronzed cowbird.George N. Lawrence (1874) quotes Col. A. J. Grayson as follows:On the 19th of May, 1868, whilst hunting in the woods near Magatlan, I dis-covered a nest of the Bull-head Fly-catcher (Pitangus derbianus), which is acommon species in this region, and builds a large nest, dome-shaped, the entrancebeing on the side. Whilst I was quietly looking at the nest (which was aboutforty feet from the ground), I observed a female Red-eyed Cowbird among thebranches of the same tree looking very melancoly. Suddenly she darted towardsthe nest, upon the side of which she perched, and immediately attempted toenter, but the vigilance of the fly-catcher was too acute, and observing the intrusionupon her sacred domicile, quickly attacked the Cowbird and drove her instantlyaway. I soon after saw the same bird examining the nest of the Mazatlan Oriole(Icterus pustulatus) , but as there had been no egg yet laid in the nest, it did notseem to suit her, and she soon disappeared in the intricacies of the forests, leavingme strongly impressed as to her intentions.In southern Arizona, we found eggs of the bronzed cowbird in nestsof Scott's oriole and the hepatic tanager.Eggs.?The eggs of the bronzed cowbird are indistinguishable fromthose of the red-eyed cowbird, described under that form. Themeasurements given by Bendire (1895) evidently include the eggs ofboth forms.Plumages.?The molts and plumages of this western race aresimilar to those of the eastern race, but the colors are somewhat palerand grayer in the immature plumages. The young male of this raceis similar to the young female of involucratus, but decidedly paler.The adult male has violet rump and upper tail coverts.Dickey and van Rossem (1938) write:Neither sex reaches maturity until the first postnuptial molt. One-year-oldmales are variously intermediate in coloration between adult males and adultfemales, but acquire more of the male coloration at the time of the prenuptialmolt in spring. One-year-old females are duller and less metallic than matureones and are also slightly smaller. The annual (postnuptial) molt of the adultstakes place in September and October. Adults as well as one-year-old birds have aspring molt, limited in extent and consisting chiefly of the replacement of a rela-tively few feathers about the interscapular region, breast and head.Colors of soft parts.?Adult males in winter: iris, brownish orange to orange-brown; bill, tarsi, and feet, black. Adult males in summer: similar, but iris, scarletto crimson. Females (adult and birds of the year alike at all seasons) : iris, similarto adult males in winter, but averaging paler; bill, tarsi, and feet, brownish orplumbeous black.
MILLERS BRONZED COWBIRD 457Food.?The same authors found milo maize or Egyptian corn intwo stomachs examined, miscellaneous seeds in nine and a caterpillarin one. Gilman (1914) says that they "stay around the barnyardwhere they pick up corn and other grains and scraps from the tablethrown to the chickens; and they also remain around the school yard,where they eat watermelon set in the shade for birds of all kinds."Behavior.?On this subject Dickey and van Rossem (1938) write:Except during the breeding season, red-eyed cowbirds normally wander in largeflocks. Occasionally they consort with the grackles, but as a rule each species islikely to keep pretty well to itself. The largest cowbird assemblages noted were aflock estimated at between 400 and 500, which was seen in some bare trees alongthe road near Santa Rosa on October 24, 1925, and another of about 100 whichwas beach-combing through the litter of the high-tide mark at Barra de Santiagoon April 1, 1927. Groups of less than 50 were decidedly more numerous, and theaverage fall, winter, and early spring flocks contained 25 or 30 birds each.The great disparity in the relative numbers of males and females is noticeableeven in the winter flocks, but becomes still more apparent when the spring break-up occurs. About April 1 or even a little earlier, the flocks disintegrate into littlebands consisting almost invariably of a single old male and his harem of four orfive females. This small group retains its identity as a unit until the following fall.The male is in constant attendance, strutting with shoulder tufts raised and chestpuffed out before first one and then another of his flock, who for the most partignore him completely.In southern Arizona, Harry S. Swarth (1929) observed: "Bands ofsix or eight attended individual horses or steers, often in companywith Dwarf Cowbirds, trotting closely alongside the selected animal inorder to take advantage of the small patch of shade it afforded, andshowing a marked preference for feeding by the animal's head."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Central Arizona to western Mexico.Breeding range.?The bronzed cowbird breeds from central andsoutheastern Arizona (Wickenburg, Phoenix) and southwestern NewMexico (Guadalupe Canyon), south through central Sonora (Opodepe,Guaymas), western Chihuahya (Durazno), and Sinaloa (Labrados,Presidio) to Nayarit (Tepic) and Colima.Winter range.?Winters throughout most of its breeding rangenorth rarely to southern Arizona (Tucson).Casual records.?Accidental in southeastern California (HavasuLake)
.
Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole. Earlydates of spring arrival are: Veracruz?southern Veracruz, April 12.Texas?Mission, April 17. Arizona?Tucson, April 11 (median of 4years, April 23).Late date of spring departure: Sonora?Rancho La Arizona,May 7.
458 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Early date of fall arrival: Sonora?Rancho La Arizona, August 18.Late date of fall departure: Arizona?Tucson, September 22.Egg dates.?Arizona: 9 records, May 30 to July 7; 4 records,June 12 to June 28.Texas: 44 records, April 1 to July 5; 22 records, May 12 to June 8.TANGAVIUS AENEUS AENEUS (Wagler)Red-Eyed Bronzed CowbirdHABITSThe red-eyed cowbird is the best known and most widely distributedof the bronze-backed cowbirds. Its breeding range extends fromeastern Texas (San Antonio) southward along the eastern coastregion of Mexico and Central America as far as Panama. It differsfrom the type race of northwestern Mexico in having the back andrump entirely bronze color, thus lacking the violaceous rump oftypical aeneus. The common names are not helpful in distinguishingour two subspecies, for both have red eyes and both have bronze backs.Alexander F. Skutch contributes the following account of thedistribution and haunts of this species in Central America:
"In northern Central America the red-eyed cowbird is found fromthe lowlands of both coasts far up into the mountains, breeding in thehighlands of western Guatemala at least as high as 8,500 feet abovesea-level. In southern Central America it is less widely distributed.In Costa Rica it appears to be absent from the heavily forestedCaribbean lowlands and from the almost equally heavily forestedlowlands on the Pacific side of the country, to the southward of theGulf of Nicoya; but it is present in the drier lowlands around andto the north of the Gulf of Nicoya (Guanacaste), the central highlands,and the upper portions of the Caribbean slope. It avoids the forest,and its local distribution is largely determined by the presence of opencountry. Hence it is more abundant in the highlands, where there isa dense human population, with many open fields and pastures,than in the less populous and more uniformly forested lowlands.For the same reason, it is more common in the dry and relativelyopen Pacific lowlands, and in arid, mountain-rimmed valleys in theCaribbean drainage, than in the heavily wooded coastal districtsof the Caribbean; yet in Guatemala and Honduras it has invadedthese districts where they have been extensively cleared for bananaplantations and pastures. Red-eyed cowbirds often fly in compactflocks over some of the larger highland cities of Central America, andI have seen many of them in the central plaza of San Jos6, Costa Rica.
"Red-eyed cowbirds perform at least short migrations, largely
RED-EYED BRONZED COWBIRD 459
altitudinal, even in the tropical portions of their range. In themountains above Tecpan, Guatemala, I found them at between8,000 and 9,000 feet only during the nesting season, from Marchuntil July. During this period they were a familiar sight in thepastures about the house which I occupied from early Februaryuntil the end of the year. But in August they vanished, apparentlyhaving descended to lower and warmer regions, and were not seenagain in this locality during the remainder of the year, althougha few were found on the plateau a thousand feet lower. During theyear I spent near Vara Blanca, living in a narrow clearing in themidst of the rain forest of this excessively wet region on the northernslope of the Cordillera Central of Costa Rica, at 5,500 feet abovesea-level, the first red-eyed cowbird was seen on March 28, just asthe nesting season was beginning for the majority of the local birds.I had been present in the same spot since the preceding July, withouthaving seen a single individual. In this instance, I think it probablethat the cowbirds had arrived from the cultivated lands of the centralplateau to the south, passing over the continental divide, which herewas about 6,800 feet high. To the north were scarcely broken forestsleading down to the Caribbean lowlands, where the species is notknown to occur."Courtship.?A. F. Skutch (MS.) gives the following account ofthe courtship: "In the middle of March, I watched a flock of about 50red-eyed cowbirds foraging in a compact group around a straw-pilebeside a granary in the Guatemalan highlands, at an altitude of 7,300feet. Apparently the birds were picking up waste grain. From timeto time, from no apparent cause, they would all take wing in a body,wheel around in a close flock, then drop down again to continue theirgleaning. The breeding season was approaching, and the male cow-birds were already in an amorous mood. Now and again one wouldrise a few feet into the air and hover prettily on beating wings aboveone of the females. Other males perched in the pine trees scatteredabout the field, where each spread and raised his cape until it sur-rounded his head like a black halo, and sang with low, squeakywhistles.
"One evening in July, at about sunset, I witnessed the courtship ofa pair of red-eyed cowbirds beside the Ulna River in Honduras. Thefemale was walking over a lawn, feeding, and the male followed herwith his head thrown back, chest puffed out in front, and wingsquivering, walking with a stiff, seemingly unnatural gait. Of asudden he jumped into the air and remained for about a minute poisedon vibrating wings, about a yard above the female. Then he droppedto the ground in front of her, and with out-fluffed plumage bobbedup and down by flexing his legs. She considered him for a moment,
460 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211but apparently was not impressed by this gallant show, for she rudelyflew away and left him to deflate himself all alone. Then he flew offin pursuit of her."Friedmann (1925) gives a slightly different account of the courtship:On May 6, a pair of Red-eyes was found in a field and the male watched dis-playing to the female. He ruffled up the feathers of his cape or mantle first andthen all the feathers both on the upperparts and the underparts, brought his tailstiffly forward and under, arched his wings slightly, (not more than half as far asit was possible to arch them), and instead of bowing over forwards as does themale of the ordinary Cowbird, merely bent his head so that his bill was touchingthe feathers of his breast for its full extent. Then he suddenly bounced up anddown four times, each bounce taking him about an inch from the ground. Whilebouncing up and down he gave a series of three very deep, guttural, yet bubblingsounds, and then a set of two short and one long squeaky, thin, high notes quitesimilar to the song of the ordinary Cowbird but wheezier, more throaty andshorter. Occasionally he did bow forward a little, but nothing like the extentto which M. ater does.The sexual and territorial relations of the red-eyed cowbird are notwell known. J. C. Merrill (1877), near Brownsville, Tex., found themscattered over the "surrounding country in little companies of one ortwo females and half a dozen males." Friedmann (1929) states: "Inthis species the males outnumber the females to a somewhat greaterdegree than in any other Cowbird as far as I know. During my fieldwork in southern Texas I saw remarkably few females compared tothe number of males noticed. * * *
"That the males establish singing trees and territories is certain asI have noted in several instances that certain males were to be foundevery day in the same tree."Nesting.?Merrill (1877) gives us our first information on thenesting of this cowbird, of which he says:My first egg of M. seneus was taken on May 14, 1876, in a Cardinal's nest.A few days before this a soldier brought me a similar egg, saying he found it ina Scissor-tail's (Milvulus) nest; not recognizing it at the time, I paid little atten-tion to him, and did not keep the egg. I soon found several others, and havetaken in all twenty-two specimens the past season. All but two of these werefound in nests of the Bullock's, Hooded, and small Orchard Orioles (Icterus spuriusvar. affinis) . It is a curious fact that although Yellow-breasted Chats and Red-winged Blackbirds breed abundantly in places most frequented by these Cow-birds, I have but once found the latter's egg in a Chat's nest, and never in aRed-wing's, though I have looked in very many of them. * * * On six occasionsI have found an egg of both Cowbirds in the same nest; in four of these there wereeggs of the rightful owner, who was sitting; in the other two the Cowbird's eggswere alone in the nests, which were deserted. * * * But the most remarkableinstance was a nest of the small Orchard Oriole, found June 20, containing threeeggs of aeneus, while just beneath it was a whole egg of this parasite, also a brokenone of this and of the Dwarf Cowbird.Friedmann (1929) writes: "The Red-eyed Cowbird victimizes rela-tively few species of birds. The various species of Orioles seem to be
RED-EYED BRONZED COWBIRD 461the chief hosts of this parasite." He says that the species, as a whole,
"is definitely known to victimize eleven genera and seventeen speciesand subspecies, but about 75 per cent of all the eggs are laid in nestsof Orioles. I have data on 76 victimized nests all in all and of theseno less than 51 belong to four species of Icterus" In addition to thosementioned above, he includes among the victims of the eastern racethe western blue grosbeak, Audubon's oriole, western mockingbird,Sennett's thrasher, and the Texas wren.Later (1931) he adds three more victims of the eastern race: theMexican ground dove, the Rio Grande redwing, and Scalter's towhee.And, in another paper (1933), he increases the list to 20 known formsand one hypothetical form, including such large birds as Couch'skingbird, and the Costa Rican Thrush, as well as one vireo and fourfinches.Eggs.?Bendire (1895) describes the eggs of the red-eyed cowbirdas "rather glossy; the shell is finely granulated and strong. Theirshape varies from ovate to short and rounded ovate. They are palebluish green in color and unspotted, resembling the eggs of the Black-throated Sparrow andjkBlue^GrosbeakJn^this respect, but are muchlarger."The average measurement of thirty-eight specimens in the UnitedStates National Museum collection is 23.11 by 18.29 millimetres, or0.91 by 0.72 inch. The largest egg of the series measures 24.64 by18.80 millimetres, or 0.97 by 0.74 inch; the smallest, 21.84 by 16.76millimetres, or 0.86 by 0.66 inch."These measurements evidently include the eggs of both races of thespecies. Usually only one egg is laid in a nest of the host, but hementions a nest of Audubon's oriole that held three eggs of the orioleand three of this cowbird.Young.?Friedmann (1929) made the following observations onthe growth and development of young red-eyed cowbirds:I have not seen a newly hatched Red-eyed Cowbird but have found birds oneday old. They resemble young Molothrus ater of corresponding age but are alittle larger in size. The skin is orange-pink; the eye-skin greenish-blue; the billand feet dusky yellowish, the claws light yellow; the gape of the bill swollen andwhite; the inside of the mouth reddish; the down mouse gray and present on thehead, spinal, humeral, alar, and femoral tracts, longest on the head and shorteston the spinal tract; egg-tooth prominent and pyramidal in shape and about 1 mm.high.On the second day the birds nearly double in weight; the skin becomes slightlytinged with brownish; no new neossoptiles appear and the old ones apparentlydo not increase in length. * * *A four day old bird had the primaries and secondaries sprouted; the eyes werestill closed; feather sheaths were present on all the tracts except the head wherethe greenish gray skin (formerly orange), was still covered with light mouse graydown. This bird when five days old measured 82 mm. in length, a considerable
462 "U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
advance over the previous day when it measured only 78 mm. The eyes openedon the fifth day and the sheaths of the rectrices began to push through the skinwhile those of the remiges began to open. The sixth and seventh days saw littlechange except growth and unfurling of the feathers from their sheaths.The young Red-eye seems to get along with the rightful young in the nest betterthan do the young of M. bonariensis or M. ater and it sometimes happens thatsome of the rightful young survive with the parasite although in most cases thelegitimate young last but a few days in face of the competition of the Red-eye.However, they do seem to survive longer with the young Red-eye than do youngSparrows or Warblers with the young of M. ater.This may be partly due to the fact that the victims of the Red-eye are morenearly its own size than are those of the other Cowbirds. * * *When about eleven days old the young Red-eyed Cowbird usually leaves thenest and as a rule stays nearby for several days. For about two weeks and possi-bly more it is cared for by its foster-parents and then shifts for itself. Usuallyby the time this happens the season is well advanced as the Red-eye is a fairlylate breeder, and the young repair to the fields and marshes for the post-juvenalmolt. In these places all the young congregate from all the surrounding country-side and when the molt is finished the birds come out in flocks.Alexander F. Skutch has sent me these notes on the young of thisspecies: "A nest of the green jay (Xanthoura luxuosa) found nearMatias Romero on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, on July 8, 1934,contained a single red-eyed cowbird [probably T.aeneus assimilis], wellfeathered and almost ready to fly, sitting awake and alert between twoyoung jays, larger than itself but naked and slumbering. A nest ofthe yellow-green vireo (Vireo jlavoviridis) , found near Colomba,Guatemala, on July 26, 1935, contained one cowbird nestling in addi-tion to three young vireos. * * * In the dry country about Zacapa,Guatemala, on August 15, 1935, I saw a young cowbird being fed bya female oriole?apparently either Icterus gularis or /. pectoralis, bothof which were numerous in the neighborhood, and difficult to distin-guish unless they are adult males. On June 14, 1933, I saw, on theedge of a maize field in the Guatemalan highlands at an elevation of8,500 feet, a fledgling red-eyed cowbird attended by a pair of Guate-malan spotted towhees (Pipilo maculatus repetens). While theyoungster clamored loudly for food, an adult cowbird alighted besideit, and after an interval touched its open mouth with her (?) bill, butI was too far away to see if any food was given. The adult cowbirdthen flew off, and the towhee came and fed the dusky fledgling."This observation does not prove that the cowbird was feeding its ownyoung, but is significant in connection with similar observations onthe eastern cowbird by Fletcher (1925).Plumages.?The plumages and molts of the red-eyed cowbirddiffer from those of the eastern cowbird in that the young male doesnot acquire the adult plumage until after the first postnuptial molt,the second instead of the first fall; also, he has a partial spring molt.Friedmann's (1929) descriptions of the plumages and molts of the
RED-EYED BRONZED COWBIRD 463
male are as follows: The juvenal plumage is "dull sooty black or darksooty, the feathers of the underparts of the body with more or lessdistinct narrow margins of paler; mandible brownish basally." Thefirst winter plumage, acquired by a complete postjuvenal molt, is
"dull black, the underparts, especially the throat sometimes darksooty brownish; back and scapulars very faintly, the wings, upper tailcoverts and tail strongly, glossed with bluish green; bill, legs and feetblack. Young males in this plumage are similar to adult females.
"First Nuptial Plumage acquired by wear which shows very little,and to a slight extent by molt involving the head and neck and breast.Plumage similar to the first winter plumage but the head, neck, andbreast dull bronzy."The adult winter plumage is acquired by a complete postnuptialmolt; in this the head, neck and body are "greenish bronze, rump likethe back, the plumage soft and silky but not as smooth as in T. a.aeneus; 'presenting the appearance of having been wet and imper-fectly dried' (Kidgway) ; tail coverts blue-black, the upper ones glossedwith violet; wing coverts glossy dark greenish blue, brightest on greatercoverts and tertials, less bright as well as more greenish on primaries,primary coverts and alula; lesser wing coverts dark metallic violet,the middle coverts violet-bluish; tail dark metallic bluish-green orgreenish-blue; bill black; iris red; legs and feet black or blackishbrown."The adult nuptial plumage is acquired by wear and is only slightlybrighter.In the female the molts are the same as in the male. The juvenalplumage is similar to that of the male but paler and grayer, "abovesepia or grayish sepia; beneath paler and grayer, with indistinct nar-row paler margins to the feathers." The first winter plumage is "dullblack, the underparts, especially the throat sometimes dark sootybrown ; back and scapulars very faintly, the wings, upper tail convertsand tail strongly, glossed with bluish-green; neck ruffs much less de-veloped than in the male. The female of this race is much darkerthan that of T. a. aeneus." Adults and young are practically alike inwinter plumage.Food.?Friedmann (1929) writes:As far as my observations go, the Red-eyed Cowbird is entirely graminivorousin its food habits but I feel that more extensive data would show it to feed uponinsects as well. The gizzards of some twenty-odd specimens collected duringMay, 1924, near Brownsville, Texas, contained only weed seeds and a few oats.The oats were undoubtedly picked up in the cavalry stable yards at Fort Brown.As many as 1,500 small grass seeds were found in a single stomach and most of thebirds examined had consumed large numbers of these seeds. From this it may bejudged that the species is highly beneficial in its food habits although its activities
464 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
at times in fields of ripening grain or rice might be less creditable, but of this weknow nothing as yet.The Red-eye associates considerably with cattle and in all probability does sofor the insects it finds scared up by the grazing animals, but my stomach contentexaminations have failed to reveal even a trace of insect food.In southern Vera Cruz these cowbirds evidently do considerabledamage to grain crops, for Alexander Wetmore (1943) says:Red-eyed cowbirds were found in small flocks, regularly at the village, and alsoaround the lagoons. As the corn matured they spread out through the fields tofeed on the grain in company with Cassidix, and at times I saw them in such lo-calities in flocks. When the ears were ripened the natives went into the fields tobend or break the stalks at an abrupt angle below the ears, so that these instead ofstanding upright were turned down toward the ground and were covered by thestalks above. Whole fields treated in this way presented a curious appearance.The theory was that the ears were thus hidden so that they were protected fromdamage by birds. Before this, while grain was in the milky stage, men and boyswent out at dawn to the fields armed with slings and slingshots, or with clods to bethrown by hand. They stood on small elevated platforms of poles that gave themclear view across the corn, where by shouting or by casting missiles they kept thebirds moving and so prevented damage.Alexander F. Skutch contributes this account of the feeding habits:
"True cow-pen buds, the red-eyed cowbirds often forage close besidethe heads of grazing cattle, snatching up the insects which the animalsstir up from their lurking places amid the herbage. They also alightupon the backs of horned cattle and mules to vary their diet withticks and insect pests which they pluck from the animals' skin. Oftenthey forage in the pastures in company with the far bigger giant cow-birds (Psomocolax oryzivorus) and groove-billed anis."The red-eyed cowbirds also joined the giant cowbirds and othermembers of the Icteridae in another and most unexpected form ofhunting. Along the Rio Morjd, a small tributary of the Rio Motaguain Guatemala, was a broad, bare flood plain, covered with small,water-worn stones, where I could count upon watching the cowbirdsfeed almost every evening, from an hour or so before sunset until thesun had sunk behind the cane brakes. The giant cowbirds formed thenucleus of these assemblages, but their party was joined by red-eyedcowbirds, a few great-tailed grackles (especially the males) , and Sumi-chrast's blackbirds (Dives dives). Often a few wild Muscovy duckswould forage near these smaller buds in the shallows; at a little dis-tance, all five species appeared sufficiently black to remind me of thetruth of the old adage 'Buds of a feather flock together'. For somereason, the male giant cowbirds resented the presence of the male red-eyed cowbirds and often pursued them, although they never drovethem far away.The chief occupation of both kinds of cowbirds was stone-turning,for which their strong, black bills seemed well fitted. They moved
RED-EYED BRONZED COWBIRD 465
stone after stone, turning over the smaller ones, pushing aside thosewhich were somewhat larger, and merely raising slightly one side ofthe biggest, to see what edible matter might lurk beneath them.The Sumichrast's blackbirds and the great-tailed grackles joined inthis pursuit, but not so energetically as the cowbirds; for the gracklesespecially preferred to hunt small creatures that lurked in the shallows,where the other stone-turners rarely ventured. All four of theseblackish members of the troupial family turned their stones in exactlythe same fashion: the bird's head was lowered and the tip of its billinserted beneath the near edge of the stone and pushed forward, in theline of advance of the bird. As the decisive push was delivered, thebird's lower mandible was dropped somewhat and its bill held slightlyopen. Whatever small animals lay concealed beneath the stone wereeaten, then the bird proceeded to move another."Behavior.?Skutch (MS.) remarks on their behavior: "As eveningfell, the red-eyed cowbirds and the Sumichrast's blackbirds finishedtheir supper gleaned from the stony flood plain and retired to roost in adense stand of young giant canes (Gynerium sagittatum) growingbehind the barren flats. Until they fell asleep, the blackbirds con-tinued to utter a delightful variety of clear and soothing whistles, buttheir companions the cowbirds were rarely heard."Voice.?Friedmann (1929) writes:The song is confined to the male and is quite similar to that of the ordinaryCowbird (Molothrus ater) but wheezier, throatier, the individual notes shorterand the preliminary guttural notes deeper. It may be written as follows ughgub tse pss tseeee. Frequently the three first notes are omitted and sometimes thelast two are run together. I have heard the song given by birds while flyingand also while on the ground. Strangely enough I never heard it from a bird ina tree although Visher's experience (see above) was just the reverse.The call notes of the Red-eyed Cowbird are not yet well known and are worthcareful study. In my experience with this species, call notes were rarely heardand the few that were noted were all of one type, a harsh, beady, almost raspingchuck. This note seemed to be a feeding note and was used by both sexes. Inever saw or heard anything to indicate that the birds have any other call notes.Field marks.? The led-eyed cowbird is larger than the commoncowbird, nearly the size of Brewer's blackbird, with which it is oftenassociated, but the cowbird's eye is red, while that of the blackbirdis yellow; and the cowbird has a stouter, more conical bill than theblackbird and its bronzy color is conspicuous, contrasting with theviolaceous-green wings and tail. The blood-red eye of this cowbirdis distinctive when near enough; and in the mixed flocks of blackbirdsit can often be recognized by its top-heavy appearance due to thepurling out of the feathers of the head and neck, forming a sort of ruff.Winter.?The red-eyed cowbird is only partially migratory in thelower Rio Grande Valley. Merrill (1877) says; "Here they are com-
466 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211mon throughout the year, a small proportion going south in winter.Those that remain gather in large flocks, with the Long-tailed Grackles,common Cowbirds, and Brewer's, Red-winged, and Yellow-headedBlackbirds; they become very tame, and the abundance of food aboutthe picket-lines attracts them for miles around."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?South-central Texas to eastern and north-central Mexico.Breeding range.?The red-eyed bronzed cowbird breeds fromsouth-central Texas (Eagle Pass, Lee County), and the YucatanPeninsula (Chichen Itza, San Felipe) south through Central Americato western Panama (Calobre, Chitra) ; west to Nuevo Leon (Galeana,Linares) and eastern San Luis Potosi (Valles, Tamazunchale).Winter range.?Winters throughout most of breeding rangeexcept north only to southern Texas (Edinburg, Aransas Pass .Family Thraupidae: TanagersPIRANGA LUDOVICIANA (Wilson)Western TanagerPlate 30HABITSFor many years after its discovery this brilliantly colored birdwas known as the Louisiana tanager, as indicated in Wilson's scientificname, which it still bears. The name seems wholly inappropriatetoday, for it is only a rare migrant in what we now know as the Stateof Louisiana. But, at the time of its discovery, what was then knownas the Louisiana Purchase, or the Territory of Louisiana, extendedfrom the Mississippi River to the Continental Divide and northwardto British Columbia. As the bird was widely distributed over muchof that territory, the name seemed more suitable.The first specimens were obtained by members of the Lewis andClark party on their journey across the northwestern territories of thiscountry, and the frail specimens that they obtained were figured andnamed by Wilson. Later, Townsend and Nuttall obtained some bet-ter specimens, from which Audubon (1841, vol. 3) drew his beautifulplate; Audubon quotes Nuttall as saying:"We first observed this fine bird in a thick belt of wood near Lori-mer's Fork of the Platte, on the 4th of June, at a considerable distanceto the east of the first chain of the Rocky Mountains (or Black Hills),so that the species in all probability continues some distance down thePlatte. We have also seen them very abundant in the spring, in theforests of the Columbia, below Fort Vancouver. On the Platte they
WESTERN TANAGER 467
appeared shy and almost silent, not having there apparently com-menced breeding. About the middle of May we observed the malesin small numbers scattered through the dark pine forests of theColumbia, restless, shy, and flitting when approached, but at lengthmore sedentary when mated."The western tanager breeds from northwestern British Columbia andsouthwestern Mackenzie to southern California, southern Arizona,and central-western Texas, mainly in the mountains in the southernportions of its range, and shows a decided preference for the coniferousforests of pines or firs.In western Washington, in the vicinity of Tacoma and Seattle, wefound this tanager common at lower levels, usually at an elevation of1,500 feet or less, wherever there was a growth of tall Douglas firs, butS. F. Rathbun told me that he sometimes found it as high as 4,000 feetin the mountains.It is a common summer resident in the western half of Montana,where Aretas A. Saunders (1921) says that it breeds "in the Transi-tion and Canadian zones, showing a marked preference for forests ofDouglas fir on the east side of the divide, and for mixed forests ofDouglas fir, yellow pine and larch on the west side. Occurs in migra-tion in cottonwood groves in the valleys."In the Uinta Basin, Utah, Arthur C. Twomey (1942) found that
"this species ranges through a number of altitudinal communities,varying from 7,500 to 10,000 feet, from the yellow pine, blue spruce,aspen, and lodgepole pine, to the alpine fir Communities.
"Western tanagers frequently were heard singing from the tops ofthe highest cottonwoods along the Green River during May, but at notime were they ever numerous. The last to be seen and taken (June 9)in the low country was a female with well-developed ovaries. Thefollowing day, June 10, a trip was made to the yellow-pine forests atGreen Lake. Here the western tanagers were at the height of theirbreeding season. Males could be heard from all corners of the forest,singing their clear song."H. W. Henshaw (1875) says: "In 1873, in Southern Colorado, thespecies was found in small numbers among the cottonwoods along thestreams, at an elevation of about 7,500 feet. On reaching the pines,at an elevation of about 9,000 feet, they were found to be present inmuch greater numbers, and at 10,000 feet were still common."In California, the western tanager occurs as a breeding bird in theconiferous forests of the mountain ranges throughout the State, moresparingly in the coastal ranges, and more abundantly in the SierraNevada, where it breeds from 3,000 feet up to the summits. Onmigrations it occurs over the entire length and breadth of the State,even in the lowlands. Referring to the Lassen Peak region, Grinnell,
468 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Dixon, and Linsdale (1930) say: "During the migrations through thewestern part of the section tanagers were most often observed perchedin the blue oaks, valley oaks, or digger pines. During the summer thebirds were found in the pines, incense cedars, and firs in the mountain-ous portion of the section."In the San Bernardino Mountains, Grinnell (1908) found it breed-ing at from 6,500 to 8,000 feet.In the Guadalupe Mountains of western Texas, Burleigh and Lowery(1940) found that the "western tanager was limited in its distributionduring the summer months to the thick fir woods at the tops of theridges and was not noted at this season of the year below an altitudeof 8,000 feet."In the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona, we found this tanager in thewooded canyons at elevations around 7,000 feet. After I left, twonests were found by my companion, Frank C. Willard, one on June 7and the other on the 14th.Spring.?Frederick C. Lincoln (1939) outlines the spring migrationof the western tanager as follows
:
On the spring migration the birds enter the United States about April 20,appearing first in western Texas and the southern parts of New Mexico andArizona. By April 30, the van has advanced evenly to an approximately east-and-west line across central New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California. Butby May 10, the easternmost birds have advanced only to southern Colorado,while those in the Far West have reached northern Washington. Ten days laterthe northern front of the species is a great curve, extending northeastward fromVancouver Island to Central Alberta, and thence southeastward to northernColorado. Since these Tanagers do not reach northern Colorado until May 20,it is evident that those present in Alberta on that date, instead of having travelednorthward through the Rocky Mountains, which from the location of their summerand winter homes would seem to be the natural route, have reached that provinceby a route through the interior of California, Oregon and Washington to southernBritish Columbia and thence across the mountains, despite the fact that these arestill partly covered with snow at that time.Harry S. Swarth (1904) says of the migration in the vicinity of theHuachuca Mountains in southern Arizona: "They are fairly commonduring the spring migration, the first noted being on April 26, but aremore abundant in the lower oak regions than elsewhere, going inflocks of ten or twelve, often in company with the Black-headedGrosbeaks. Such flocks were seen throughout May and early June,after which they disappeared."W. Otto Emerson (1903) writes of a heavy spring flight in southernCalifornia:One of the most wonderful occurrences of the movements of birds in the seasonof migration, which ever came under my notice, took place at Haywards duringMay, 1896, when countless numbers of Piranga ludoviciana, or Louisiana tanagers,began to make their appearance between May 12 and 14. From the 18th to the
WESTERN TANAGER 46922nd they were to be seen in endless numbers, moving off through the hills andcanyons to their summer breeding range in the mountains. This continued tillthe 28th, and by June 1 only here and there a straggling member of the flock wasto be seen.They were first found feeding on early cherries, in an orchard situated alongthe 6teep bank of a creek, on the edge of rolling hills, well covered with a thickyoung growth of live oaks, which faced the orchard on the east. To this thickcover they would fly, after filling themselves with cherries, and rest till it wastime to eat again. This they would keep up from daylight till dark, coming andgoing singly all day, without any noise whatever^being heard.Two men were kept busy shooting them as fast as they came into the treeswhich lay on the side next to the oak-covered hills. The tanagers at first seemedto take no notice of the gun reports, simply flying to other parts of the orchard.* * * After the first week, I found on going here (May 17), that dozens on dozensof the birds were lying about. For the first two weeks the birds so found weremostly males, but later on the greater numbers were composed of females andyoung of the year. * * *Mr. H. A. Gaylord of Pasadena, Cal., in a letter under date of June 16, 1896,states that 'they were seen singly from April 23 to May 1. From this date upto May 5 their numbers were greatly increased, and by May 5 there was anunusually large number of them. Then for about ten days, until May 16, thegreat wave of migration was at its height." * * * He also says, "the damagedone to cherries in one orchard was so great that the sales of the the fruit whichwas left, did not balance the bills paid out for poison and ammunition. Thetanagers lay all over the orchard, and were, so to speak, 'corded up' by hundredsunder the trees."Through Oregon and Washington the western tanagers migrate inlarge numbers, widely spread through the valleys and open country.Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) write: "In migration, the WesternTanagers excite a great deal of comment, particularly when unusualweather conditions force them to stop over. In late May 1920 wewere together in Harney County when a sudden heavjr snowfallforced down a multitude of migrating birds, many of which remainedfor several days. It was curious to walk through the sagebrush andsee the topmost stalks flame-tipped with the brilliant yellow, red,and black of these birds. Along with them were numbers of HermitWarblers and Gray Flycatchers, certainly a combination odd enoughto intrigue anyone's interest."Referring to El Paso County, Colo., Aiken and Warren (1914) saythat these tanagers "arrive from the south in small flocks of from 3or 4 to 7 or 8, and in migration are found well out on the plains."Nesting.?As the western tanager generally spends the breedingseason among coniferous trees, the nests are usually built in pines orfirs, rarely in a tamarack, and occasionally in oaks or aspens. ThomasD. Burleigh (1921) mentions four nests found near Warland, Mont.,
"one June 4 with five slightly incubated eggs, another June 6 withfour incubated eggs, a third June 22 with four well incubated eggs,and the last July 1 with four fresh eggs. These varied from twenty-
470 V. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211five to thirty-five feet from the ground and were all at the outer endof limbs of large Douglas firs. All were alike in construction, beingcompactly built of fir twigs and rootlets, lined with rootlets and a fewhorse hairs. The female was incubating on the first nest and wouldnot flush and finally had to be lifted from the nest by hand."S. F. Rathbun records in his notes a nest found near Seattle thatwas in an unusual situation: "It was but ten feet above the ground,being placed on one of the lower limbs of a small fir growing by theside of a well-used path leading to a house surrounded by trees.The nest was directly over the path, but three feet from a smallelectric light attached to the trunk of the tree. Being so well builtinto the small twigs growing from the place of attachment, the nestwas hardly discernible from beneath and was found by seeing thefemale alight on the limb and fail to appear."Near Fort Klamath, Oreg., Dr. J. C. Merrill (1888) found thenests usually in pines or firs, but one "was in a young aspen aboutsix feet from the ground."W. L. Dawson (1923) says that, in California, the nest is usuallyplaced on "some horizontal branch of fir or pine, from six to fiftyfeet high, and from three to twenty feet out. * * *"The nest is quite a substantial affair though rather roughly puttogether, of fir twigs, rootlets, and moss, with a more or less heavylining of horse- or cow-hair, and other soft substances."I have a set in my collection, taken by Chester Barlow in El DoradoCounty, Calif., from a nest 40 feet up on the limb of a black oak,and another, taken by Virgil W. Owen in Los Angeles County, froma nest 30 feet up in the top of a live oak. In some notes received along time ago from Owen he states that, in the Chiricahua Moun-tains, Ariz., the nests are usually in pine trees, but that he "hasexamined several in sycamore trees."One of the two Arizona nests found by Willard referred to above,was only 15 feet from the ground in a small fir tree; the other was65 feet up, near the end of a 30-foot limb of a large pine tree (pi. 30).Claude T. Barnes (MS.) found a nest in a canyon near Salt LakeCity, Utah, that was "placed on the fork of a horizontal limb of amountain balsam (Abies lasiocarpa) ," about 12 feet above his head.Eggs.?The western tanager lays from three to five eggs to a set,perhaps most often three in the southern portions of its range. In15 sets taken by Owen in southern Arizona, 10 contained three eggsand only five were sets of four. They are ovate in shape, with sometendency toward short ovate, and are moderately glossy. The fol-lowing description is taken from notes sent to me by William GeorgeF. Harris. The ground color may be "pale Nile blue," "bluishglaucous," "deep bluish glaucous," or "Etain blue." The eggs are
WESTERN TANAGER 471marked with irregular specks, spots or blotches of "raw umber,""mummy brown," 'Trout's brown," or "Saccardo's umber." Thesemarkings are generally well distributed over the entire egg; even so,there is usually a concentration toward the large end, and often adistinct wreath is formed. On some of the finely speckled eggs thebrowns are so dark as to appear almost black. The undertones of
"brownish drab" or "deep brownish drab" are usually more pro-nounced on the more heavily marked eggs, and entirely lacking onothers.The measurements of 50 eggs average 22.9 by 16.8 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extreme measure 25.9 by 16.3, 23.0 by 19.1,20.3 by 16.3, and 23.9 by 15.2 millimeters.Young.?Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock (1904) writes: "Incubationlasts thirteen days, and is performed by the mother bird alone, themale rarely if ever going to the nest until the brood are hatched. Assoon as the nestlings are out of the shell, however, he assumes his fullshare of the labor of feeding them. In the case of one brood at Slip-pery Ford in the Sierra Nevada, the male brought fifteen large insectsand countless smaller ones in the half hour between half-past four andfive one June morning. During most of the day the trips to the nestwith food averaged ten minutes apart. The longest period of fastingwas twenty-three minutes, and the shortest one and one-half minutes."The nest was too high up for her to positively identify the food, butshe saw the old birds catch insects for them in the air, and thought sherecognized caterpillars and dragon-flies in the bills of the parents.In a nest containing large young, watched for an hour by Claude T.Barnes (MS.), the male fed the young seven times and the female fedthem four times. The longest interval between feedings was tenminutes and the shortest one minute. The food consisted of insectsand larvae.Plumages.?Dr. Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage ofthe western tanager as "above, yellowish green obscurely streaked.Wings and tail dull black, edged with olive-yellow, forming on thecoverts two wing bands. Below, pale yellow with dusky streaks onthe breast, similar to the young of other Tanagers." A. D. Du Bois(MS.) describes a small nestling, recently out of the nest, as "con-spicuously marked with buff and blackish about the head, the crownbeing buff, bordered by broad black stripes."The postjuvenal molt, which occurs in July in California, involvesthe contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wingsnor the tail. It produces a first winter plumage which differs from thejuvenal in being unstreaked and brighter colored. Dwight describesthe young male as, "above, olive-37ellow, brownish on the back, thewing bands strongly tinged with lemon-yellow, the one at the tips of380928?57 31
472 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211greater coverts palest. Below, clear lemon-yellow, a slight orangetinge often on forehead and chin."A. J. van Rossem has sent me the following notes on the molts andplumages of the males: "From the well-known postjuvenal [firstwinter] plumage, which is very similar to that of the adult female,they change, in the latter part of March or the first part of April, intoa plumage similar to that of the adult, except that the dusky, greenishrectrices, primaries with their coverts, and secondaries are retained.The secondary coverts and tertials are renewed with the body plumage;the renewal of the tertials is usual, but not invariable. It may beunilateral or bilateral, and ma}7 involve one, two, or three pairs offeathers. The alula is occasionally renewed also. While there isconsiderable variation among individuals, these one-year-old males are,as a whole, somewhat less brilliant than the adults. The black of theupper part is duller and more or less intermixed with greenish; thered on the head paler, less intense, and more restricted in area; and theyellows decidedly duller and less brilliant.
"At the fall [first postnuptial] molt, the dusky flight and tail fea-thers are replaced with the black ones of maturity. The fall bodyplumage is substantially like that of the adult nuptial, save that thehead is yellowish green instead of red, and most of the feathers aretipped with olive. This tipping is most pronounced dorsally, but isapparent also across the breast. The chin and throat are nearlyconcolor with the rest of the under parts."The adult spring plumage is attained in much the same manner asis the first nuptial. Whether this is a complete body molt, as is thecase with the first nuptial, is uncertain. There is no question as to theentire anterior half of the body. The posterior half is molted to atleast a considerable degree, but whether the spring molt of the adultincludes all the posterior half, and such wing feathers as are replacedin the one-year-old, it is impossible to say at this time; the evidence isthat it does not."Dwight (1900) says of the plumages of the female: "The plumagesand moults correspond to those of the male. The juvenal dress ispractically indistinguishable from that of the male. The first winterplumage is rather duller, being browner above and paler below. Thefirst nuptial plumage is acquired by a very limited prenuptial moult,such wing coverts as are acquired being duller than those of the maleand the few orange-tinged feathers paler, the whole bird paler andgrayish. The adult winter plumage is brighter than the first winter,and in adult nuptial plumage a few orange feathers may appearacquired by prenuptial moult."Food.?F. E. L. Beal (1907) examined only 46 stomachs of thewestern tanager, taken in various parts of California from April to
WESTERN TANAGER 473September, inclusive. The food in these consisted of over 82 percentinsects and nearly 18 percent fruit. Of the insect food, he says:The largest item of the animal food is Hymenoptera, most of which are wasps,with some ants. Altogether they amount to 56 percent of the food for the sixmonths, and in August they reach 75 percent. * * * Hemiptera stand next inimportance, with 8 percent. They are mostly stink-bugs, with a few cicadas.Beetles amount to 12 percent of the food, of which less than 1 percent are usefulCarabidae. The remainder are mostly click-beetles (Elateridae) and the metallicwood-borers (Buprestidae), two very harmful families. The former in the larvalstage are commonly known as wireworms, and bore into and destroy or badlyinjure many plants. The Buprestidae, while in the larval stage, are wood-borersof the worst description. Grasshoppers were eaten to the amount of 4 percent,and caterpillars to the extent of less than 2 percent.The greater part of the fruit eaten appeared to be the pulp of some large kindlike peaches or apricots. One stomach contained seeds of elderberries; anotherthe seeds and stems of mulberries, and two the seeds of raspberries or blackberries.Nearly all these stomachs were collected in the mountains, away from extensiveorchards, but still the birds had obtained some fruit, probably cultivated.It is to be regretted that the stomachs of those birds killed in thecherry orchards were not saved; they might have told a differentstory.In Nevada, Robert Ridgway (1877) noted that in May these tan-agers "were very numerous in the rich valley of the Truckee, nearPyramid Lake, where they were observed to feed chiefly on the budsof the grease-wood bushes (Obione confertifolia) , in company withthe Black-headed Grosbeak and Bullock's Oriole. * * * In Septemberthey were noticed to feed extensively on the fruit of the Crataegusrivularis, in company with the Red-shafted Flicker, Gairdner'sWoodpecker, the Cedar-bird, and the Cross-bills (Loxia americanaand L. leucoptera) ."Dawson (1923) says: "A lady in Monticito, noting the predi-lection of the birds for fruit, had a wheel-like arrangement placedon top of a stake driven in her lawn. Upon the end of each spokehalf an orange, freshly cut, was made secure. The Tanager saw andappreciated; and the lady had the satisfaction of seeing as man}' astwelve Tanagers feeding on the wheel at one time."Rathbun sent me the following note: "Aug. 15, 1922. Thisevening shortly before sunset, we noticed one of these birds in thegarden. This individual was busy catching flying ants, termites(Termojjsis anyusticollis) , its actions while so doing being identicalwith those of the flycatchers. We could plainly see the bird takethese insects from the air, and on one occasion it ascended straightupward 40 feet and captured one of the insects with the greatestease, then dropped almost vertically to the spot from which it flew.During intervals of watching from its perch the tanager would re-main perfectly motionless with the exception of moving its head
474 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211from side to side while scanning the air. No attempt made by itwas unsuccessful."Mrs. Wheelock (1904) tells of young tanagers fly-catching amongthe pines late in August: "They were following the flycatcher fashionof catching insects on the wing, beginning when the sun touched thetops of the trees and moving downward as the day advanced and theinsect life nearer the ground awoke to activity. In like manner theyretreated to the tree tops as the shadows fell in the afternoon."Economic status.?The damage done to the ripening cherries inCalifornia during the spring migration of these tanagers apparentlycan be quite serious at times, but this does not occur every springand then only when the migration which often follows the foothillsof the mountain ranges far away from the large fruit orchards, isunusually heavy. This tanager destroys many injurious insects,and a careful study of its food will show that it is about 80 percentbeneficial and probably not over 20 percent harmful.Behavior.?As evidence that the western tanager is not too shy, Iquote the following from some notes sent to me by A. Dawes DuBois: "Flathead County, Mont., July 24, 1914: There was quitean assemblage of birds at the spring this morning, waiting their turnsfor a bath. I stood on the brink of the spring with one foot bracedup the slope. A young Louisiana tanager bathed at my feet. Itsmother came, with food in her bill, to a branch less than 3 feet frommy head, but, becoming suspicious, did not feed. Instead, she ut-tered signal notes, addressed no doubt to the young one. It paidlittle heed, looked me over and bathed again; then sat on a lowbranch close to my feet and preened its feathers. Father tanagercame?gorgeous in his coat of many colors?and, as I stood like astatue, he hopped on the ground beneath me, between my feet, butdid not go in for a bath."Barnes (MS) says: "The flight is in an unwavering line with fairlyrapid wing beats."Voice.?Aretas A. Saunders writes to me: "In my experience withthis species in Montana, the song of this bird is very similar to thatof the scarlet tanager. Perhaps, if I had made records at that time,I would have found a definite difference, but the general sound ofthe song certainly is very similar, if not identical."My impression of the song of the western tanager, as I heard it inBritish Columbia in 1911, was that it resembled the robinlike songof the scarlet tanager. Rathbun says in his notes: "The tanagerseems to chant its song. Some of its notes are a reminder of certainof the robin's, but have roughness lacking in the former. But itssong is very pleasing, carrying a suggestion of the wildness and free-
WESTERN TANAGER 475dom of the woodland?not of the country that has felt the influenceof mankind."W. Leon Dawson (1923) writes: "While chiefly silent during themigrations, the arrival of the birds upon their chosen summer sitesis betokened by the frequent utterance of a pettish pit-ic or pit-itic.The full-voiced song grows with tho season, but at its best it is littlemore than an 6tude in R. * * * I can detect no constant differencebetween the song of the Western Tanager and that of the ScarletTanager (P. erythromelas) , save that that of the former is oftenerprefaced with the call note, thus: Piteric whew, we soor a-ary e-eeriewitooer. This song, however, is less frequently heard than that ofthe Scarlet Tanager, East."Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says of it: "A Tanager is always deliberateand often sits for a long period on one perch singing short phrasesat longish intervals. The song sounds much like a Robin's; it ismade up of short phrases with rising and falling inflections pir-ripir-ri pee-wi pir-ri pee-wi. It is hoarser than a Robin's, lower inpitch and rarely continued for more than four or five phrases; it lacksthe joyous ringing quality of the Robin's. The Tanager's call noteis one of the most characteristic sounds of the mountains of Cali-fornia and the evergreen forests in the lowlands of Oregon and Wash-ington. It may be written prit-it or pri-titick, followed often by alower chert-it."He writes the note of the young as chi-wee, "suggesting the note ofthe young Willow Goldfinch or the call of the Purple Finch." DuBois (MS.) calls it "a musical pe-o-weet," the middle note low.Field marks.?The adult male western tanager is unmistakable,with his brilliant yellow body, his black back, tail, and wings and witha touch of red on his head; his colors fairly gleam among the darkgreen of the conifers. His mate is more quietly colored, olive aboveand yellow below, with no black hi her plumage and rarely a tinge oforange on her forehead; she might be mistaken for a female scarlettanager, except for her two white wing bars. The white, or yellowishwhite, wing bars are characters of the species at all ages or seasons.The call note is more distinctive than the song.Enemies.?The Nevada cowbird has been known, but only in afew cases, to lay its eggs in nests of the western tanager. Probablythe tanager has other feathered and furred enemies, but the sharp-shinned hawk seems to be the only one recorded.Fall.?S. F. Rathbun tells me that, in western Washington, theautumnal migration begins about the middle of August and continuesup to the middle of September. Farther south, where the birds breedin the mountains, they descend to the foothills and valleys in Augustbefore they start on their southward migration to a warmer climate.
476 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211A. J. van Rossem (1936), referring to the Charleston Mountains inNevada, says:The first evidence of migration was noted about mid-August, when there wasan obvious decrease in the number of the tanagers about our camp, and by the28th of the month the species was so rare that perhaps not more than one a daywould be seen at the spring. There seemed to be a gap in the time between thedeparture of the summer visitants and the arrival of extraterritorial migrants, foron September 11 and 15 we found small flocks migrating commonly at IndianSprings and on the 14th numbers were observed up to 8,500 feet in Lee Canon.The latest date we have is October 7, 1931, at which time a single bird was takenat the lower (8,200 feet) spring in Lee Canon. In the Sheep Mountains tanagerswere migrating commonly through the yellow-pine zone from September 16 to19, 1930."Swarth (1904) says that in the Huachuca Mountains, in Arizona,western tanagers reappeared on the fall migration "about the thirdweek in July, rapidly increasing in numbers from then on. Through-out August the}7 remained in large flocks composed mostly of youngbirds and females, with but a sprinkling of old males, and theirfavorite food at this time seemed to be the wild cherries, of whichthere is an abundance in the mountains."In the Uinta Basin, in Utah, according to Twomey (1942): "Themain fall migration wave struck the lower river valleys of the Basinduring the first two weeks of September. They never were seen inany numbers at this time. They seemed to scatter over the valleysand to move rapidly south. After the middle of September no furtherindividuals were observed."Winter.?The main whiter range of the western tanager is fromcentral Mexico and Cape San Lucas southward to Costa Rica, ac-cording to the 1931 A. O. U. Check-List. Dickey and van Rossem(1938) say of its status in El Salvador:Common, at times even abundant, winter visitant everywhere in the AridLower Tropical Zone and locally in adjacent parts of the oak and pine regions.Found from sea level to 3,500 feet. * * *It was rather surprising to find western tanagers wintering so commonly nearly200 miles south of the southernmost point from which they were previously known.The first arrivals to be detected were two old males which were seen in themimosa thickets at Divisadero November 12, 1925. No more were observeduntil collecting was started on Mt. Cacaguatique November 20, 1925, when thespecies was found to be extremely common everywhere through the coffee andalso in the pines and oaks a few hundred feet higher. From the latter part ofDecember until the middle of February, western tanagers were generally distrib-uted everywhere over the lowlands, but later on were again found only above2,000 feet. The impression in the field was that they arrived via the highlands,that part of the population spread out over the lowlands during the winter andthen retired again to the hills for the short period remaining before the northwardflight. At any rate, none was seen at any locality below 2,000 feet after February19, though there were plenty of birds above that level for over two months longer.
WESTERN TANAGER 477There were no marked migrations at any time. The departure was a gradualone with ever-decreasing numbers in evidence after April 1. The last individualnoted was taken at Chilata April 23, 1927.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southern Alaska and central-western Canada south acrosswestern United States to Costa Rica.Breeding range.?The western tanager breeds from southernAlaska (lower Stikine River), northern British Columbia (Glenora,Peace River parklands), southwestern and central-southern Mackenzie(Fort Liard, Fort Smith), northeastern Alberta (Fort Chipewyan), andcentral Saskatchewan (Nipawin); south to northern Baja California(Sierra Juarez, Sierra San Pedro Martir), southern Nevada (CharlestonMountains), southwestern Utah (Zion Park), central and southeasternArizona (Bill Williams Mountain, south to Santa Catalina, Santa Rita,Huachuca, and Chiricahua Mountains), southwestern New Mexico(Black Mountains), and western Texas (Guadalupe, Davis, andChisos Mountains) ; east to western South Dakota (Short Pines Hills,Black Hills), northwestern Nebraska (Black Hills), and centralColorado (Colorado Springs, Beulah). One breeding record forsouthern Wisconsin (Jefferson County).Winter range.?Winters from southern Baja California (LaPaz, Miraflores), Jalisco (Cruz de Vallarta), and southern Tamaulipas(Guemes, Altamira); south on the Pacific side of the ContinentalDivide through Guatemala and El Salvador to northwestern CostaRica (Tempate) ; casually north to California (Santa Barbara, SanDiego), southeastern Arizona (Tucson) and southern Texas (Browns-ville).Casual records.?Accidental in northern Alaska (Point Barrow),Yukon (Kluane), Minnesota, central Nebraska, Missouri, easternTexas, Louisiana (New Orleans, Grand Isle), Mississippi (Gulfport),Quebec (Kamouraska) , Maine (Bangor), Massachusetts (Lynn,Brookline), New York (Highland Falls), and Connecticut (NewHaven)
.
Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Tamaulipas
?
G6mez Farias region, March 29. Nuevo Leon?Monterrey, April 16.Sinaloa?Arroyo de Limones, April 16. Sonora?Alamos, March 30.Louisiana?Jefferson Parish, March 19. Minnesota?Minneapolis,May 11. Texas?Port Arthur, April 17; El Paso, April 18. KansasMorton County, May 2. Nebraska?North Platte, May 8. SouthDakota?Custer City, May 24. Manitoba?Brandon, June 7.Saskatchewan?Big River, May 23. Mackenzie?Grand Rapids,May 21; Fort Simpson, May 31. New Mexico?Albuquerque, April22. Arizona?Tombstone, April 8; Tucson, April 13^(median^of 6
478 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211years, April 30). Colorado?Colorado Springs, May 2 (median of26 years, May 18). Utah?Saint George, May 13. Wyoming
?
Wheatland, May 1; Laramie, May 13 (average of 11 years, May 23).Idaho?Grangeville, May 10; Meridian, May 13 (median of 4 years,May 16). Montana?Fortine, May 9 (median of 21 years, May 20).Alberta?Banff, April 30 (median of 7 years, May 21) ; Pelican Portage,Athabasca River, May 19. California?San Clemente Island, March23 ; Los Angeles County, April 7 (median of 27 years, May 1) . Nevada
?Carson City, May 2; Colorado River, Clark County, May 7.Oregon?Josephine County, April 11. Coos County, May 1 (medianof 7 years, May 5). Washington?Shelton, April 15 (median of 5years, May 3) ; Spokane, April 24 (median of 6 years, May 5). BritishColumbia?Okanagan Landing, April 29 (median of 18 years, May 10)
;
Comox, Vancouver Island, May 4 (median of 24 years, May 13).Alaska?Point Barrow region (only record), May 24.Late dates of spring departure are: El Salvador?Chilata, April 23.Guatemala?La Perla, April 8. Michoac&n?Tacambaro, April 28.San Luis Potosi?Tamazunchale, April 22. Sonora?Hacienda deSan Rafael, May 18. Baja California?San Antonio del Mar, April28. Louisiana?Grand Isle, May 11. Kansas?Finney County,June 1. Nebraska?North Platte and Stapleton, May 27. ArizonaWhetstone Mountains, June 2; Casa Grande, June 1. ColoradoDenver, June 6 (median of 15 years, May 25); Yuma, June 4. Cali-fornia?Berkeley, June 7; Pasadena, May 26. Nevada?HumboldtNational Forest, Elko County, May 31.Early dates of fall arrival are: Washington?Yakima, July 24.Oregon?Weston, July 1 . California?Death Valley, July 3 ; Berkeley,July 17 (median of 14 years, August 13). Colorado?Beulah, July 31(median of 5 years, August 3). Arizona?Mount Trumbull Region,August 4; Phoenix and Whetstone Mountains, August 12. NewMexico?Cloudcroft, July 18. Manitoba?Brandon, July 19. TexasPalo Duro State Park, August 10; El Paso, Brenkam, and Commerce,August 29. Baja California?San Lucas, September 27. Sonora?SanBernardino Ranch, August 28. Coahuila?Las Delicias, August 12.Guatemala?Panajachel, November 11. El Salvador?Divisadero,November 12. Honduras?Tegucigalpa, November 2.Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?Marpole,Kootenay District, October 8; Okanagan Landing, September 16(median of 13 years, September 6); Hazelton, August 30. Washing-ton?Seattle, October 16 (median of 5 years, Septbemer 23); Spokane,September 29. Oregon?Klamath County, September 28; ForestGrove, September 25. Nevada?Lee Canon, Clark County, October7; Carson City, September 18. California?Oakland, November 2(median of 15 years at Berkeley, September 25). Alberta?Henry
SCARLET TANAGER 479House, September 10. Montana?Fortine, September 25 (medianof 18 years, August 27). Idaho?Bayview, September 24. Wyo-ming?Laramie, October 22 (median of 10 years, October 2). Utah
?
Green Lake, Uinta Basin, September 15. Colorado?Pueblo, October14; Fort Morgan, October 11 (median of 14 years, September 28).Arizona?Tonto Basin, October 9. New Mexico?Clayton, October 3.Mackenzie?Fort Resolution, July 12. Manitoba?Treesbank, Sep-tember 4. South Dakota?Rapid City, October 2. Nebraska?SiouxCounty, October 1. Oklahoma?Kenton, September 25. Texas?ElPaso, September 25. Mississippi?Gulfport, October 25. SonoraCaborca, October 30.Egg dates.?Alberta: 4 records, June 7 to June 15.California: 50 records, May 7 to July 15; 25 records, June 10 toJune 21.Colorado : 6 records, May 19 to June 28; 3 records, June 1 1 to June 14.Oregon: 10 records, June 11 to July 8; 5 records, June 13 to June 21.PIRANGA OLIVACEA (Gmelin)Scarlet TanagerPlates 31, 32, and 33Contributed by Winsor Marrett TylerHABITSThe scarlet tanager is a bird of contradictions. It possesses abrilliancy of plumage almost unrivaled among North American birds,yet the tanager, even the scarlet male, is seldom conspicuous; itscharacteristic song is diagnostic to those of us who know it well, yetwhen the tanager is heard singing, it is often mistaken for a robin, arose-breasted grosbeak, or even for a red-eyed vireo, birds which singsomewhat like it: thus, unseen and unheard (or unregarded), itis often considered a rare bird, even in localities where it breedscommonly. The behavior of the tanager largely accounts for thisanomaly.Spring.?The scarlet tanager comes back to New England from thetropics during the height of the spring migration, at a time when amultitude of birds, residents and migrants, are here in great profusion.The expanding leaves are fast shading the bare branches, shuttingfrom our view countless perches in the treetops where a bird may bealmost invisible, so that the tanager, an arboreal bird of quiet demean-or, practically disappears from sight, hidden in the labyrinth of leafybranches. Even when in full view against a bright sky, the bird oftenappears as a shape rather than a bit of color, although sometimes, of
480 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
course, when on a prominent perch the bird seems to blaze with color
?
as Frank Bolles (1891) says: "his plumage*seemed^burning amongthe leaves."At the time of his arrival the chorus of bird music is a confusingmedley from which few voices stand out clear and separate, and as thetanager's song bears to many ears more than a superficial resemblanceto those of some other buds, he often passes unnoticed. Yet the tana-ger is a fine songster and sings freely all spring and summer long.Every few years in May comes a prolongedjperiod of heavy rainwhich washes the insects from the trees and shrubs, and forces thearboreal birds to feed on the ground. During these periods the hordesof migrating warblers collect in the fields to seek insects among thegrass blades. Here the tanagers gather too, making spots of glow-ing color in the open country.Alexander Sprunt, Jr. (1924), calls attention to the fact that
"although this species has been taken on the coast of South Carolinaon a few former occasions, * * * this record [of a bird collected onone of the barrier islands of South Carolina] is of interest in that nospecimen, heretofore, has been taken on any coast island, or in suchclose proximity to the ocean."Audubon (1841) stresses the same point. He says: "My friend Dr.Bachman informs me that they are seldom met with in the maritimedistricts of South Carolina; and that there they follow the mountainrange as it were for a guide."Francis M. Weston (MS) writes: "The scarlet tanager is a regularand somewhat abundant spring migrant through the Pensacola region.Occurrence is usually restricted to the latter half of April, but, in thecourse of 30 years of observation, I have noted tanagers as early asApril 5, 1937, and as late as May 15, 1940. As with other trans-Gulfmigrants, their abundance on this coast is conditioned by the weather.In seasons when long spells of clear weather offer no obstacle topassage across this region, few tanagers are seen; in seasons when spellsof rain, heavy fog, or strong northerly winds interfere with the north-ward flight, incoming migrants from acrosslthe Gulf stop when theyreach this coast. At such times, the coastal woods swarm with tana-gers until on the first favorable night, they are off again, and the woodsare deserted."Alexander F. Skutch (MS.) reports: "In Central America the scarlettanager is known only as a passage migrant in both fall and spring.In the 15 years during which I have given attention to the spring mi-gration, I have recorded the scarlet tanager only five times, at datesranging from March 29 to April 30. All these records were made inCosta Rica, four of them in El General in the southern part of thecountry on the Pacific slope, the fifth at Vara Blanca, at an altitude of
SCARLET TANAGER 4815,500 feet in the central mountains. These migrating scarlet tanagerswere all seen singly, except a male and a female which on April 21,1940, were keeping company as though mated. While migratingthrough Central America, the scarlet tanagers forage high up in theforest trees, and possibly for this reason, rather than because of actualscarcity, they have been so seldom recorded.
"Early in the morning of April 29, 1942, I heard the oft-repeatedsong of a scarlet tanager in the forest near my home in southern CostaRica. He sang again in the same place on the following morning
?
arich, deep-toned song which brought to mind forests of oak and hickorywhither he was bound, far away in the north. Later I succeeded inglimpsing him, a splendid male in full nuptial array of scarlet and blackamid the golden blossoms in the top of a tall mayo tree (Vochysiafeiruginea) at the edge of the forest. Could he expect to find, in thosefar northern woodlands, another tree which would provide so gloriousa background for his flaming plumage and his cheerful song?"Courtship.?The tanager presumably has no marked ritual ofcourtship, for the literature speaks of it seldom and sparingly. For-bush (1929) gives us a hint, saying: "In hot weather the males ofthis species often may be seen with the wings drooping and tailcocked up, which gives them a jaunty appearance. This posture isexaggerated during courtship by dragging the wings and fluffingup the scarlet plumage, which may add to his attractiveness in theeyes of his expectant consort." Francis H. Allen (MS.) gives adifferent picture. He says: "A female called chip-err a few timesin the top of a tree and was there joined by a male, which leanedforward towards her with closely appressed plumage, giving hima very attenuated appearance, and held his wings out from the bodyand drooped, with a sharp bend at the wrist. That is, the primarieswere not extended, but the forearm was, and was held drooping atan angle of perhaps forty-five degrees from the horizontal."Early in June 1943, I heard a bird note which I did not recognize,repeated over and over with a slight questioning rise in pitch at theend. It was not a whistle, but a roughened note which might bespelled kiree; it resembled the tone which physicians term the "spokenvoice," as heard through a stethoscope. I looked up, and abovemy head was a pair of scarlet tanagers perched close together on abranch. One of them was making the sound?perhaps both of themwere. The male was beside his mate, facing the same way, almosttouching her. She was crouched down on the perch, and her wingswere quivering. It was evidently the moment just before the cul-mination of courtship.Nesting.?The tanager builds a rather small, flat, loosely con-structed nest, using as materials twigs and rootlets, lining it with
482 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211weed stems and grasses. It is generally placed well out from thetrunk of a tree on a horizontal branch, usually not far from 20 feetabove the ground. A. C. Bent (MS.) describes a nest containingfour eggs as being "15 feet up and 8 feet out, near the end of a hori-zontal limb of a hemlock, beside a path in woods of mixed trees; itwas made of very fine twigs, coarse grass, and weed stems, and linedwith fine grass."W. G. F. Harris (MS.) found in Rehoboth, Mass., a nest "about15 feet from the ground against the trunk of a small beech tree. Avery loose and comparatively flat nest of long rootlets (many ofthem over 12 inches long), it was lined with finer rootlets and dryweed stems. Its outside measurements, in millimeters, were height64, and diameter 115; the cup had a depth of 40 and a diameter of66 millimeters."A. D. DuBois (MS.) speaks of a nest "about 45 feet from the groundin an ash tree which stood in a pasture just outside the wood. Thenest was placed well out from the trunk, at forks of a branch whichextended upward at an angle of 45 degrees." F. W. Rapp (MS.)reports to A. C. Bent his discovery in Michigan of what he "con-siders as colony nesting." He says: "Between the latter part ofMay and the middle of June 1897, I found nine nests of the tanagerin a area of about three acres, in the midst of a 40-acre tract of oaknear Vicksburg. These nests were loosely but firmly constructedof small sticks and twigs and could be looked through from below."Eight of these nests were in oaks (white, black and scarlet) and onewas in a maple tree, ranging from 25 to 32 feet above the ground.Bent tells me that he found a nest of the scarlet tanager in an appletree in an orchard, and another on a branch of a small red cedar inan old hillside pasture.Eggs.?The scarlet tanager lays from three to five eggs to a set,usually four. They are usually ovate in shape, sometimes tendingto short ovate, and are only moderately glossy. The ground coloris "bluish glaucous," "deep bluish glaucous," "light Niagara green,"
"pale Niagara green," or "etain blue." The irregular spots orblotches are of "auburn," "chestnut," "bay," and "argus brown."There is considerable variation in the amount of the markings; theeggs maj7 be minutely speckled or boldly spotted. These spots maybe evenly distributed over the entire egg, but there is usually a con-centration toward the large end, where often a wreath is formed;and occasionally they are confluent, forming a solid cap at the largeend. The undertones of "deep brownish drab" are not visible onall eggs, but are best seen on the more boldly marked types. Inmost cases the markings are distinct, but occasionally they are
SCARLET TANAGER 483somewhat clouded and portions of the ground color are concealed bya suffusion of light brown. Rarely a set of eggs may be found withone or more eggs entirely lacking the blue ground color, which isreplaced by a creamy white color, upon which are the usual brownspots.The measurements of 50 eggs, according to Harris, average 23.3by 16.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure26.9 by 16.8, 23.9 by 17.8, 19.8 by 16.0 ,and 21.3 by 15.2 millimeters.Young.?Louis S. Kohler (1915a) reports on the study of threenests of the scarlet tanager found in New Jersey. The incubationperiod was 13 days in one nest, and 14 days in the other two nests,the incubation in all three nests being performed wholly by thefemale parent. In the first nest both parents fed the young, whichwere hatched on July 5, until they were fledged, a period of 15 days,when "the male disappeared from the vicinity and the young wereseen daily with the adult female until August 1st when they alldisappeared." In the second nest the young were fed by both parentsfor 2 days. After this "the male discontinued his efforts and onlyvisited the nest at intervals of perhaps 30 minutes bringing no food,and finally "left the vicinity." The female, unaided, raised three ofthe four young. At the third nest the young were fed for 2 days bythe female, the male "never approaching the nest closer than five orsix feet. However, at the beginning of the third day the male beganbringing food to the 3'oungsters and continued to do so for five daysthereafter. At this time, for some inconceivable reason, he took a greatdislike to his mate and their offspring and began administeringvicious pecks and jabs with his beak at her and the young. Shequickly took on a defensive mood and after several hours of conflictdrove him off and kept him away. * * * The young of this broodprogressed with equal regularity with Number One and about August1st moved from the vicinity of the nest about two hundrd feet downthe valley and here were seen with the mother bird until the 15thwhen they also disappeared."Plumages.?[Author's Note: Dwight (1900) describes thejuvenal plumage as "above, olive-yellow, including sides of head andneck, the back greener with dusky edgings. Wings and tail dullbrownish black, the secondaries, wing coverts, tertiaries, and rectricesedged with olive-yellow, whitish on the tertiaries and primaries.Below, dull white, sulphur-yellow on the abdomen and crissum,broadly streaked on the breast and sides with grayish olive-brown."The sexes are alike in this plumage.A partial postjuvenal molt occurs in late July and August, involvingthe contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings
484 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 1 1
nor the tail. I have seen a young bird in full juvenal plumage aslate as August 11, and have seen the beginning of the molt as earlyas July 24.Dwight (1900) describes the first winter plumage of the young maleas "above, including sides of head deep olive-yellow or pale olive-green. Below, citron-yellow. The wing coverts are jet-black edgedwith olive-yellow, but frequently only a part of them are renewed."He says of the first nuptial plumage:Acquired by a partial prenuptial moult probably in March and April whichinvolves the body plumage, wing coverts, tertiaries and the tail but not theprimaries, their coverts, the secondaries and usually not the alulae. The bodyplumage becomes scarlet vermilion varying in intensity sometimes pale or mixedwith orange, usually paler but often indistinguishable from the adult. Thetibiae become black and red often retaining a few old greenish feathers. Blacktertiaries and black wing coverts without edgings are assumed in sharp contrastto the worn brown flight feathers which mark adults in nuptial dress. It is notunusual for only a part of the wing coverts or tertiaries to be renewed and as afreak, scarlet coverts are occasionally assumed. Greenish feathers of the firstwinter dress left over are comparatively infrequent on the body, the moultusually being quite complete.I have seen .young males in this first nuptial plumage in which thebody color is decidedly yellowish, varying from "cadmium orange" to"cadmium yellow" or "light cadmium," often more tinged withorange above and yellower below. Year-old birds and adults have acomplete postnuptial molt, beginning sometimes as early as July 17,and sometimes not completed before September 21. At this molt thewings and tail become entirely jet-black, and the yellow-green of theupper parts is deeper than in first winter plumage.Of the female, Dwight (1900) says: "In first winter plumage thefemale is greener with less yellow and duller than the male and with-out black wing coverts. The first nuptial plumage is yellowish andso fresh that a prenuptial moult is indicated, probably more limitedthan that of the male. At the postnuptial moult an orange tingedadult winter plumage is acquired and sometimes black wing covertsappear, seen in the adult nuptial plumage in which only the bodyfeathers are renewed by a partial prenuptial moult."!Food.?Edward H. Forbush (1907) gives an admirable accountof the tanager's food. He says:In its food preferences the Tanager is the appointed guardian of the oaks.It is drawn to these trees as if they were magnets, but the chief attraction seems tobe the vast number of insects that feed upon them. It is safe to say that of allthe many hundreds of insects that feed upon the oaks few escape paying tributeto the Tanager at some period of their existence. We are much indebted to thisbeautiful bird for its share in the preservation of these noble and valuable trees.It is not particularly active, but, like the Vireos, it is remarkably observant, andslowly moves about among the branches, continually finding and persistently
SCARLET TANAGER 485destroying those concealed insects which so well escape all but the sharpest eyes.Nocturnal moths, such as the Catocalas, which remain motionless on the treetrunks by day, almost invisible because of their protective coloring, are capturedby the Tanager. Even the largest moths, like cecropia and luna, are killed andeaten by this indefatigable insect hunter. * * * I once saw a male Tanagerswallow what appeared to be a hellgramite or dobson {Corydalis cornula) headfirst and apparently entire, though not without much effort. * * * As a cater-pillar hunter the bird has few superiors. It is often very destructive to thegipsy moth, taking all stages but the eggs, and undoubtedly will prove equallyuseful against the brown-tail moth. Leaf-rolling caterpillars it skillfully takesfrom the rolled leaves, and it also digs out the larvae of gall insects from theirhiding places. Many other injurious larvae are taken. Wood-boring beetles,bark-boring beetles, and weevils form a considerable portion of its food duringthe months when these insects can be found. Click beetles, leaf-eating beetles,and crane flies are greedily eaten. These beneficial habits are not only of servicein woodlands, but they are exercised in orchards, which are often frequented byTanagers. Nor is this bird confined to trees, for during the cooler weather ofearly spring it goes to the ground, and on plowed lands follows the plow like theBlackbird or Robin, picking up earthworms, grubs, ants, and ground beetles.Grasshoppers, locusts, and a few bugs are taken, largely from the ground, grass,or shrubbery.Forbush enlarges on the value of the tanager to apple orchards,saying: "Two Scarlet Tanagers were seen eating very small caterpillarsof the gipsy moth for eighteen minutes, at the rate of thirty-five aminute. These birds spent much time in that way. If we assumethat they ate caterpillars at this rate for only an hour each day, theymust have consumed daily twenty-one hundred caterpillars, orfourteen thousand seven hundred in a week. Such a number ofcaterpillars would be sufficient to defoliate two average apple trees,and so prevent fruitage. The removal of these caterpillars mightenable the trees to bear a full crop."Waldo L. McAtee (1926) does not give unqualified praise to thetanager's feeding habits: "In its choice of animal food the ScarletTanager must be criticized for preying more extensively upon usefulHymenoptera than upon any other group of insects. We do notimagine that the bird makes a special search for these insects, butbelieve that it merely happens to encounter them frequently in theparticular places where it habitually feeds. After Hymenoptera theimportant insect groups on the Tanager's bill-of-fare are beetles,lepidoptera, and bugs. * * *
"While the Scarlet Tanager feeds on the useful parasitic wasps andtheir allies to a greater extent than would seem desirable, it doesenough good so that judgment from an economic point of view mustbe rendered in its favor."McAtee, summarizing, says: "One-eighth of the food of this speciesis derived from the plant, and seven-eighths from the animal world.Wild fruits are the chief vegetable food, those of juneberry, buckle-
486 IT. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211berry, bayberry, sumac, blackberry, elderberry, and blueberry beingmost frequently taken."Francis H. Allen (MS.) writes: "I saw a pair of scarlet tanagersin a rum cherry, feeding on the ripe fruit and catching flies on thewing." Francis M. Weston (MS.), speaking of Pensacola, Fla., says:
"During their brief, enforced stays in this region, the favorite food ofthe scarlet tanager is the ripe berries of the red mulberry (Morus rubra).Because of the dense foliage of these trees, it is not possible to makean actual count of the birds in their branches, but an observer at somepoint of vantage, watching the tanagers come and go to and from alarge mulberry in full fruit, would not hesitate to guess the presenceof 40 or 50 birds at one time."Walter B. Barrows (1912) states that Professor Aughley recordsthe capture of a scarlet tanager "which had 37 locusts in its craw andnothing else that I could identify."Behavior.?As we watch a scarlet tanager at close range, we noteits quiet, unhurried manner as it moves leisurely about its favoritewoodland of oak trees. But that it can move rapidly on occasion isshown by E. H. Forbush (1929) who remarks: "Mr. A. C. Bagg saysthat he saw one drop a red berry from its bill and recover it before ithad fallen eight inches."As a rule, however, the bird gives us the impression of a placid,indolent, somewhat self-conscious personality, almost lethargic, payinglittle attention to the life about it. The tanager, a bird seemingly ofneutral qualities, compares unfavorably in the popular mind with themore striking, buoyant species in its neighborhood, and this prejudiceperhaps explains why so little has been written about it in the litera-ture. Indeed, Frank Bolles (1894) speaks disparagingly of the bird,saying: "Mr. and Mrs. Tanager, he in scarlet coat and she in yellowsatin, are best measured by contrast with the refined warblers. Theirvoices are loud, their manners brusque, their house without taste orreal comfort. They have no associates, no friends. They never seemat ease, or interested in the misfortunes or joys of those beneaththem."Lyle Miller, of Youngstown, Ohio, writes to us: "June 6, 1926?AsI was hurrying through a woods to my car, my attention was directedtowards a male tanager. He was sitting in a low shrub, quiettywatching me. I stopped and eyed him. It was then I noticed hismate a short distance away, also in a frozen attitude. I stood quietlywatching the birds for two or three minutes. Neither one movedalthough both were quite close to me. Glancing cautiously around,I spied the nest. It was only inches from my head, 5 feet up in adogwood tree. The strange behaviour of the birds was explained.
SCARLET TANAGER 487Not till I walked towards them did they move and give their cus-tomary call note of alarm. The nest held four fresh eggs."Voice.?The tanager's song is rather pleasing, although the birdis by no means a great artist. The song resembles the robin's inform, that is it consists of short phrases alternating in pitch, continu-ing on indefinitely, usually with no concluding phrase, as in the rose-breasted grosbeak's song, which satisfies the ear in a musical sense.However, in rare instances the tanager does introduce a final phrase,rounding out the song into a finished sentence. Such a song, from mynotes of 1913, might be written, querit, queer, queery, querit, queer.The quality of the tanager's voice, with a hoarse burr runningthrough it, gives individuality to the song, making it stand out dis-tinctively among the songs of North American birds. The syllablesWeer weera, pronounced with a faint hum to suggest the huskiness ofthe tanager's voice, call the song to mind. The phrases, repeatedhalf a dozen times or more with little range in pitch, are spoken orhummed rather than whistled; although they carry well, they arenot overloud and at a little distance might not be noticed if one wereunfamiliar with the song.Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) sends to A. C. Bent this analysis: "Thesong of the scarlet tanager consists of a series of from 3 to 9 notes andslurs, with short pauses between them. The notes and slurs areusually of equal length, and also the pauses between them, so that thesong has an even rhythm, and one that is quite similar to that of therobin. The quality is best described as a harsh whistle. The pitchvaries from C" to D"", and songs range from IK to 3K tones each.Their length varies from 1% to 3 seconds." The frequently utterednote commonly written Chip-churr (Chick-kurr, I think, is better) mayconsist of two or three chips before the churr, according to Saunders,and Eugene P. Bicknell (1884) says: "Speaking of this well know[sic] chip-chir, Mr. Fred T. Jenks, of Providence, R. I., has called myattention to what is undoubtedly a clear instance of geographicalvariation in utterance. Mr. Jenks writes that he has observed thatin 'Illinois and Indiana it has three notes, chip-chirree' ." WilliamBrewster (1886a), speaking of North Carolina, says: "The song isnormal, the call note chip-churr, as in New England, not chip-prairie,as in Southern Illinois."A. A. Saunders (MS.) says that during courtship "the female has acall in a somewhat husky whistle. It is a single note, sounding likewhee or an upward slur, like puwee. Young birds that have recentlyleft the nest sometimes go astray or get temporarily separated fromthe parents. In such cases, when they get hungry, they call, overand over, a note that is distinctive of the species, but not, so far as Iam aware, ever used by adult birds. This call is a husky whistle of380928?57 32
488 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211three connected notes with an upward inflection and may be writtentaylilee."Albert R. Brand (1938) gives the approximate mean vibrationfrequency of the tanager's song as 2925, a little higher than that of therobin's song.Enemies.?Herbert Friedmann (1929) reports that the scarlettanager is "a fairly common victim" of the cowbird, and that it "isparasitized throughout most of its range." Edward H. Forbush(1929) says of the tanager: "His concealment among the leaves,together with his ventriloquial powers, must serve him well, for Ihave seldom found remains indicating the demise of one of these malebirds by the talons of a hawk."Fall.?Francis M. Weston (MS.) states: "Scarlet tanagers, usuallysingle birds, pass through the Pensacola region in small numbers inOctober on their southward migration. It is very certain that thefall migration route of the species as a whole is not a reversal of thespring route for, in 30 years of observation, I have never seen a concen-tration of tanagers in fall under any conditions of favorable or adverseflying weather." Alexander F. Skutch (MS.), speaking of CentralAmerica, says: "In the autumn I have met this tanager only twice.A female or young male was seen near Tela, Honduras, on October 7,1930, and the same or another individual in the same locality on thefollowing day." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southern Canada from Manitoba eastward throughQuebec south across central and eastern United States to Peru andBolivia.Breeding range.?The scarlet tanager breeds from centralNebraska (North Platte, Neligh), eastern North Dakota (Fargo,Grafton), southeastern Manitoba (Winnipeg, Indian Bay), central-western Ontario (Lac Seul, Port Arthur), northeastern Minnesota(Duluth), northern Michigan, southern Ontario (Liard, Lake Nipis-sing), southern Quebec (Montreal, Hatley), New Brunswick (Beech-mount), and central and central-southern Maine (Kineo, HancockCounty); south to central-northern and southeastern Oklahoma(Pushmataha County, McCurtain County), central Arkansas (RichMountain, Hot Springs National Park), west-central Tennessee(Wildersville), northwestern and central Alabama (Florence, Talla-dega Mountains), northern Georgia (East Point), northwestern SouthCarolina (Walhalla, Spartansburg), western North Carolina (States-ville), central Virginia (Naruna, Petersburg), and Maryland. Re-ported breeding, but unconfirmed, in southeastern Manitoba (Bran-don), and northeastern Texas (Tyler, Harrison County).
SCARLET TANAGER 489Winter range.?Winters from northwestern and central Colombia(Remedios, Bogota Plateau) south through Ecuador to central Peru(Monterico, Chanchama37o) and central-western Bolivia (Yungas);casually north to El Salvador (Mount Cacaguatique, Pierto delTriunfo); accidental in North Carolina (Mount Olive).Casual records.?Casual in summer in Saskatchewan (IndianHead), Wyoming (Cheyenne), Colorado (Palmer Lake, Pueblo) andTexas (Pease River Valley, McLennan County. During migrationsreported from Nova Scotia (Wolfville, Seal Island, Halifax), Bermuda,Bahama Islands (Andros, New Providence, Cay Lobos), Cuba,Jamaica, Mona Island, the Lesser Antilles (St. Croix, Barbuda,Antigua, Santa Lucia, Mustique, Barbados), and eastern CentralAmerica.Accidental in Alaska (Point Barrow), British Columbia (Comox),California (San Nicolas Island), Arizona (Tucson), and Colorado(Grand Junction, New Castle, Pueblo, Fort Morgan); sight recordsfrom Ontario (Pancake Bay, Timmins), Western North Dakota(Charlson), and central South Dakota (Faulkton, Rosebud IndianReservation).Migration.?Early dates of spring arrival are: Costa Rica
?
El General, March 29. Quintana Roo?Chetumal, May 5. YucatanDzidzantun, April 26. Leeward Islands?Barbuda, April 29. PuertoRico?Mona Island, May 3. Cuba?Havana, April 9. BahamaIslands?Cay Lobos, April 15. Bermuda?April 18. Florida?Prince-ton, March 25; Tortugas, March 29; Pensacola, April 1 (median of18 years, April 14). Alabama?Autaugaville, April 2; Decatur, April1 1 . Georgia?Savannah, April 1 ; Atlanta, April 4. South CarolinaGreenville, April 15; Spartanburg, April 20 (median of 17 years,April 26). North Carolina?Piney Creek, April 8; Raleigh, April 15(average of 20 years, April 30). Virginia?Lynchburg, April 10;Naruna, April 19. West Virginia?Bluefield and Wheeling, April 15.District of Columbia, April 17 (average of 42 years, April 29). Mary-land?Laurel, April 20 (median of 8 years, April 28). PennsylvaniaYork, April 10; Warren, April 14. New Jersey?Morristown, April12; Vineland, April 23. New York?New York City, April 19;Nyack, April 28. Connecticut?Old Saybrook, April 27. RhodeIsland?Apponaug, April 4. Massachusetts?Hyannis, April 17;Vineyard Haven, April 18; Orange, April 22. Vermont?Rutland,May 4. New Hampshire?Hanover, May 4. Maine?Mount DesertIsland?April 17; Yarmouth, April 19. Quebec?Hatley, May 15.New Brunswick?Bathurst, May 12. Nova Scotia?Westport, April15; Bridgetown, May 1. Louisiana?Grand Isle, April 3. Missis-sippi?Rosedale, March 27 ; Deer Island, April 3. Arkansas?Rogers,April 4; Tillar, April 5. Tennessee?Nashville, April 6 (median of 12
490 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211years, April 17); Elizabethton, April 10. Kentucky?Lexington,April 14. Missouri?St. Louis, April 21. Illinois?Chicago region,April 1 (average, May 6); Murphysboro, April 10. Indiana?Rich-mond, April 15. Ohio?central Ohio, April 17 (average, April 30).Michigan?southern Michigan, April 6; Vicksburg, April 26; SaulteSte. Marie, May 9. Ontario?St. Thomas, April 28; Ottawa, May 13(average of 25 years, May 20). Iowa?Burlington and Keokuk,April 27. Wisconsin?Milwaukee, April 23. Minnesota?Hutchin-son, April 26 (average of 34 years in southern Minnesota, May 11);Stearns County, May 9 (average of 23 years in northern Minnesota,May 18). Texas?Kemah, April 6; San Antonio and Austin, April 12.Kansas?Fort Leavenworth, April 16. Nebraska?Omaha, April 14;Stapleton, April 18. South Dakota?Yankton, May 4; Faulkton,May 7. North Dakota?Fargo, May 16. Manitoba?Treesbankand Reabum, May 3. Saskatchewan?Indian Head, May 22. Colo-rado?Boulder, May 8.Late dates of spring departure are: Ecuador?below San Jose,March 13. Panama?Chiriqui, March 26. Costa Rica?El General,April 30. Windward Islands?St. Lucia, May 19. Bermuda?IrelandIsland, May 6. Florida?Daytona Beach, May 12. Alabama?LongIsland, May 6. Georgia?Atlanta, June 4. South Carolina
?
Charleston, May 22. North Carolina? Chapel Hill, May 20; Raleigh,May 14 (average 6 years, May 11). Virginia?Naruna, June 11.Maryland?Laurel, May 18 (median of 3 years, May 16). Massa-chusetts?Boston, May 27. Louisiana?Monroe, May 31. Missis-sippi?Oxford, May 24. Kentucky?Bardstown, May 24. IllinoisChicago, June 1 (average of 16 years, May 26) . Ohio?Buckeye Lake,median, May 23. Texas?Brownsville, May 22; Dallas County, May21. Oklahoma?Tulsa County, May 22. Nebraska?Plattsmouth,June 2; Red Cloud, May 29. North Dakota?Jamestown, June 4.Colorado?Fort Morgan, June 10.Early dates of fall arrival are: South Dakota?Faulkton, July 6.Nebraska?Hastings, July 14. Texas?Port Arthur, July 20. Illi-nois?Chicago, September 9 (average of 13 years, September 18).Kentucky?Bowling Green, September 6. Mississippi?Bay St.Louis, August 24. Louisiana?Thibodaux, August 25. Massachu-setts?Nantucket, August 29. Maryland?Laurel, August 17. NorthCarolina?Raleigh, September 8 (average of 3 years, September 18).Georgia?Young Harris, August 12; Savannah, August 20. Ala-bama?Greensboro, September 18. Florida?Pensacola, September 9(median of 15 years, September 25). Honduras?near Tela, October7. El Salvador?Monte Mayor, October 6. Nicaragua?Rio Escon-dido, September 27. Costa Rica?Bonilla, October 3.
SCARLET TANAGER 491Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?Comox, No-vember 17. Manitoba?Treesbank, August 27. North Dakota
?
Fargo, October 4. South Dakota?Yankton, September 29. Ne-braska?Cedar Creek, October 7. Oklahoma?Tulsa County, Octo-ber 1. Texas?Cove, October 19. Minnesota?Minneapolis, October26 (average of 7 years, September 19) ; Isanti County, September 30(average of 7 years in northern Minnesota, September 16). Wiscon-sin?Milwaukee, October 13; Mazomanie, October 7. Iowa?MarbleRock, September 30. Ontario?Point Pelee, October 14; Ottawa,October 8 (average of 11 years, September 14). Michigan?Sault Ste.Marie, October 21; Detroit, October 6. Ohio?Hillsboro, November20; New Bremen, October 22; central Ohio, October 11 (average,September 23). Indiana?Richmond, October 15. Illinois, Rantoul,November 2; Chicago, October 6 (average of 13 years, September 28).Missouri?Bolivar, November 7. Kentucky?Danville, October 7.Tennessee?Elizabethton, October 13. Arkansas?Monticello, Octo-ber 20. Mississippi?Saucier, November 13; Oriel, October 20.Quebec?Montreal, October 31; Hatley, September 14. MaineCastine, November 6 ; Mount Desert Island, October 14. New Hamp-shire?Sandwich, October 15; Jefferson region, October 12. Ver-mont?Bennington, October 7. Massachusetts?Brockton, Novem-ber 1 1 ; Concord, November 8. Rhode Island?Kingston, October 24
;
Providence, October 6. Connecticut?West Hartford, October 21;Stamford, October 15. New York? Watertown, November 3 ; Orient,October 19. New Jersey?Erglewood, October 22. PennsylvaniaGermantown, November 3; Renovo, October 13; Berks County,October 3 (average of 14 years, September 21). Maryland?Balti-more, October 23. District of Columbia, November 13 (average of21 years, October 4). West Virginia?Bluefield, November 15.Virginia?Lexington, November 17. North Carolina? Weaverville,October 20; Raleigh, October 17 (average of 3 years, October 8).Georgia?Atlanta, October 29. Alabama?Greensboro, October 16.Florida?St. Marks, October 25; Pensacola, October 24 (median of 16years, October 16). Bermuda?October 17.Egg dates.?Connecticut: 16 records, June 1 to June 22; 10records, June 3 to June 8.Illinois: 11 records, May 28 to Aug. 2; 6 records, June 9 to June 26.Massachusetts: 42 records, May 24 to June 25; 23 records, May 28to June 6.Pennsylvania: 7 records, May 27 to June 11.
492 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211PIRANGAIFLAVA DEXTRA BangsEastern Hepatic TanagerHABITSOutram Bangs (1907) described this eastern race as: "Similar totrue P. hepatica, but smaller; the adult cf much more richly colored;back much redder, less grayish; pileum darker, more intense red
?
dull scarlet?vermilion; under parts, darker, deeper red?deeporange?vermilion (flame-scarlet in true P. hepatica), Adult $ darkerin color throughout with the back decidedly less grayish."The range of this race extends from southwestern New Mexico andwestern Texas through eastern Mexico to Guatemala.Nothing seems to have been published on the habits of this race, butwe have no reason to suppose that they differ materially from those ofthe better known western form.DISTRIBUTIONThe eastern hepatic tanager breeds from the mountains east of theContinental Divide from north-central New Mexico (Willis, MesaYegua), through western Texas (Guadalupe, Davis, and ChisosMountains), Nuevo Leon (Cerro de la Silla), Tamaulipas (Realito),and Puebla (Huauchinango) to central Veracruz (Las Vigas, Jalapa,Jico) eastern Oaxaca, and Chiapas (San Crist6bal 28 miles east-southeast of Comitan). It winters from central Nuevo Leon (Mesa delChipinque) and northern Tamaulipas (Matamoros) south to westernGuatemala (Chanquejelve, Momostenango, Chichicastenango), and iscasual in southern Texas (Flour Bluff).PIRANGA FLAVA HEPATICA SwainsonWestern Hepatic TanagerPlate 34HABITSTwo races of this species are now currently recognized as occurringnorth of Mexico, and at least two others have been described andnamed. For a full discussion of the claims of these races for recogni-tion and their ranges, the reader is referred to a paper on the subject bySutton and Phillips (1942), based on the study of a large series ofspecimens. The subject is too complicated to be discussed here.This western race is the form that breeds in Arizona, in parts of northcentral New Mexico, and in western Mexico.
WESTERN HEPATIC TANAGER 493Dr. Coues (1878) gives the following account of the introduction ofthis species to our fauna:During Capt. L. Sitgreaves's expedition down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers* * * Dr. S. W. Woodhouse observed this beautiful Tanager in the San FranciscoMountains, and secured a full-plumaged male, adding to the then recognized faunaof the United States a species long before described by Mr. Swainson as a bird ofMexico. In 1858, Baird recorded a second specimen from Fort Thorn, NewMexico; and, in 1866, I wrote of the bird as a summer resident in the vicinity ofFort Whipple, Arizona, where it arrives during the latter part of April. * * *Meantime, however, in 1S73, Mr. Henshaw had been busy with birds in Arizona,and had taken a female specimen at Camp Apache, Arizona. * * * There thisTanager was not rare; perhaps half a dozen individuals were seen in the course ofone afternoon, in a grove of oaks that skirted some pine woods.In 1922, we found hepatic tanagers fairly common in the HuachucaMountains, in Arizona, nesting in the tall yellow pines in the upperparts of the canyons, above 5,000 feet and near the lower limit of theheavy pine timber.In the Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz., they were seen mostly in thepines, but sometimes in neighboring oaks.Harry S. Swarth (1904) says of its status in the Huachuca Moun-tains: "A fairly common summer resident, generally distributed overthe mountains during migration, but in the breeding season restrictedmore to the canyons between 5,000 and 7,500 feet. In 1902 the firstarrival was noted on April 11th, and the following year on April 16th;about the middle of May they were quite abundant in the higher pineregions, going in flocks of eight or ten, feeding in the tree tops and butseldom descending to the ground."Nesting.?On May 26, 1922, we collected a set of three eggs and apretty nest of the hepatic tanager in Stoddard Canyon, a branch ofRamsey Canyon at about 7,000 feet, in the Huachuca Mountains.The nest was about 50 feet from the ground and about 12 feet out fromthe trunk, in a fork near the end of a horizontal branch of a tall yellowpine. It was suspended by its edges between the two prongs of thefork. It was made of green grass, green and gray weed stems, flowerstalks and blossoms, and was neatly lined with finer dry and greengrasses. My companion Frank C. Willard made a difficult climb withthe use of ropes to secure it; he cut off the branch, near the nest, whichwas photographed near the ground. In my collection is another set offour eggs, taken by Virgil W. Owen in the same region on May 14,1907; the nest was 18 feet up and 12 feet out near the end of a pinelimb.After I left Arizona, Frank C. Willard collected a nest and two eggsof the hepatic tanager in Miller Canyon, on June 15, 1922. The nestwas placed at the tip of a branch of a large sycamore, 25 feet aboveground.
494 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211In the Thayer collection is a set, taken by O. W. Howard, that wasfound 19 feet from the ground in an upright fork of a madrofia.Eggs.?Four eggs usually make up a full set for the hepatic tanager,but often only three are laid and rarely as many as five. These areusually ovate in shape and are moderately glossy. William GeorgeF. Harris has contributed the following description of the colors:The ground color may be "pale Nile blue/' "Etain blue," "paleNiagara green," or "bluish glaucous." The eggs are speckled orspotted with "bay," "chestnut," "chestnut-brown," "carob brown,"or "liver brown." The markings, usually in the form of fine specklingor small spots, are generally well distributed over the entire egg, butwith concentration toward the large end, where frequently they forma wreath. Some eggs show undertones of "pale neutral gray," butthese markings are seldom prominent and often indistinct. Ingeneral, the eggs of this species seem to show a tendency to be lessheavily or boldly marked than those of either the western tanageror the summer tanager.The measurements of 50 eggs average 24.5 by 17.7 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 26.8 by 18.5, 25.3 by 18.9,21.5 by 16.9, and 22.0 by 16.6 milhmeters.Young.?Nothing seems to be known about the period of in-cubation nor about the development and care of the young.Plumages.?Ridgway (1902) describes the nestling (juvenal)plumage as: "Conspicuously streaked beneath with dusky on a palebuffy ground, more indistinctly streaked above on a grayish oliveground; middle and greater wing-coverts margined terminally withbuff; otherwise like adult female."The sexes are alike in juvenal plumage and in the first winterplumage.The first winter plumage is acquired by a partial postnuptial molt,in July and August, which involves the contour feathers and thewing coverts, but not the rest of the wings nor the tail. After thismolt, young birds of both sexes are essentially like the adult female,light olive green above, more yellowish on the crown, with grayishcheeks, and yellow beneath. This plumage is apparently wornthrough the first breeding season with little change, except that someyoung males may acquire a few red or orange feathers on the headand throat.The fully adult plumage is acquired in late summer at the firstpostnuptial molt, which is complete and is practically the onlyseasonal molt of any consequence. In the fall and winter male theback and scapulars are more strongly tinged with brownish gray thanin spring birds, but wear produces a clearer color effect before thenuptial season. There is much individual variation in the seasonal
WESTERN HEPATIC TANAGER 495
changes of the males, some retaining a few vestiges of immaturityduring their second winter. After the postjuvenal molt the femaleproduces no color changes of consequence, except that some oldfemales acquire orange feathers on the throat and forehead.Food.?In a grove of oaks, near Camp Apache, according toHenshaw (1875), "they appeared to be feeding upon insects, which theygleaned from among the foliage and smaller branches of the oaks."He also saw them moving "slowly about in the tops of the pinessearching for insects. At this season [Jul}-], they capture these gen-eralty while at rest, but occasionally sally forth and take them inmid-air."Mrs. Bailey (1928) says: "Those seen by Major Goldman in theBurro Mountains the middle of September were feeding on wildgrapes and wild cherries in a northeast slope canyon at 6,500 feet."Behavior.?Like all tanagers, the hepatic tanagers are rather slowand deliberate in their movements. We did not find them particularlyshy and were able to observe them at their nest building. Henshaw(1875), however, found them so "excessively shy" that he had difficultyin getting within gunshot of them. On July 21, "young, just fromthe nest, were taken. The old birds manifested much affection andsolicitude for their progeny, flying down on the low branches, and,after venting their anger in harsh notes, returned to the side of theiryoung and led them away to a place of safety."Voice.?Henshaw (1875) says: "With the exception of the callnotes, used by both sexes, and which resemble the syllables chuck,chuck, several times repeated, they were perfectly silent, and neitherhere nor elsewhere did I ever hear any song." But Frank Stephenswrote William Brewster (1881) that "the song is loud and clear,but short."Enemies.?Frank C. Willard told me that he found an egg of thebronzed cowbird in a nest of an hepatic tanager. This is probablya rare occurrence, for I can find no such report by anyone else.Winter.?The winter range of this form of the hepatic tanagerseems to lie in western Mexico, from Sonora southward. Col. A. J.Grayson wrote to George N. Lawrence (1874) : "I discovered thisspecies to be quite frequent in the Sierra Madre Mountains, on theirwestern slope between Mazatl&n and Durango in December, butI have never met with it in the tierras calientes proper. It seems tobe a mountain species." DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Arizona to western Mexico.Breeding range.?The Western hepatic tanager breeds fromnorthwestern and central Arizona (Hualpai Mountains, Bill Williams
496 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Mountain, Flagstaff) and southwestern New Mexico (Silver City,Head of Rio Mimbres) ; south through the highlands of Mexico westof the Sierra Madre del Oriente at least to Michoacan (Cerro delEstribo) and Guerrero (Omilteme) ; west to western Chihuahua (JesusMaria, Pinos Altos) ; eastern Sonora, and Oaxaca (25 miles northeastof Oaxaca).Winter range.?Winters from southeastern Arizona (Patagonia)and southern coastal Sonora (San Jose de Guaymas) south to limitsof breeding range and into coastal and lowland areas.Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole. Earlydates of spring arrival are: Texas?Brewster County, April 28;Rockport, May 5. New Mexico?Silver City, May 10. Arizona
?
Tucson area, April 4 (median of 6 years, April 27) ; Beaverdam, May 6.Late dates of fall departure are: Arizona?Huachuca Mountains,October 25; Prescott, October 2. New Mexico?Burro Mountains,Grant County, September 16. Texas?Davis Mountains, October 6.Egg dates.?Arizona: 16 records, May 21 to July 10; 8 records,June 1 to June 19.New Mexico: 1 record, June 29.PIRAJVGA RUBRA RUBRA (Linnaeus)Eastern Summer TanagerPlates 35, 36, and 37HABITSThis wholly red tanager is the southern representative of the family,breeding throughout the central United States east of the Prairies andsouthward to Florida, the gulf coast, and northeastern Mexico. Itoccurs as a straggler only in New England and on our northernborders.The favorite haunts of the summer redbird, as it is often called, areopen dry, upland woods, among oaks, hickories, and other hardwoodtrees. In North Carolina, according to Pearson and the Brimleys(1919), it is "equally at home in pine forests, mixed woods, groves ofshade trees near houses, or mulberry orchards." In South Carolina,Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says: "This species prefers open pine woodswith an undergrowth of scrubby oaks and small hickory trees in whichto breed."Spring.?Alexander F. Skutch writes to me: "As it arrives latein Central America, so the summer tanager leaves early. By thebeginning of April the species is already becoming rare in Costa Rica;my latest record for this country is April 12. In Guatemala, farther
EASTERN SUMMER TANAGER 497
north, it has been recorded as late as April 25 by myself and April 27by Griscom; but these were stragglers that had lingered behind themain migration."The summer tanager is one of many species of small birds thatevidently migrate directly across the Gulf of Mexico from CentralAmerica to the Gulf States. M. A. Frazar (1881) reported that afew of this species were observed while he was cruising from the coastof Texas to Mobile, Ala., and when his small schooner was about 30miles south of the mouths of the Mississippi. Further evidence oftrans-Gulf migration is given in the following contribution fromFrancis M. Weston regarding the spring migration of the summertanager, as observed near Pensacola, Fla. : "Abundance of the sum-mer tanager at this season depends upon weather conditions, as isthe case with most of the trans-Gulf migrant species that make theirfirst landfall on this part of the coast. A season of long periods ofgood weather brings us no more tanagers than would be needed toprovide our rather sparse breeding population, and it is presumedthat at such times great numbers must pass over unseen on theirway to more northerly nesting grounds. In bad weather, however,when an incoming flight meets rain, heavy fog, or strong north winds,and halts on the coast instead of continuing on its way inland, tan-agers in uncountable abundance swarm in city gardens and parksand in coastwise patches of woods. I recall my amusement, onespring, at the confusion of a visiting ornithologist who, delighted atthe sight of several tanagers, set out to count the number he couldfind in a single vacant, wooded city block. All went well, the birdsflitting along before him as he slowly traversed the block. Then,looking back, he saw that more new birds had come into the areabehind him than he had already chased out and counted. He finallygave up the project as hopeless and contented himself with notingthe species as 'very abundant'. A swarm of tanagers like that canbe expected during any or every spell of bad weather from the lastweek of March through all of April. This spring influx persists eveninto May, for, on May 8, 1945, a mixed flight of incoming migrants,halted by bad weather, included a fair sprinkling of summer tanagers."The tanagers of this species that breed in Florida, and perhapssome of those that nest farther north, evidently pass over Cuba andthe Florida Keys to reach the mainland of Florida. A heavy storm,resulting in many casualties to this and other species, at Key Westand the Tortugas, is described by Commander F. M. Bennett (1909).Migration through Texas serves to bring the birds to the more westernportions of their breeding range, though some of these apparentlycross a portion of the Gulf of Mexico. The earliest birds reachFlorida before the end of March, but the main northward migration
498 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
is accomplished through the month of April, reaching the northernlimits of the breeding range early in May.Around the middle of April, 1929, a remarkable visitation of sum-mer tanagers reached New England, blown northward by a severestorm, of which John B. May (Forbush, 1929) says: "This stormfirst appeared in Texas April 13, travelled east rather slowly toSouth Carolina, then swung northeast along the coast, reaching itsgreatest intensity between New Jersey and Massachusetts on April 16."Audubon (1841) says: "Whilst migrating, they rise high above thetrees, and pursue their journeys only during the day, diving towardsdusk into the thickest parts of the foliage of tall trees, from whichtheir usual unmusical but well-known notes of chicky-chucky-chuckare heard, after the light of day has disappeared."Nesting.?F. M. Weston contributes the following account of thenesting habits of this species in northwestern Florida, near Pensacola:
"During the nesting season, the summer tanager deserts the city andthe coastal strip of woods and retires to the pine areas a few milesinland. Here they select as nest sites the dogwoods (Cornus florida)and the scrub oaks scattered through the pine lands. I suspect, too,that they nest in the pine trees that are still young enough to bearbranches within 10 or 15 feet of the ground. The nests are hard tofind and I have but little data to offer. This, first, because the birdsare far from common and, secondly, because the flimsy, inconspicuousnests can be concealed by a single leaf of such large-foliaged scruboaks as Quercus catesbaei and Q. marilandica, two species especiallyfavored as nest sites. Nests containing eggs have been found fromthe last week of May until the middle of June, and I have no datathat would indicate a second nesting. Both sexes feed the youngbirds, but I do not know if the male parent assists with incubationor nest building."Farther south in Florida, according to Arthur H. Howell (1932):"Summer Tanagers live in open woodland, preferring the pines, butare found to some extent in oak hammocks. Their nests are placedusually on a horizontal limb of a pine or oak, 12 to 35 feet above theground, and are very loosely constructed of weed stems and Spanishmoss, and lined with fine grasses." Charles R. Stockard (1905) saysthat, in Mississippi: "These birds seem to have a foolish fancy forbuilding their nests on horizontal branches that overhang road-ways. * * * They build a nest home of smooth contour and alwayslined with a golden yellow grass straw or a similar greenish strawgiving to the concavity of the nest a very characteristic appearance;the common 'pepper grass' stems make a favorite material for theouter layer."A nest in the U. S. National Museum collection measures 4 inches
EASTERN SUMMER TANAGER 499in diameter and 2 inches in height; it has an internal depth of barely-half an inch.Eggs.?Four eggs usually constitute the set for summer tanager,but often only three are laid and rarely as many as five. They arcovate in shape, with some variations toward elongate or short ovate.The shell is moderately glossy. William George F. Harris has givenme the following description of the eggs: The ground color may be "paleNile blue," "Etain blue," "pale Niagara green," or "pale glaucousgreen." This is speckled, spotted, blotched, and occasionally clouded,with "Argus brown," "Brussels brown," "raw umber," "chestnutbrown," "mummy brown," or "Prout's brown," with undertones of
"light mouse gray" or "Quaker drab." There is great variation insize and arrangement of the markings; in general, they are well dis-tributed over the entire egg, but there is a tendency to concentratetoward the large end, where sometimes they are confluent and form asolid wreath or cap. The gray or drab undertones are as a rule notparticularly prominent. The markings are generally bolder than onthe eggs of the scarlet or the hepatic tanagers. Rarely, a set maypartially or entirely lack the blue coloring and have instead a creamywhite ground color with the usual brown markings.The measurements of 50 eggs average 23.1 by 17.1 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 25.4 by 17.8, 24.9 by 18.3,21.1 by 16.3, and 23.5 by 16.1 millimeters.Young.?The period of incubation for the summer tanager issaid to be 12 days. Information on the development and care of theyoung seems to be lacking, beyond the fact, mentioned by Weston(MS.), that both sexes are known to feed the young.Plumages.?Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage of thesummer tanager as: "Above, ruddy or yellow tinged sepia-brown withdarker edgings and feather centres producing a faintly streaked ap-pearance. Wings deep olive-brown with olive-yellow or greenishedgings, usually reddish tinged on the outer primaries, the covertsduller, the tertiaries paler. Tail bright olive-green or olive-3'ellowoften reddish tinged basally, the shafts sepia-brown. Below, dullwhite tinged with sulphur-jellow on abdomen and crissum, distinctlyand broadly streaked on the throat, breast and sides with deep olive-brown."The sexes are alike in the juvenal plumage and nearly alike in thefirst winter plumage. The postjuvenal molt in July and Augustinvolves the contour plumage and the wing coverts, but not the restof the wings nor the tail. This produces the first winter plumage,which Dwight describes as: "Above pale olive-green with a strongorange tinge, reddish in many specimens. Below chrome-yellow oftenstrongly tinged with orange especially on the crissum and 'edge of the
500 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
wings.' The wing coverts are edged with olive-green strongly tingedwith yellow or orange according to individual vitality. The orbitalring is usually chrome-yellow or paler."The first nuptial plumage in the young male is, he says
?
Acquired by a partial prenuptial moult which involves portions of the bod}'plumage, wing coverts, tertiaries and the tail. There is an unusual amount ofindividual variation in the extent of this moult accentuated by the contrast ofthe new vermilion or poppy-red feathers among the old greenish or yellow ones.Some birds become entirely red except for the old greenish primaries, their covertsand the secondaries and there are all sorts of intermediates ranging down to thosewith a mere sprinkling of red feathers. The central quills only of the tail may berenewed, sometimes only part of the tertiaries and wing coverts, but in everycase it is easy to see that the process of moult has stopped at points where thechecking of its normal advance would produce the varied plumages found.The prenuptial molt takes place in winter or early spring, beginningin February or earlier, while the birds are in their winter quarters.The first and subsequent postnuptial molts occur in August and arecomplete; at this molt young males assume the fully red plumage,which is never again replaced by an olive-green body plumage, as inthe scarlet tanager.The adult nuptial plumage is the result of wear, which is very slight.Adults have only one complete annual molt in August. The moltsof the female are similar to those of the male, but young females areoften yellower than young males in their first winter, and old femalessometimes show a mixture of red feathers in the body plumage, ortinges of red in the wings.A. F. Skutch tells me that he has seen young males with red in theirplumage as early as December in Costa Rica.Food.?Arthur H. Howell (1932) writes: "The food habits of thisbird have not been thoroughly studied. Many observers have re-ported its habit of visiting beehives and destroying the bees. It isknown to feed also on beetles, wasps, tomato worms, and spiders,and on certain small wild fruits, such as blackberries and whortle-berries. Examination in the Biological Survey of the stomachs of6 birds taken in Alabama and of 2 taken in Florida showed that thebird has a decided preference for Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, etc.),these insects being present in 7 of the 8 stomachs in proportionsvarying from 30 to 98 per cent of the total contents. Other insectstaken were dragon flies and click beetles."A. F. Skutch writes to me: "Summer tanagers are expert flycatchersand capture many insects on the wing. As in the United States, so inCentral America, they sometimes arouse the ire of apiculturalists bycatching bees, and are shot for this offense; but careful study mightreveal that it is only the drones that they attack. They are also fondof the soft, white larvae of wasps, and in the Tropics find an immense
EASTERN SUMMER TANAGER 501
variety of these insects, with nests of the most diverse forms. Theouter walls and rafters of my house are a veritable museum of wasps'nests, and the wintering summer tanagers often come to feast uponthe young brood. But they are excessively shy while close to thehouse, and it is difficult to watch them at this activity. Sometimes,while occupied indoors, I have heard a scratching on the outer walls,and gone to the window only to see a summer tanager fly away from awasps' nest. I actually watched the tanagers plunder nests of threedifferent kinds, on the house or in the surrounding trees; but moreoften I have found evidence of their visits in the form of nests tornopen. * * *
"In addition to insect food of varied kinds, the summer tanagerseat a certain amount of fruit. They come to my feeding table to sharethe bananas and plantains with eight non-migratory species of thefamily."Paul H. Oehser has sent me the following extract from a paper byPhil Rau (1941), of Kirkwood, Mo.Some years ago I recorded that birds sometimes pierce the paper nests ofPolistes pallipes and feed on the larvae; on one particular occasion fifty per centof the small newly-founded nests of this species were destroyed by an unknownspecies of bird (Can. Ent., 62: 144, 1930). More direct evidence, however, wasobtained by Dr. E. S. Anderson who informed me that for two weeks during 1939,he observed a male Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra rubra) remove the larvae ofPolistes pallipes and P. variatus from time to time from nests under the eaves ofhis barn at Gray's Summit, Missouri. These the bird carried to its }roung in anest in a nearby tree.One sometimes finds Polistes' nests with whole series of cells destroyed, and atfirst we thought that this was done by the wasps themselves, who removed thecells to obtain building material for new nests, or, if it was a 'live' nest, for cellson other parts of the same nest. In this I find I was mistaken; the damagedcondition, when it appears, is quite certainly done by birds when removing thelarvae from the nests. Of the twelve species of Polistes wasps studied by me inMissouri, Panama, and Mexico, I have never found any evidence of waspsobtaining building material from old nests, or from portions of 'live' nests.J. I. Hamaher (1936) thus describes the tanager's method of attackon a wasps' nest:The nest of this common black and white paper nest wasp was in a pine treenear the kitchen window from which I watched the performance for about half anhour. When I first noted some unusual activity the bird was pecking at somethingwhich he held. Then perching on a twig about three feet from the wasp nest, hesat for a moment facing the nest. I noted then that about a dozen wasps wereflying about the nest in an excited manner. The bird then made a dive towardthe swarm, seized a wasp and flew off to a resting place nearby. I was at first indoubt whether he was eating the wasps or merely killing them. I afterward foundseveral dead wasps beneath the tree on the ground. After several times repeatingthe attack the wasps all suddenly disappeared whereupon the Tanager alighted onthe nest and rapidly tore the upper protecting layers away and attacked the comb.
502 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Several observers have referred to the summer tanager's habit ofcatching bees, but Floyd Bralliar (1922) tells the best story. A friendof his, a beekeeper, complained that his bees were not doing well,though there were plenty of flowers in the vicinity and no disease wasapparent in the hives. They sat down to watch, and saw one tanagercatch 15 or 20 bees within a few minutes. Then another tanager cameand satisfied its appetite."We did not know," he says, "how many birds were feeding there,but it was evident that there were more than two, for no two birdscould possible eat so many bees as we saw caught that day. Afterwatching them for a week, my friend, himself something of a naturalistand a great lover of birds, decided he would have to do a distastefulthing in self protection, so he took his gun and began shooting tanagers.The first day, he killed eight of these birds feeding on his bees. Withina few days the bees began to grow strong, showing that this had beentheir only trouble; and as he had killed all the summer tanagers nearby, he had no more trouble."He says further: "The summer tanager feeds largely on beetles,caught on the wing or in trees. * * * It eats beetles so large that itseems impossible for it to swallow them. After these insects aredigested the indigestible feet, legs, and shells are rolled into a ball bythe bird's stomach and disgorged."Behavior.?The summer tanager does not differ materially in itsmannerisms from the other tanagers. It is very deliberate in itsmovements and rather solitary in its habits, spending much of its timein the concealing foliage of the woodland trees, where it is surprisinglyinconspicuous in spite of the brilliant plumage of the male. Were itnot for its loud voice, the bird might easily be overlooked.Voice.?Aretas A. Saunders writes to me: "In the spring of 1908,in Alabama, I became very familiar with the song of the summertanager. According to my note-books, I heard the song practicallydaily from the bird's arrival in April to the end of my stay in earlyJune. My recollections of the song are that it is not harsh, as is thescarlet tanager's, but musical, with more liquid consonent soundsbetween the notes."Ridgway (1889) says that its notes are much louder than those ofthe scarlet tanager: "The ordinary one sounds like pa-chip-it-tut-tut-tut, or, as Wilson expresses it, chicky-chucky-chuck. The song resemblesin its general character, that of the Scarlet Tanager, but is far louder,better sustained, and more musical. It equals in strength that ofRobin, but is uttered more hurriedly, is more 'wiry' and much morecontinued."Mrs. Nice (1931) says: "The song is rich, musical and varied,from 3 to 6 seconds in length, from 4 to 6 given a minute. One
EASTERN SUMMER TANAGER 503typical song went as follows: hee para vee-er chewit terwee hee paravee-er."A. F. Skutch tells me that the summer tanager "is by no means asilent bird during its sojourn between the Tropics. It often uttersits somewhat rattling call-note, chicky-tucky-tuck. Often I haveheard the familiar voice floating down from the tops of the foresttrees, where intervening masses of foliage hid from my view thebrilliant red form. But the summer tanager sings far less in itswinter home than many another bird. Early one October, in southernCosta Rica, I found a newly arrived male who sang in a loud voicefor several minutes." On April 24 and 25, 1932, he heard one sing asweet song; this was the only one he ever heard sing in the Tropics inthe spring.Enemies.? Friedmann (1929) lists the summer tanager as "anuncommon host" of the cowbirds; he found five records of suchparasitism, involving two races of Molothrus ater and both races ofPiranga rubra.Harold S. Peters (1936) records one louse and one mite as externalparasites on this tanager.Fall.?Francis M. Weston writes to me of the migration nearPensacola, Fla.: "Migration commences early and is, I believe, areversal of the spring route. As early as the last week of August,tanagers appear commonly in the coastwise woods, several milessouth of the nearest known nesting areas, and from then until mid-October a few birds can always be found. Stormy spells in Septemberhalt flights of southbound migrants of many species that, in goodweather, presumably pass overhead undetected, and summer tanagersare always present in these gatherings. Sometimes, particularlywhen a succession of bad days, such as was experienced here fromSeptember 18 to 20, 1937, dams up several days flights, tanagers areas abundant as in spring. In the fall of 1925, the only year I wasable to get satisfactory returns from the Pensacola Lighthouse (afirst-class light almost on the Gulf beach) a single tanager was pickedup among a host of casualties of the night of October 26-27."The migrating tanagers referred to above would probably cross theGulf of Mexico to Central America. Others that breed in Floridaapparently migrate southward through Cuba to Yucatan, and thenon to their winter homes in Central and South America.Winter.?Alexander F. Skutch contributes the following account:"My earliest record of the arrival of the summer tanager in CentralAmerica was made in the Coast Rican highlands on September 18,1935, but this is an exceptionally early date, and the species is rarelymet before October, when it begins to become abundant. Rapidlyspreading over most of Central America, it is one of the common380928?5T 33
504 IT. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211and widespread winter visitants from Guatemala to Panama, on bothsides of the Cordillera. During the winter months it resides ataltitudes ranging from sea-level up to 8,500 feet, but is most abundantin the lower and warmer regions. It frequents both the treetops ofthe heavy forest and the scattered trees of shady pastures, plantations,and orchards. The spreading willows that grow along the water-courses in the Caribbean lowlands of Guatemala and Honduras,seeming so exotic amid the heavy foliage of the majority of the trees,are very attractive to the summer tanagers, which dart activelythrough their open crowns.
"Throughout the six months of their sojourn in Central America,the summer tanagers are solitary and unsociable. They never formflocks; and when two are close together, attentive watching willusually reveal that they are quarreling, probably over territorialrights; for it seems that these tanagers, like some of the warblers,claim exclusive feeding territories while in their winter homes. Earlyin the afternoon of October 13, 1944, soon after the arrival of the spe-cies in this locality of southern Costa Rica, I found two individuals ina guava tree behind the house. Both wore the yellowish plumage ofthe female and the young male; on neither could I detect any red.One sang sweetly in a low voice, repeating its lilting melody over andover as it flitted about the second, who moved less frequently andfrom time to time uttered a low, liquid monosyllable. They con-tinued this for many minutes. Then they flew into the tall hedge atthe back of the yard, thence through the yard from tree to tree, thendown into the lower pasture, and across it to the bank of the creek.I lost sight of them for a few minutes, but soon the song led me tothem once more, in some trees in the midst of the pasture. I watchedthem for the better part of an hour ; and all this time they continued tobehave as already described: one (I believe always the same), singingin a sweet, low voice; the other uttering the liquid note; the twoflitting around each other. Rarely one would fly at the other andmake it retreat. Finally they flew up into the forest and I lost sightof them. Were these summer tanagers, a young male and a female,contesting the same winter territory? This seems the most probableexplanation of the episode I witnessed."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Central and east-central United States south throughMexico and Central America to Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.Breeding range.?The summer tanager breeds from centralTexas (San Angelo), central Oklahoma (Fort Cobb, Ponca City),eastern Kansas (Geary region), southeastern Nebraska (Falls City),
EASTERN SUMMER TANAGER 505
northwestern Missouri (Albany), southeastern Iowa (Keokuk), centralIllinois (Camp Point, Philo), southern Indiana (Silverwood, Greens-burg), southwestern, central and central-eastern Ohio (Cincinnati,Columbiana County), throughout West Virginia (except in highmountains), northeastern Tennessee (Johnson City), western NorthCarolina (Morgantown) , central Virginia (Lexington), eastern Mary-land and southern Delaware; south to southern Texas (Lomitas,Houston), the Gulf coast and southern Florida (Fort Myers, FortLauderdale). Formerly bred north to central Iowa (Des Moines),northern Illinois (Lacon, Chicago region), southern Wisconsin (Albion,Milwaukee), central Indiana (Kokomo), and southern New Jersey(Cape May).Winter range.?Winters from Michoac<4n and Puebla (Metlalto-yuca), Veracruz (Motzorongo, Jaltipan), Campeche (Pacaytun, Mata-moros), Yucatan (Chichen Itz&) and Quintana Roo (Palmul andXcopen) ; south throughout Central America and in South Americato south-central Peru, western Bolivia, western Brazil (Rio Uap6s),and southeastern Venezuela (Mount Roraima) ; casually north tosouthern Texas (Brownsville) and western Cuba (Santiago de lasVegas)
.
Casual records.?Casual in California (Los Angeles, Wilmington,San Diego), Baja California (Laguna Salada, Guadalupe Island, LaJolla), Arizona (Tucson), Colorado (Boulder, Denver), Minnesota(Pipestone), Michigan (Pinckney), Ontario (Point Pelee, RondeauPark, Penetanguishene, Scarboro Heights), and New York (Cincin-nati), along the Atlantic Coast north to Maine (Wiscasset), NewBrunswick (Grand Manan) , and Nova Scotia (Seal Island, Halifax)
;
also casual or accidental in Sonora (Rancho la Arizona), Na}~arit(Rio las Canas), Bermuda, Bahama Islands (New Providence, Andros),Jamaica, Swan Island, and Trinidad.Migration.?The data deal with the species as a whole. Earlydates of spring arrival are: Sinaloa?Escuinapa, March 25. Sonora
?
Magdalena, April 19. Bahama Islands?Nassau, April 5. Bermuda,April 9. Florida?Winter Park, March 2; Pensacola, March 8(median of 39 years, March 31). Alabama?Coosada, March 31.Georgia?Savannah, March 18. South Carolina?Charleston, March25 ; Frogmore, April 1 . North Carolina?Raleigh, April 2 (average of29 years, April 19). Virginia?New Market, April 14. WestVirginia?Charleston, April 27. District of Columbia, April 18(average of 23 years, May 1). Maryland?Montgomery County,April 21. Pennsylvania?Sharon, May 6. New Jersey?Leonia,May 5. New York?Brooklyn, April 6. Connecticut?New Haven.April 8; Wallingford, April 16. Rhode Island?Block Island, April 7.
506 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Massachusetts?Boston, April 11. Vermont?Putney, May 23.Maine?Sebasco, April 7. Nova Scotia?Wolfville, April 17. Loui-siana?Bains, March 18; Grand Isle, March 31. Mississippi?Biloxiand Bay St. Louis, March 31. Arkansas?Glenwood, March 29.Tennessee?Maryville, April 2; Nashville April 9 (median of 12 years,April 15). Kentucky?Versailles and Bowling Green, April 2;Lexington, April 7. Missouri?Bolivar, March 30; Marionville,April 2. Illinois?Olney, April 18. Indiana?Bloomington, April 1;Richmond, April 14. Ohio?Circleville, April 17. Ontario?-To-ronto, April 13; Point Pelee, May 7. Iowa?Burlington, April 20.Wisconsin?Milwaukee, April 30. Minnesota?Frontenac, May 14.Texas?Kerrville, March 5; Dallas, April 4. Oklahoma?OklahomaCity, April 1. Kansas?Elmdale, April 23. Nebraska?Red Cloud,April 30. New Mexico?State College, May 2. Arizona?SanXavier Mission, April 14. Colorado?Boulder, May 1 . California
?
Piacacho, April 20.Late dates of spring departure are: Ecuador?Quito, April 7.Colombia?Quimari, April 14. Panama?Loma del Leon, March 29.Costa Rica?El General valley, April 17 (median of 9 years, April 9).Nicaragua?Rio Escondido, April 13. Guatemala?near Quirigua,April 25. British Honduras?Mountain Cow, April IS. VeracruzVolcan San Martin, April 22. Tamaulipas?Galindo, April 20. SanLuis Potosi?Tamazunchale, April 14. Cuba?Havana, May 30.Bahama Islands?-Andros Island, April 19. Bermuda, April 29.Florida?Tortugas, May 14. Maryland?Laurel, May 29. NewYork?Speonk, May 25. Mississippi?Cat Island, May 10. TexasCove, May 18.Early dates of fall arrival are: Texas?El Paso, August 27. Mis-sissippi?Deer Island, August 9. Louisiana?Thibodaux, August 20.Florida?Paradise Key, August 6. Cuba?Havana, September 15.Baja California?Guadalupe Island, October 12. TamaulipasMatamoros, August 26. Yucatan?Cayos Areas, August 29. Hon-duras?near Tela, October 3. Costa Rica?San Miguel de Desam-parados, September 18; El General valley, September 29 (median of4 years, October 5). Panama?Rio Caimitillo valley, October 21.Colombia?Santa Marta region, October 19. Brazil?Madeira River,November 22. Ecuador?Pastaza Valley, October 17. PeruHuachipa, October 5.Late dates of fall departure are: Arizona?San Francisco River,October 10. New Mexico?Mesilla, October 1. Kansas?LakeQuivira, October 4. Oklahoma?Tulsa, October 5. Texas?Anahuacand Cove, October 18. Iowa?Wall Lake, September 26. MichiganPinckney, November 6 (only record). Ohio?central Ohio, October 7.
COOPER'S SUMMER TANAGER 507Indiana?Carlisle, October 15. Illinois?Odin, October 1. Mis-souri?Bolivar, October 16. Kentucky?Eubank, October 10. Ten-nessee?Elizabethton, October 20. Arkansas?Delight, October 13.Mississippi?Gulfport, October 25. Louisiana?Monroe, October 29.Novia Scotia?Annapolis Royal, October 20. Maine?MonheganIsland, October 21; Winthrop, September 23. Massachusetts
?
Middleboro, October 26; Nantucket, October 9. Rhode IslandKingston, September 29. Connecticut?Hartford, September 28.New York?Ward's Island, September 19. New Jersey?Long Beach,September 29. Pennsylvania?Philadelphia, Octover 23. MarylandBaltimore County, September 29. District of Columbia, September17 (average of 7 years, September 14). West Virginia?Bluefield,October 10. Virginia?Lynchburg, October 17. North CarolinaRaleigh, October 30 (average of 10 years, September 7). SouthCarolina?Charleston, October 14. Georgia?Atlanta, October 26.Alabama?Piedmont, October 20. Florida?Miami, November 12;Pensacola, November 8 (median of 21 years, October 20). SonoraSan Pedro River, October 5.Egg dates.?Arizona: 9 records, May 27 to August 5.Florida: 5 records, May 9 to June 2.Georgia: 11 records, May 10 to June 17; 6 records, May 23 toMay 31.South Carolina: 25 records, May 11 to June 2; 13 records, May 19to May 26.Texas: 4 records, March 24 to June 5.PIRANGA RUBRA COOPERI RidgwayCooper's Summer TanagerHABITSThis western race of our well-known summer tanager is decidedlylarger than its eastern representative, with paler coloration. Itsrange includes the southwestern corner of the United States, frommiddle Texas to New Mexico, Arizona, and the lower Colorado Valleyin extreme southeastern California, and extends southward throughwestern Mexico to Colima. The report of its accidental occurrencein Colorado has been shown by Gordon Alexander (1936) to be anerror.In Arizona, we found Cooper's tanager common only in the lowervalleys, particularly along the San Pedro River, where my companionFrank C. Willard took a set of four eggs on June 9, 1922. Swarth(1904) reports it to be "of very rare occurrence in the mountains,during migration." We did not see it in the mountains at all.
508 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211In the Valley of the lower Colorado River, Grinnell (1914b) foundthis tanager "strictly confined to the willow association. Not onebird was seen even so far from this association as the mesquite belt."And in New Mexico, it is reported by Mrs. Bailey (1928) as frequentingthe cottonwoods along the rivers and in canyons. Referring toBrewster County, Tex., Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) record Cooper'stanager as a common nesting species "where there are cottonwood,mesquite, or willow trees. It is apparently not so fond of oaks,although singing males were noted more than once in oak woods inlower parts of the Chisos Mountains." * * *"On May 13 * * * Sutton observed an adult male that was singingand displaying before a parti-colored young male which also wassinging fervently. In display, the adult male spread its wings andtail and stuck its bill straight up."Nesting.?Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) found two nests ofCooper's tanager in Brewster County: "On May 11a nest with fourfresh eggs and the female parent were collected at Castalon. Thenest was about fifteen feet from the ground close against the trunk ofa slender willow that stood not far from the Rio Grande. On May 29a nest and four eggs were found on the Combs ranch, thirteen milessouth of Marathon. This nest was built on a horizontal willow bough,about twenty feet above a stagnant pool along the Maravillas."A New Mexico nest, reported by Mrs. Bailey (1928), "was found byMr. Ligon in the top branches of a walnut tree growing in a canyonbed. Its one egg was eaten and the nest destroyed by a WoodhouseJay."The Arizona nest, referred to above, was taken by Frank C. Willardon June 9, 1922, near Fairbank in the San Pedro Valley. It wasplaced in the extreme top of a large willow, 35 feet from the ground.The nest was made of grass and green weed stems, with a lining offine grass.Eggs.?The four eggs in the normal set for Cooper's tanager areapparently indistinguishable from the eggs of the summer tanager.The measurements of 38 eggs average 23.3 by 17.4 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 25.4 by 18.3, 22.9 by 18.8,21.8 by 17.4, and 22.4 by 16.3 millimeters.Food.?Evidently, Cooper's tanager is quite as fond of honeybees as is its eastern relative. In a letter to Herbert Brandt, H. E.Weisner, who operates a large apiary near Tucson, Ariz., complains ofthe damage done to his bees by this and the western tanager. Hewrites as follows: "It was several years before I realized the fact thattheir food in the areas about my apiaries consisted almost entirely ofbees, and worker bees at that. Or, I had better say parts of bees,
COOPER'S SUMMER TANAGER 509for they skillfully avoided contact with the stinger end of their victimsby breaking off that end. They accomplished this by catching thebees across the middle of the body and, upon alighting on a branch orother perch, breaking off the protruding end of the abdomen by givingit a 'swipe' on the perch. * * * All summer long, the top of nearlyevery hive was sprinkled with the abdomens of bees, and since justas many fall upon each equal area of uncovered ground throughoutthe apiary, it is very evident that the toll was very great."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southwestern United States to central Mexico.Breeding range.?Cooper's summer tanager breeds from south-eastern California (Colorado River Valley from Needles to Potholes),southern Nevada (Colorado River opposite Fort Mojave), central-western, central, and southeastern Arizona (Fort Mohave, Aquariusand Juniper Mountains, the Tonto Basin, Clifton), southwestern,central, and southeastern New Mexico (Cooney, Los Pinos; probablyCarlsbad), western Texas (Frijole, Davis Mountains, BrewsterCounty), and northeastern Coahuila (Sabinas); south to northeasternBaja California (Cerro Prieto), central-northern and southeasternSonora (Rancho la Arizona, Magdalena, Opodepe, Guirocoba),northern Durango (Rio Sestin), southeastern Coahuila (Sierra deGuadalupe), and central Nuevo Le6n (Cerro de la Silla, Allende,Montemorelos.Winter range.?Winters in southern Baja California (San Jose"del Cabo), southern Sinaloa (Mazatlan), Michoacan (Los Reyes,Mount Tancitaro), Morelos (Morelos) and central Guerrero (Chil-pancingo)
.
Casual records.?Casual in southwestern California (SantaBarbara, Hueneme, Pasadena, San Clemente Island).
510 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Literature Cited
Aiken, Charles Edward Howard, and Warren, Edward Royal1914. Birds of El Paso County, Colorado. Colorado College Publ., gen.ser. No. 74 (sci. ser., vol. 12, No. 13, pt. 2), pp. 497-603.Alexander, Gordon1936. Eastern summer tanager in Colorado. Auk, vol. 53, p. 452.Allen, Arthur Augustus1914. The red-winged blackbird: A study in the ecology of a cat-tail marsh.Abstr. Proc. Linn. Soc, New York, Nos. 24-25, 1911-1913, pp.43-128.1944. Touring for birds with microphone and color camera. Nat. Geogr.Mag., vol. 85, pp. 689-696.Allen, Charles N.1881. Songs of the western meadowlark (Stumella neglecta). Bull. NuttallOrnith. Club, vol. 6, pp. 145-150.Allen, Charles Slover1892. Breeding habits of the fish hawk on Plum Island, New York. Auk.vol. 9, pp. 313-321.Allen, Francis Henry1922. Some little known songs of common birds. Natural History, vol. 22,pp. 235-242.Allen, Glover Morrill1925. Birds and their attributes.Allen, Joel Asaph1868. Notes on birds observed in western Iowa, in the months of July,August and September; also on birds observed in northern Illinoisin May and June, and at Richmond, Wayne Co., Indiana, betweenJune third and tenth. Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pp.488-526.Allin, Albert Ellis, and Dear, Lionel Sextus1947. Brewer's blackbird breeding in Ontario. Wilson Bull., vol. 59, pp.175-176.American Ornithologists' Union1910. Check-List of North American birds, ed. 3.1931. Check-List of North American birds, ed. 4.1944. Nineteenth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American birds. Auk, vol. 61, pp. 441-464.1957. Check-List of North American birds, ed. 5.Anderson, Rudolph Martin1907. The birds of Iowa. Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci., vol. 40, pp. 125-417.Anthony, Alfred Webster1894. Icterus parisorum in western San Diego County, Calif. Auk, vol. 11,pp. 327-328.1921. Strange behavior of a Bullock's oriole. Auk, vol. 38, p. 277.Attwater, Henry Philemon1892. List of birds observed in the vicinity of San Antonio, Bexar County,Texas. Auk, vol. 9, pp. 229-238.
LITERATURE CITED 511Audubon, John James1834. Ornithological biography, vol. 2.1839. Ornithological biography, vol. 5.1841. The birds of America, vols. 2 and 3.1842. The birds of America, vol. 4.1844. The birds of America, vol. 7.Bagg, Aaron Clark, and Eliot, Samuel Atkins, Jr.1937. Birds of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts.Bailey, Florence Merriam1902. Handbook of birds of the western United States.1910. The palm-leaf oriole. Auk, vol. 27, pp. 33-35.1928. Birds of New Mexico.Bailey, Harold Harris1913. The birds of Virginia.Baillairge, Wilson.1930. A bronzed grackle foster parent. Canadian Field-Nat., vol. 44, pp.166-167.Baird, Spencer Fullerton; Brewer, Thomas Mayo; and Ridgway, Robert1874. A history of North American birds: Land birds, vol. 2.Bangs, Outram1899. The Florida meadowlark. Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. 1,pp. 19-21.1907. A new race of the hepatic tanager. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,vol. 20, pp. 29-30.Barbour, Thomas1923. The birds of Cuba. Mem. Nuttall Ornith. Club, No. 6.Barrows, Walter Bradford1889. The English sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America. U. S.Dep. Agric. Bull. 1.1912. Michigan bird life.Bassett, Frank N.1931. Brewer blackbirds roosting in duck blinds. Condor, vol. 31, p. 171.Baumgartner, Frederick M.1934. Bird mortality on the highways. Auk, vol. 51, pp. 537-538.Beal, Foster Ellenborough Lascelles1897. Some common birds in their relation to agriculture. U. S. Dep.Agric. Farmers' Bull. 54.1900. Food of the bobolink, blackbirds, and grackles. U. S. Dep. Agric.Biol. Surv. Bull. 13.1907. Birds of California in relation to the fruit industry, pt. 1. U. S. Dep.Agric. Biol. Surv. Bull. 30.1910. Birds of California in relation to the fruit industry, pt. 2. U. S. Dep.Agric. Biol. Surv. Bull. 34.1926. Some common birds useful to the farmer. U. S. Dep. Agric. Farmers'Bull. 630 (1915), rev.1948. Some common birds useful to the farmer. U. S. Dep. Interior,Conserv. Bull. 18.Beal, F. E. L.; McAtee, Waldo Lee; and Kalmbach, Edwin Richard1927. Common birds of southeastern United States in relation to agriculture.U. S. Dep. Agric. Farmers' Bull. 755.Bendire, Charles Emil1895. Life histories of North American birds. U. S. Nat. Mus. Spec. Bull. 3.
512 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Bennett, F. M.1909. A tragedy of migration. Bird-Lore, vol. 11, pp. 110-113.Bent, Arthur Cleveland1903. A North Dakota slough. Bird-Lore, vol. 5, pp. 146-151.1919. Life histories of North American diving birds. Order Pygopodes.U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 107.Bergtold, William Harry1913. A study of the house finch. Auk, vol. 30, pp. 40-73.1921. The English sparrow {Passer domesticus) and the motor vehicle.Auk, vol. 38, pp. 244-250.Betts, Norman de Witt1913. Birds of Boulder County, Colorado. Univ. Colorado Studies, vol. 10,No. 4.Bicknell, Eugene Pintard1884. A study of the singing of our birds. Auk, vol. 1, pp. 126-140.Bolles, Frank1891. Land of the lingering snow.1894. From Blomidon to Smoky and other papers.Bond, Richard Marshall1939. Observations on raptorial birds in the lava beds, Tule Lake region ofnorthern California. Condor, vol. 41, pp. 54-61.1947. Food items from red-tailed hawk and marsh hawk nests. Condor,vol. 49, p. 84.BONWELL, J. R.1895. A strange freak of a cowbird. Nidiologist, vol. 2, p. 153.Bralliar, Floyd1922. Knowing birds through stories.Brand, Albert Rich1938. Vibration frequencies of passerine bird song. Auk, vol. 55, pp.263-268.Brewster, William1881. Notes on some birds from Arizona and New Mexico, with a descriptionof a supposed new whip-poor-will. Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club,vol. 6, pp. 65-73.1886a. An ornithological reconnaissance in western North Carolina. Auk,vol. 3, pp. 94-112.1886b. Bird migration. Mem. Nuttall Ornith. Club, No. 1.1902. Birds of the Cape region of Lower California. Bull. Mus. Comp.Zool., vol. 41, pp. 1-241.1906. The birds of the Cambridge region of Massachusetts. Mem. NuttallOrnith. Club, No. 4.1936. October Farm. Compiled from the Concord journals and diaries ofWilliam Brewster.1937. The birds of the Lake Umbagog region of Maine, pt. 3. Bull Mus.Comp. Zool., vol. 66, pp. 408-521.Brooks, Allan1928. Are the boat-tailed and great-tailed grackles specifically distinct?Auk, vol. 45, pp. 506-507.1932. The iris of the Florida boat-tailed grackle. Auk, vol. 49, pp. 94-95.Bruner, Lawrence1896. Some notes on Nebraska birds. Rep. Nebraska State Hort. Soc.1896, pp. 48-178.
LITERATURE CITED 513Brtant, Harold Child1911. The relation of birds to an insect outbreak in northern Californiaduring the spring and summer of 1911. Condor, vol. 13, pp.195-208.1912. Birds in relation to a grasshopper outbreak in California. Univ.California Publ. Zool., vol. 11, pp. 1-20.1914. A determination of the economic status of the western meadowlark(Sturnella negleda) in California. Univ. California Publ. Zool.,vol. 11, pp. 377-510.Bryant, Walter [Pierc]E1890. A catalogue of the birds of Lower California, Mexico. Proc. Cali-fornia Acad. Sci., ser. 2, vol. 2, pp. 237-320.Buckalew, Herbert1934. Nesting of boat-tailed grackle and blue-winged teal in Delaware.Auk, vol. 51, p. 384.Burleigh, Thomas Dearborn1921. Breeding birds of Warland, Lincoln Co., Montana. Auk, vol. 38,pp. 552-565.1925. Notes on the breeding habits of some Georgia birds. Auk, vol. 42,pp. 396-401.1931. Notes on the breeding birds of State College, Centre County, Penn-sylvania. Wilson Bull., vol. 43, pp. 37-54.1936. Egg laying by the cowbird during migration. Wilson Bull., vol. 48,pp. 13-16.1939. Alta Mira oriole in Texas?an addition to the A. O. U. "Check-list."Auk, vol. 56, pp. 87-88.1944. The bird life of the Gulf coast region of Mississippi. Occas. Pap.Mus. Zool. Louisiana State Univ., No. 20, pp. 329-490.Burleigh, Thomas Dearborn, and Lowert, George Hines, Jr.1940. Birds of the Guadalupe Mountain region of western Texas. Occas.Pap. Mus. Zool. Louisiana State Univ., No. 8.Burleigh, Thomas Dearborn, and Peters, Harold Seymour1948. Geographic variation in Newfoundland birds. Proc. Biol. Soc.Washington, vol. 61, pp. 111-124.Burns, Franklin Lorenzo1915. Comparative periods of deposition and incubation of some NorthAmerican birds. Wilson Bull., vol. 27, pp. 275-286.Burroughs, John1879. Locusts and wild honey.Butler, Amos William1898. The birds of Indiana. Indiana Dep. Geol. and Nat. Resources, 22nd.Ann. Rep. (1897), pp 515-1197.Buttrick, P. L.1909. Observations on the life history of the bobolink. Bird-Lore, vol. 11,pp. 125-126.Cameron, Ewan Somerled1907. The birds of Custer and Dawson Counties, Montana. Auk, vol. 24,pp. 389-406.Campbell, H. C.1891. Orchard orioles nesting near kingbirds. Ornithologist and Oologist,vol. 16, p. 88.Campbell, Loois Walter1936. The subspecies of red-winged blackbirds wintering near Toledo.Wilson Bull., vol. 48, pp. 311-312.
514 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Carriker, Melbourne Armstrong, Jr.1910. An annotated list of the birds of Costa Rica, including Cocos Island.Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. 6, pp. 314-915.Cassin, John1862. Illustrations of the birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British andRussian America.Catesbt, Mark1731. The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands.Chapman, Frank Michler1890. On the winter distribution of the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorous)with remarks on its routes of migration. Auk, vol. 7, pp. 39-45.1892. A preliminary study of the grackles of the subgenus Quiscalus.Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, pp. 1-20.1912. Handbook of the birds of Eastern North America, rev. ed.1921a. Notes on the plumage of North American birds, fifty-ninth paper.Bird-Lore, vol. 23, pp. 83-84.1921b. Notes on the plumage of North American birds, sixtieth paper. Bird-Lore, vol. 23, pp. 195-196.1922. Notes on the plumage of North American birds, sixty-fourth paper.Bird-Lore, vol. 24, p. 204.1923a. Notes on the plumage of North American birds, sixty-sixth paper.Bird-Lore, vol. 25, p. 128.1923b. Notes on the plumage of North American birds, sixty-eighth paper.Bird-Lore, vol. 25, p. 389.1935a. Further remarks on the relationships of the grackles of the subgenusQuiscalus. Auk, vol. 52, pp. 21-29.1935b. Quiscalus quiscula in Louisiana. Auk, vol. 52, pp. 418-420.1936. Further remarks on Quiscalus with a report on additional specimensfrom Louisiana. Auk, vol. 53, pp. 405-417.1939a. Quiscalus in Mississippi. Auk, vol. 56, pp. 28-31.1939b. Nomenclature in the genus Quiscalus. Auk, vol. 56, pp. 364-365.1940. Further studies of the genus Quiscalus. Auk, vol. 57, pp. 225-233.Christofferson, Karl1927. The bronzed grackle as a bird of prey. Bird-Lore, vol. 29, p. 119.Coatney, G. Robert, and West, Evaline.1938. Some blood parasites from Nebraska birds. II. Amer. Midland Nat.,vol. 19, pp. 601-612.Compton, Lawrence Verlyn1947. The great-tailed grackle in the upper Rio Grande Valley. Condor,vol. 49, pp. 35-36.Cooke, May Thacher1937. Some longevity records of wild birds. Bird-Banding, vol. 8, pp. 52-65.1943. Returns from banded birds: Some miscellaneous recoveries of interest.Bird-Banding, vol. 14, pp. 67-74.Cottam, Clarence1929. The fecundity of the English sparrow in Utah. Wilson Bull., vol. 43,No. 3, pp. 193-194.1943. Unusual feeding habit of grackles and crows. Auk, vol. 60, pp.594-595.Cottam, Clarence, and Uhler, Francis Morey1935. Bird records new or uncommon to Maryland. Auk, vol. 52, pp.460-461.
LITERATURE CITED 515Coues, Elliott1874. Birds of the Northwest.1878. Birds of the Colorado Valley. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. Misc. Publ.No. 11.Coues, Elliott, and Prentiss, Daniel Webster1883. Avifauna Columbiana: Being a list of birds ascertained to inhabit theDistrict of Columbia, with the time of arrival, departure of suchas are non-resident, and brief notices of habits, etc. U. S. Nat.Mus. Bull. 26, ed. 2.Cowan, Ian McTaggart1939. The vertebrate fauna of the Peace River District of British Columbia.Occas. Pap. British Columbia Prov. Mus., No. 1.1942. Termite-eating birds in British Columbia. Auk, vol. 59, p. 451.Currier, Edmonde Samuel1904. Summer birds of the Leach Lake region, Minnesota. Auk, vol. 21,pp. 29-44.Davis, Malcolm1944. Purple grackle kills English sparrow. Auk, vol. 61, pp. 139-140.Dawson, William Leon1903. The birds of Ohio.1923. The birds of California.1927. The sociable redwing. Nat. Mag., Oct. 1927, pp. 227-229.Dawson, William Leon, and Bowles, John Hooper1909. The birds of Washington, vol. 1.Deane, Ruthven1895. Strange habits of the rusty and crow blackbirds. Auk, vol. 12, pp.303-304.1908. Destruction of English Sparrows. Auk, vol. 25, pp. 477-478.Demeritt, William W.1936. Agelaius humeralis a new bird for North America. Auk, vol. 53, p.453.Denig, Robert L.1913. A meadowlark's unusual nest-site. Bird-Lore, vol. 15, pp. 113-114.Dickey, Donald Ryder, and van Rossem, Adriaan Joseph1938. The birds of El Salvador. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser,vol. 23.Dingle, Edward von Siebold1932. The color of the iris in the boat-tailed grackle. Auk, vol. 49, pp.356-357.Du Mont, Philip Atkinson1931. Summary of bird notes from Pinellas County, Florida. Auk, vol.48, pp. 246-255.Dwight, Jonathan, Jr.1900. The sequence of plumages and moults of the passerine birds of NewYork. Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 13, pp. 73-360.Eaton, Elon Howard1914. Birds of New York. New York State Mus. Mem. 12, pt. 2.Eaton, Warren Frank1924. Decrease of the English sparrow in eastern Massachusetts. Auk, vol.41, pp. 604-606.
516 tT. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Eifrig, Chables William Gustave1915. Field notes from the Chicago area. Wilson Bull., vol. 27, pp. 417-419.1919. Notes on birds of the Chicago area and its immediate vicinity. Auk,vol. 36, pp. 513-524.Emerson, William Otto1903. A remarkable flight of Louisiana tanagers. Condor, vol. 5, pp. 64-66.1904. Icterus bullocki as a honey-eater. Condor, vol. 6, p. 78.Emlen, John Thompson, Jb.1937. Bird damage to almonds in California. Condor, vol. 39, pp. 192-197.Ebnst, Stanton Grant1944. Observations on the food of the bronzed grackle. Auk, vol. 61, pp.644-645.Ewing, Henby Ellswobth1911. The English sparrow as an agent in the dissemination of chicken andbird mites. Auk, vol. 28, pp. 335-340.Fabley, Frank LeGbange1932. Birds of the Battle River region of Central Alberta. Institute ofApplied Art, Ltd.1938. Churchill, Manitoba, and its bird life. Canadian Field-Nat., vol. 52,pp. 118-119.Fatjtin, Reed Wingatb1941a. Development of nestling yellow-headed blackbirds. Auk, vol. 58,pp. 215-232.1941b. Incubation studies of the yellow-headed blackbird. Wilson Bull.,vol. 53, pp. 107-122.Finley, William Lovell1907. American birds.Fisheb, Albebt Kenbick1893. The hawks and owls of the United States, in their relation to agri-culture. U. S. Dep. Agric, Div. Ornith. and Mamm., Bull. 3.1896. Summer roosts of swallows and red-winged blackbirds. Observer,vol. 7, pp. 382-384.Fletcheb, Laurence B.1925. A cowbird's maternal instinct. Bull. Northeastern Bird-BandingAssoc, vol. 1, pp. 22-24.Floyd, Charles Benton1926. Bronzed grackle recoveries. Bull. New England Bird-Banding Assoc,vol. 2, p. 13.Forbes, Stephen A.1907. An ornithological cross-section of Illinois in autumn. Bull. IllinoisState Lab. Nat. Hist., vol. 7, pp. 305-335.1908. The mid-summer bird life of Illinois: A statistical study. Amer.Naturalist, vol. 42, pp. 505-519.Fobbes, Stephen Alfred, and Gboss, Alfred Otto1923. On the numbers and local distribution of Illinois land birds of theopen country in winter, spring and fall. Bull. Illinois Nat. Hist.Surv., vol. 15, pp. 397-519.Fobbtjsh, Edwabd Howe1907. Useful birds and their protection.1927. Birds of Massachusetts and other New England States, pt. 2.1929. Birds of Massachusetts and other New England States, pt. 3.Fosteb, Frank B.1927. Grackles killing young pheasants. Auk, vol. 44, p. 106,
LITERATURE CITED 517Frazar, Marston Abbott1881. Destruction of birds by a storm while migrating. Bull. NuttaLlOrnith. Club, vol. 6, pp. 250-252.Friedmann, Herbert1925. Notes on the birds observed in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texasduring May, 1924. Auk, vol. 42, pp. 537-554.1929. The cowbirds. A study in the biology of social parasitism.1931. Addition to the list of birds known to be parasitized by the cowbirds.Auk, vol. 48, pp. 52-65.1933. Further notes on the birds parasitized by the red-eyed cowbird.Condor, vol. 35, pp. 189-191.1934. Further additions to the list of birds victimized by the cowbird.Wilson Bull., vol. 46, pp. 25-36 and 104-114.1938. Additional hosts of the parasitic cowbirds. Auk, vol. 55, pp. 41-50.1943. Further additions to the list of birds known to be parasitized by thecowbirds. Auk, vol. 60, pp. 350-356.1949. Additional data on victims of parasitic cowbirds. Auk, vol. 66, pp.154-163.Gabrielson, Ira Noel1914. Ten days' bird study in a Nebraska swamp. Wilson Bull., vol. 26,pp. 51-68.1915. Notes on the red-winged blackbird. Wilson Bull., vol. 27, pp. 293-302.1922. Short notes on the life histories of various species of birds. WilsonBull., vol. 34, pp. 201-204.Gabrielson, Ira Noel, and Jewett, Stanley Gordon1940. Birds of Oregon.Gander, Frank Forrest1927. Swimming ability of fledgling birds. Auk, vol. 44, pp. 574-575.Gill, Geoffrey1946. Age records of banded birds. EBBA News, vol. 9, No. 9.Gillespie, Mabel1930. Grackle recoveries. Bird-Banding, vol. 1, pp. 45-46.Gillespie, Mabel and John Arthur1932. Color of the iris in grackles. Auk, vol. 49, p. 96.Gilman, Marshall French1914. Breeding of the bronzed cowbird in Arizona. Condor, vol. 16f pp.255-259.Goelitz, Walter Adolph1916. The lazy bird. Oologist, vol. 33, pp. 146-147.Goetz, Christian John1938. Some bronzed grackle and blue jay age records. Bird-Banding, vol.9, pp. 199-200.Goss, Nathaniel Stickney1891. History of the birds of Kansas.Gosse, Philip Henry1847. The birds of Jamaica.Gowanlock, J. Nelson1914. The grackle as a nest-robber. Bird-Lore, vol. 16, pp. 187-188.Greene, Earle Rosenbury1946. Birds of the lower Florida Keys. Quart. Journ. Florida Acad. Sci.,vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 199-265, 1945; and Florida Audubon Soc. Spec.Bull., 1946.
518 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Grimes, Samuel Andrew1931. Notes on the orchard oriole. Florida Naturalist, vol. 5, pp. 1-7.Grinnell, Joseph1898. Birds of the Pacific slope of Los Angeles County. Pasadena Acad.Sci. Publ. No. 2.1908. The biota of the San Bernardino Mountains. Univ. California Publ.Zool., vol. 5, pp. 1-170.1909. A new cowbird of the genus Molothrus, with a note on the probablegenetic relationships of the North American forms. Univ. Cali-fornia Publ. Zool., vol. 5, pp. 275-281.1910. The Scott oriole in Los Angeles County. Condor, vol. 12, p. 46.1914a. A new red-winged blackbird from the Great Basin. Proc. Biol. Soc.Washington, vol. 27, pp. 107-108.1914b. An account of the mammals and birds of the lower Colorado Valley,with especial reference to the distributional problems presented.Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol. 12, pp. 51-294.1915. A distributional list of the birds of California. Pacific Coast Avi-fauna, No. 11 (Publ. of Cooper Ornith. Club).1927. Six new subspecies of birds from Lower California. Auk, vol. 44,pp. 67-72.Grinnell, Joseph; Dixon, Joseph; and Linsdale, Jean Myron1930. Vertebrate natural history of a section of northern California throughthe Lassen Peak region. Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol. 35,pp. 1-594.Grinnell, Joseph, and Linsdale, Jean Myron1936. Vertebrate animals of Point Lobos Reserve. 1934-35. CarnegieInst. Washington Publ. No. 481.Grinnell, Joseph, and Miller, Alden Holmes1944. The distribution of the birds of California. Pacific Coast AvifaunaNo. 27 (Publ. of Cooper Ornith. Club).Grinnell, Joseph, and Storer, Tracy Irwin1924. Animal life in the Yosemite. Contr. Mus. Vert. Zool., Univ. ofCalifornia.Griscom, Ludlow1923. Birds of the New York City region. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Handb.Ser. No. 9.1932. The distribution of bird-life in Guatemala. Bull. Amer. Mus.Nat. Hist., vol. 64, pp. 4391934. The ornithology of Guerrero, Mexico. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool.,vol. 75, pp. 367-422.Groff, Mary Emma and Brackbill, Hervey1946. Purple grackles "anting" with walnut juice. Auk, vol. 63, pp. 246-247.Hamaher, J. I.1936. Summer tanager (Piranga rubra) eating wasps. Auk, vol. 53, pp.220-221.Hann, Harry Wilbur1937. Life history of the oven-bird in southern Michigan. Wilson Bull.,vol. 49, pp. 145-237.1941. The cowbird at the nest. Wilson Bull., vol. 53, pp. 211-221.Harper, Francis1920. The song of the boat-tailed grackle. Auk, vol. 37, pp. 295-297.
LITERATURE CITED 519Harris, Harry1919. Birds of the Kansas City region. Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, vol.23, pp. 213-371.Henshaw, Henry Wetherbee1875. Report on the ornithological collections made in portions of Nevada,Utah, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona during theyears 1871, 1872, 1873 and 1874. Wheeler's Rep. Expl. SurveyWest of the 100th Meridian.Herrick, Francis Hobart1901. The home life of wild birds.1935. Wild birds at home.Hess, Isaac Elmore1910. One hundred breeding birds of an Illinois ten-mile radius. Auk,vol. 27, pp. 19-32.Hoffmann, Ralph1904. A guide to the birds of New England and eastern New York.1927. Birds of the Pacific states.Holland, Harold May1923. Cowbird-like behavior of red-winged blackbird. Auk, vol. 40, pp.127-128.Holt, Ernest Golsan, and Sutton, George Miksch1926. Notes on birds observed in southern Florida. Ann. Carnegie Mus.,vol. 16, pp. 409-439.Howard, William Johnston1937. Bird behavior as a result of emergence of seventeen year locusts.Wilson Bull., vol. 49, pp. 43-44.Howell, Arthur Holmes1906. Birds that eat the cotton boll weevil, a report of progress. U. S.Dep. Agric. Biol. Surv. Bull. 25.1907. The relation of birds to the cotton boll weevil. U. S. Dep. Agric. Biol.Surv. Bull. 29.1924. Birds of Alabama.1932. Florida bird life.Howell, Arthur Holmes, and van Rossem, Adriaan Joseph1928. A study of the red-winged blackbirds of southeastern United States.Auk, vol. 45, pp. 155-163.Huey, Laurence Markham1926. Notes from northwestern Lower California, with description of anapparently new race of the screech owl. Auk, vol. 43, pp. 347-362.1931. Icterus pustulatus, a new bird to the A. O. U. Check-list. Auk, vol.48, pp. 606-607.1942. A vertebrate faunal survey of the Organ Pipe Cactus NationalMonument, Arizona. Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 9,pp. 353-376.Hunn, John Townsend Sharpless1926. An oriole tragedy. Bird-Lore, vol. 28, p. 335Hurd, Theodore D.1890. Nesting of the Arizona hooded Oriole at Riverside, Cal. Ornithol-ogist and Oologist, vol. 15, p. 13.Hyde, Arthur Sidney1939. The ecology and economics of the birds along the northern boundaryof New York State. Roosevelt Wildlife Bull., vol. 12, No. 2.38092&?57 34
520 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211ILLINGWORTH. J. F.1901. The Bullock's and Arizona hooded orioles. Condor, vol. 3, pp.98-100.Ivor, Hance Roy1941. Observations on "anting" by birds. Auk, vol. 58, pp. 415-416.Jackson, Hartley Harrad Thompson1923. Notes on summer birds of the Mamie Lake region, Wisconsin. Auk,vol. 40, pp. 478-489.Jones, Lynds1897. The Oberlin summer grackle roost. Wilson Bull , old ser. vol. 9,new ser. vol. 4, No. 15, pp. 39-56.Juod, Sylvester Dwight1896. Feeding habits of the English sparrow and crow. Auk, vol. 13, pp.285-289.1901. The relation of sparrows to agriculture. U. S. Dep. Agric. Biol.Surv. Bull. 15.1902. Birds of a Maryland farm. U. S. Dep. Agric. Biol. Surv. Bull. 17.Kalmbach, Edwin Richard1914. Birds in relation to the alfalfa weevil. U. S. Dep. Agric. Bull. 107.1930. English sparrow control. U. S. Dep. Agric. Leaflet 61.1940. Economic status of the English sparrow in the United States U. S.Dep. Agric. Techn. Bull. 711.Kalter, Louis B.1932. Influence of an osprey on bronzed grackles and pied-billed grebes.Wilson Bull., vol. 44, p. 42.Kendeigh, Samuel Charles1941. Birds of a prairie community. Condor, vol. 43, pp. 165-174.Kennard, Frederic Hedge1920. Notes on the breeding habits of the rusty blackbird in northern NewEngland. Auk, vol. 37, pp. 412-422.Kennedy, Clarence Hamilton1914. The effects of irrigation on the bird life of the Yakima Valley, Wash-ington. Condor, vol. 16, p. 254.1915. Adaptability in the choice of nesting sites of some widely spreadbirds. Condor, vol. 17, p. 66.Kenyon, Karl W., and Uttal, Leonard J.1941. The strange death of a young grackle. Wilson Bull. vol. 53, p. 197.Keyes, Charles R.1884. Notes from central Iowa. Ornithologist and Oologist, vol. 9, p. 34.1888. Blackbird flights at Burlington, Iowa. Auk, vol. 5, pp. 207-208.Knight, Ora Willis1908. The birds of Maine.Knowlton, George F.1944. Red-wings eat pea aphids. Auk, vol. 61, p. 138.Knowlton, George F., and Harmston, Fred Carl1943. Grasshoppers and crickets eaten by Utah birds. Auk, vol. 60, p.589-591.Knowlton, George F., and Telford, P. E.1946. Insects eaten by Brewer's blackbirds. Auk, vol. 63, p. 589.Kohler, Louis S.1915a. Home life of the scarlet tanager. Oriole, vol 3, pp. 4-8.1915b. An albino meadowlark. Oologist, vol. 32, p. 119.
LITERATURE CITED 521Kopman, Henry Hazlitt1915. List of the birds of Louisiana: Part VI. Auk, vol. 32, pp. 15-29.Lack, David, and Emlen, John Thompson, Jr.1939. Observations on breeding behavior in tricolored red-wings. Condor,vol. 41, pp. 225-230.Lackey, J. B.1913. Notes from Mississippi. Oologist, vol. 30, pp. 257-258.Lamb, Chester C.1944. Grackle kills warbler. Condor, vol. 46, p. 245.Langille, James Hibbert1884. Our birds in their haunts.La Rivers, Ira1941. The Mormon cricket as food for birds. Condor, vol. 43, pp. 65-69.1944. Observations on the nesting mortality of the Brewer's blackbird,Euphagus cyanocephalus. Amer. Midland Nat., vol. 32, pp.417-437.Laskey, Amelia Rudolph1937. Notes on the song of immature birds. Migrant, vol. 8, pp. 67-68.1940. Bertram, a blackbird with personality. Bird-Lore, vol. 42, pp.25-30.Lawrence, George Newbold1874. Birds of western and northwestern Mexico, based upon collectionsmade by Col. A. J. Grayson, Capt. J. Xantus and Ferd. Bischoff,now in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington,D. C, Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 2, pp. 265-319.Lewis, John Barzillai1931. Behavior of rusty blackbird. Auk, vol. 48, pp. 125-126.Lewis, Walter E.1925. Large flocks of wintering blackbirds at Gate, Oklahoma. WilsonBull., vol. 37, p. 91.Ligon, James Stokley1926. Nesting of the great-tailed grackle in New Mexico. Condor, vol.28, pp. 93-94.Lincoln, Frederick Charles1925. Notes on the bird life of North Dakota with particular referenceto the summer waterfowl. Auk, vol. 42, pp. 50-64.1931. Some causes of mortality among birds. Auk, vol. 48, pp. 538-546.1935. The migration of North American birds. U. S. Dep. Agric. Circ.363.1939. The migration of American birds.1940. The Arizona hooded oriole in Kansas. Auk, vol. 57, p. 420.Linsdale, Jean Myron1931. Facts concerning the use of thallium in California to poison rodents
?
its destructiveness to game birds, song birds and other valuablewildlife. Condor, vol. 33, pp. 95-102.1932. Further facts concerning losses to wild animal life through pestcontrol in California. Condor, vol. 34, p. 134.1936a. The birds of Nevada. Pacific Coast Avifauna, No. 23 (Publ. ofCooper Ornith. Club).1936b. Coloration of downy young birds. Condor, vol. 38, p. 112.1938. Environmental responses of vertebrates in the Great Basin. Amer.Midland Nat., vol. 19, pp. 1-206.
522 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Lockwood, Samuel1872. The Baltimore oriole and carpenter bee. Amer. Naturalist, vol. 6,pp. 721-724.LOFBERG, LlLA McKlNLET1928. Bird banding at Florence Lake, 7300 feet altitude. Condor, vol. 30,p. 312.1933. Notes on the eggs of a few Florence Lake birds. Condor, vol. 35,p. 243.Lowery, George Hines., Jr.1938. A new grackle of the Cassidix mexicanus group. Occas. Pap. Mus.Zool. Louisiana State Univ., No. 1.1946. Evidence of trans-Gulf migration. Auk, vol. 63, pp. 175-211.Macoun, John, and Macoun, James M.1909. Catalogue of Canadian birds., ed. 2.Mailliard, Joseph1900. Breeding of Agelaius tricolor in Madera County, California. Condorvol. 2, pp. 122-124.1910. The status of the California bi-colored blackbird. Condor, vol. 12pp. 63-70.1914. Notes on a colony of tri-colored redwings. Condor, vol. 16, pp204-207.1915a. The Kern redwing
?
Agelaius phoeniceus aciculatus. Condor, vol17, pp. 12-15.1915b. Further remarks upon the Kern redwing. Condor, vol. 17, pp228-230.Manwell, Reginald D.1941. Homing instinct of the red-winged blackbird. Auk, vol. 58, pp.184-187.Mathews, Ferdinand Schuyler1921. Field book of wild birds and their music, rev. ed.Maynard, Charles Johnson1883. The naturalist's guide.1896. The birds of eastern North America, ed. 2.Mayr, Ernst1941. Red-wing observations in 1940. Proc. Linn. Soc. New York, 1940-1941, pp. 75-83.McAtee, Waldo Lee1919. Observations on the shifting range, migration and economic valueof the bobolink. Auk, vol. 36, pp. 430-431.1922. Local suppression of agricultural pests by birds. Ann. Rep. Smith-sonian Inst., 1920, pp. 411-438.1926. The relation of birds to woodlots in New York State. RooseveltWild Life Bull., vol. 4, pp. 7-152.McCabe, Thomas Tonkin1932. Wholesale poison for the red-wings. Condor, vol. 34, pp. 49-50.McCann, Horace Dolbey1931. Recoveries of purple grackles banded at Paoli, Pennsylvania, 1923-1931. Bird-Banding, vol. 2, pp. 174-178.McClure, H. Elliott1945. Effects of a tornado on bird life. Auk, vol. 62, pp. 414-418.
LITERATURE CITED 523McIlhenny, Edward Avert1936. Purple gallinules (Ionornis martinica) are predatory. Auk, vol. 53,pp. 327-328.1937. Life history of the boat-tailed grackle in Louisiana. Auk, vol. 54,pp. 274-295.1940. Sex ratio in wild birds. Auk, vol. 57, pp. 85-93.McIlwraith, Thomas1894. The birds of Ontario.Merrill, James Cushing1877. Notes on Molothrus aeneus, Wagl. Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club,vol. 2, pp. 85-87.1878. Notes on the ornithology of southern Texas, being a list of birdsobserved in the vicinity of Fort Brown, Texas, from February,1876, to June, 1878. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 1, pp. 118-173.1888. Notes on the birds of Fort Klamath, Oregon. Auk, vol. 5, pp. 357-366.MlLLIKEN, A.1932. A return-2 Baltimore oriole. Bird-Banding, vol. 3, p. 32.Miller, Alden Holmes1931. Notes on the song and territorial habits of Bullock's oriole. WilsonBull., vol. 43, pp. 102-108.Milne, Lorus J.1928. Further notes on the bronzed grackle as a fisherman. CanadianField-Nat., vol. 42, p. 177.Minot, Henry Davis1877. The land-birds and game-birds of New England. Revised and editedby William Brewster.Mousley, Henry1916. Five years personal notes and observations on the birds of Hatley,Stanstead County, Quebec?1911-1915. Auk, vol. 33, pp. 168-186.Mulford, Alice S.1936. Ecological relations of the Brewer blackbird. (Thesis for a degree.)Munro, James Alexander1929. Blackbirds feeding on the forest tent caterpillar. Condor, vol. 31,p. 80.1947. Observations of birds and mammals in central British Columbia.Occas. Pap. British Columbia Prov. Mus., No. 6.Murie, Adolph, and Bruce, H. D.1935. Some feeding habits of the western sandpiper. Condor, vol. 37,pp. 258-259.Murphey, Eugene Edmund1937. Observations on the bird life of the middle Savanna Valley, 1890-1937. Contr. Charleston Museum, No. 9.Neff, Johnson Andrew1937. Nesting distribution of the tri-colored red-wing.Neff, Johnson Andrew, and Meanley, Brooke1957. Status of Brewer's blackbird on the Grand Prairie of eastern Arkansas.Wilson Bull., vol. 69, pp. 102-105.
524 V. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Nelson, Edward William1897. Preliminary descriptions of new birds from Mexico and Guatemala inthe collection of the United States Department of Agriculture.Auk, vol. 14, pp. 42-76.1900. Descriptions of thirty new North American birds, in the BiologicalSurvey collection. Auk, vol. 17, pp. 253-270.Nero, Robert W.1956. A behavior study of the red-wing blackbird. Wilson Bull., vol. 68,pp. 5-37, 129-150.Nice, Margaret Morse1931. The birds of Oklahoma. Publ. Univ. Oklahoma, vol. 3, No. 1, pp.1-224, rev. ed.1935. Some observations on the behavior of starlings and grackles in rela-tion to light. Auk, vol. 52, pp. 91-92.1937. Studies in the life history of the song sparrow. I. A populationstudy of the song sparrow. Trans. Linn. Soc. New York, vol. 4,pp. 1-247.1939. The watcher at the nest.1949. The laying rhythm of cowbirds. Wilson Bull., vol. 61, pp. 231-234.Nicholson, Donald John1929. The peculiar suspiciousness of nesting southern meadowlarks. WilsonBull., vol. 41, p. 104.NlETHAMMER, GtJNTHER1937. Handbuch der deutschen Vogelkunde. Band 1: Passeres.Norris, Joseph Parker1890. A series of eggs of the European tree sparrow. Ornithologist andOologist, vol. 15, pp. 24-25.1891. English sparrows by the thousand. Ornithologist and Oologist,vol. 16, pp. 13-14.Norris, Russell Taplin1944. Notes on a cowbird parasitizing a song sparrow. Wilson Bull., vol.56, pp. 129-132.1947. The cowbirds of Preston Frith. Wilson Bull., vol. 59, pp. 83-103.Nuttall, Thomas1832. A manual of the ornithology of the United States and of Canada.Oberholser, Harry Church1907. A new Agelaius from Canada. Auk, vol. 24, pp. 332-336.1919a. Description of a new red-winged blackbird from Texas. WilsonBull., vol. 31, pp. 20-23.1919b. Notes on the races of Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus). Auk, vol. 36,pp. 549-555.1930. Notes on a collection of birds from Arizona and New Mexico. Sci.Publ. Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pp. 83-124.1938. The bird life of Louisiana. Louisiana Dep. Conserv. Bull. 28.Odum, Eugene Pleasants, and Pitelka, Frank Alois1939. Storm mortality in a winter starling roost. Auk, vol. 56, pp. 451-455.Packard, Fred Mallert1936. An analysis of some banding records of the eastern red-wing. Bird-Banding, vol. 7, pp. 28-37.1937. A further analysis of some banding records of the eastern red-wing.Bird-Banding, vol. 8, pp. 139-144.1946. Midsummer wandering of certain Rocky Mountain birds. Auk, vol.63, pp. 152-158.
LITERATURE CITED 525Parks, George Hapgood1945. Strange behavior of a bronzed grackle. Bird-Banding, vol. 18, p. 144.Pearson, Thomas Gilbert1921. Notes on the bird-life of southeastern Texas. Auk, vol. 38, pp.513-523.1925. The red-winged blackbird, in Portraits and habits of our birds, vol. 1,p. 99.Pearson, T. G.; Brimley, Clement Samuel; and Brimley, Herbert Hutchin-son.1919. Birds of North Carolina. North Carolina Geol. and Econ. Surv.,vol. 4.1942. Birds of North Carolina, rev. ed.Peck, Clark J.1905. The Overbrook grackle roost. Cassinia, No. 9, pp. 36-39.Pellet, Frank C.1926. The fishing habit of the bronzed grackle. Wilson Bull., vol. 38,p. 235.Pennock, Charles John1931. On the color of the iris and other characteristics of the boat-tailedgrackle. Auk, vol. 48, pp. 607-609.Perkins, Samuel E., hi1932. Indiana bronzed grackle migration. Bird-Banding, vol. 3, pp. 85-94.Peters, Harold Seymour1936. A list of external parasites from birds of the eastern part of theUnited States. Bird-Banding, vol. 7, pp. 9-27.Peters, Harold Seymour, and Burleigh, Thomas Dearborn1951. The birds of Newfoundland.Peterson, Roger Tory1939. Great-tailed grackle breeding in New Mexico. Condor, vol. 41,p. 217.1941. A field guide to western birds.Phillips, Allan Robert1940. Two new breeding birds for the United States. Auk, vol. 57, pp.117-118.1950. The Great-tailed Crackles of the Southwest. Condor, vol. 52, No. 2(March), pp. 78-81.Phillips, John Charles1912. Rusty blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus) wintering in Essex Co., Mass.Auk, vol. 29, p. 395.1915. Notes on American and Old World English sparrows. Auk, vol. 32,pp. 51-59.Phillips, W. J., and King, Kenneth M.1923. The corn earworm: Its ravages on field corn and suggestions for control.U. S. Dep. Agric. Farmers' Bull., No. 1310, p. 12.Pierce, Fred J.1921. The meadowlark as a conversationalist. Wilson Bull., vol. 33, pp.154-155.Proctor, Thomas1897. An unusual song of the red-winged blackbird. Auk, vol. 14, pp.319-320.
526 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Rathbun, Samuel Frederick1917. Description of a new subspecies of the western meadowlark. Auk,vol. 34, pp. 68-70.1934. Notes on the speed of birds in flight. Murrelet, vol. 15, pp. 23-24.Rau, Phil1941. Birds as enemies of Polistes wasps. Canadian Ent., vol. 73, p. 196.Rat, Milton Smith1909. Some Sierran nests of the Brewer blackbird. Condor, vol. 11, pp.194-196.Reed, Chester Albert1904. North American birds' eggs.Richardson, Frank1947. Water surface feeding of blackbirds. Condor, vol. 49, p. 212.Ridgway, Robert1877. United States geological exploration of the fortieth parallel, pt. 3:Ornithology.1889. The ornithology of Illinois.1902. The birds of North and Middle America. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 50,pt. 2.Ripley, Lewis W.1914. A successful campaign against grackles and starlings in Hartford,Conn. Bird-Lore, vol. 16, pp. 362-364.Roberts, Thomas Sadler1909. A study of a breeding colony of yellow-headed blackbirds; includingan account of the destruction of the entire progeny of the colony bysome unknown natural agency. Auk, vol. 26, pp. 371-389.1932. The Birds of Minnesota, ed. 1, vol. 2.1936. The Birds of Minnesota, ed. 2, vol. 2.Robertson, John McB.1930. Roads and birds. Condor, vol. 32, pp. 142-146.Rowley, John Stuart1939. Breeding birds of Mono County, California. Condor, vol. 41, pp.247-254.Rust, Henry J.1917. An annotated list of the birds of Fremont County, Idaho, as observedduring the summer of 1916. Condor, vol. 19, pp. 29-43.Samuels, Edward Augustus1883. Our northern and eastern birds.Sanborn, Colin Campbell, and Goelitz, Walter Adolph1915. A two year nesting record in Lake County, 111. Wilson Bull., vol. 27,pp. 434-448.Saunders Aretas Andrews1914. Birds of Teton and Lewis and Clark counties, Montana. Condor,vol. 16, pp. 124-143.1921. A distributional list of the birds of Montana. Pacific Coast Avifauna,No. 14 (Publ. of Cooper Ornith. Club).1935. A guide to bird songs.Saunders, William Edwin1920. Additional notes on the birds of Reed Deer, Alberta. Auk, vol. 37,pp. 304-306.Savage, James1895. Some rare birds of recent occurrence near Buffalo, N. Y. Auk, vol. 12,pp. 312-314.
LITERATURE CITED 527SCHORGER, ARLIE WlLLIAM1927. Notes on the distribution of some Wisconsin birds, I. Auk, vol. 44,p. 235-240.1934. Notes on the distribution of some Wisconsin birds, II. Auk, vol. 51,pp. 482-486.1941. The bronzed grackle's method of opening acorns. Wilson Bull,vol. 53, pp. 238-240.Scott, William Earl Dodge1885. On the breeding habits of some Arizona birds. Auk, vol. 2, pp.1-7, 159-165.Semple, John Bonner1932. Nest material of the Baltimore oriole, Icterus galbula (Linnaeus).Cardinal, vol. 3, pp. 69-70.Sennett, George Burritt1878. Notes on the ornithology of the lower Rio Grande of Texas, fromobservations made during the season of 1877. Bull. U. S. Geol. andGeogr. Surv., vol. 4, pp. 1-66.1879. Further notes on the ornithology of the lower Rio Grande of Texas,from observations made during the spring of 1878. Bull. U. S. Geol.and Geogr. Surv., vol. 5, pp. 371-440.Seton, Ernest Thompson (Ernest Evan Seton-Thompson)1891. The birds of Manitoba. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 13, pp. 457-643.1901. Lives of the Hunted.Shainin, Vincent Everett1940. Bobolink rises from ocean surface. Auk, vol. 57, pp. 256-257.Sharp, Clarence Sauger1903. Some unusual nests of the Bullock oriole. Condor, vol. 5, pp. 38-42.Sherman, Althea Rosina1932. Red-winged blackbirds nesting in treetops near top of hill. Auk, vol.49, p. 358.Simmons, George Finlat1925. Birds of the Austin region.Skinner, Milton Philo1928. A guide to the winter birds of the North Carolina sandhills.Slade, Elisha1881a. Peculiar nidification of the bobolink. Bull. Nuttal Orinth. Club.vol. 6, pp. 117-118.1881b. Icterus baltimorei and Populus tremuloides. Bull. Nuttall Ornith.Club, vol. 6, pp. 181-182.Smith, Loren B., and Hadley, Charles H.1926. The Japanese beetle. U. S. Dep. Agric, Dep. Circ. 363.Smith, Winnipred1947. Orchard orioles. Migrant, vol. 9, pp. 8-16.Smyth, Ellison A., Jr.1912. Birds observed in Montgomery County, Virginia. Auk, vol. 29,pp. 508-530.Snyder, Lester Lynne1928. On the bronzed grackle. Canadian Field-Nat., vol. 42, p. 44.1937. Some measurements and observations from bronzed grackles. Cana-dian Field-Nat., vol. 51, pp. 37-39.
528 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Sobiano, Pablo S.1931. Food habits and economic status of Brewer and red-winged black-birds. California Fish and Game, vol. 17, pp. 361-395.Sprunt, Alexander, Jr.1924. The scarlet tanager (Piranga erythromelas) on the coast of SouthCarolina. Auk, vol. 41, pp. 484-485.1931. Observations on the color of the iris in the boat-tailed grackle (Mega-quiscalus major). Auk, vol. 48, pp. 431-432.1932. Distribution of yellow and brown-eyed males of boat-tailed gracklein Florida. Auk, vol. 49, p. 357.1934. A new grackle from Florida. Charleston Mus. Leaflet, No. 6.1941. Predation of boat-tailed grackles on feeding glossy ibises. Auk, vol.58, pp. 587-588.Staebler, Arthur E.1941. Number of contour feathers in the English Sparrow. Wilson Bull.,vol. 53, pp. 126-127.Stephens, Frank1903. Bird notes from eastern California and western Arizona. Condor,vol. 5, pp. 100-105.Stephens, Kate1906. Scott orioles at San Diego. Condor, vol. 8, p. 130.Stephens, Thomas Calderwood1917. A study of a red-eyed vireo's nest which contained a cowbird's egg.Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist., State Univ. Iowa, vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 25-38.Stevens, Orin Alva1925. A redwing census. Bird-Lore, vol. 27, p. 250.Stockard, Charles Rupert1905. Nesting habits of birds in Mississippi. Auk, vol. 22, pp. 273-285.Stone, Witmer1897. The genus Sturnella. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, pp. 146-152.1937. Bird studies at old Cape May, vol. 2.Stoner, Dayton1942. Longevity and other data on a captive English Sparrow. Auk, vol.59, pp. 440-442.Sturgis, Bertha Bement1928. Field book of birds of the Panama Canal Zone.Sumner, Eustace Lowell, Jr.1928. Notes on the development of young screech owls. Condor, vol. 30,pp. 333-338.Sutton, George Miksch1928. The birds of Pymatuning Swamp and Conneaut Lake, CrawfordCounty, Pennsylvania. Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. 18, pp. 19-239.1942. A pensile nest of the red-wing. Wilson Bull., vol. 54, pp. 255-256.Sutton, George Miksch, and Burleigh, Thomas Dearborn1940. Birds of Tamazunchale, San Louis Potosi. Wilson Bull., vol. 52pp. 221-233.Sutton, George Miksch, and Pettingill, Olin Sewall, Jr.1943. The Alta Mira oriole and its nest. Condor, vol. 45, pp. 125-132.Sutton, George Miskch, and Phillips, Allan Robert1942. The northern races of Piranga flava. Condor, vol. 44, pp. 277-279.
LITERATURE CITED 529SWARTH, HaEEY SCHELWALDT1904. Birds of the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona. Pacif. Coast Avifauna,No. 4 (Publ. of Cooper Ornith. Club).1929. The faunal areas of southern Arizona: A study in animal distribution.Proc. California Acad. Sci., vol. 18, pp. 267-383.Tate, Ralph C.1926. Some materials used in nest construction by certain birds of theOklahoma panhandle. Univ. Oklahoma Bull., vol. 5, pp. 103-104.Tatum, George F.1915. A reconstructed Baltimore oriole's nest. Bird-Lore, vol. 17, p. 291.Taverner, Percy Algernon1928. On the bronzed grackle. Canadian Field-Nat., vol. 42, pp. 44-45.1934. Birds of Canada.1939. The red-winged blackbirds of the Canadian prairie provinces. Con-dor, vol. 41, pp. 244-246.Taylor, Walter Penn1912. Field notes on amphibians, reptiles and birds of northern HumboldtCounty, Nevada, with a discussion of some of the faunal featuresof the region. Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol. 7, pp. 319-436.Tippens, Jamie Ross1936. Some hot weather observations. Migrant, vol. 7, pp. 56-57.Todd, Walter Edmond Clyde1940. Birds of western Pennsylvania.Todd, Walter Edmond Clyde, and Carriker, Meleourne Armstrong1922. The birds of the Santa Marta region of Colombia, a study of alti-tudinal distribution. Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. 14, viii-611 pp.Torrey, Bradford1894. A Florida sketch-book.Townsend, Charles Haskins1883. Some albinos in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy. Bull.Nuttall Ornith. Club, vol. 8, p. 126.Townsend, Charles Wendell1909. Some habits of the English sparrow (Passer domesticus). Auk, vol.26, pp. 13-22.1920. Supplement to the birds of Essex County, Massachusetts. Mem.Nuttall Ornith. Club, No. 5.1927. Notes on the courtship of the lesser scaup, everglade kite, crow, andboat-tailed and great-tailed grackle. Auk, vol. 44, pp. 549-554.Trautman, Milton Bernard1940. The birds of Buckeye Lake, Ohio. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ.Michigan, No. 44.Twomey, Arthur Cornelius1942. The birds of the Uinta Basin, Utah. Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. 28,pp. 341-490.Tyler, John Gripper1907. A colony of tri-colored blackbirds. Condor, vol. 9, pp. 177-178.1913. Some birds of the Fresno district, California. Pacific Coast Avifauna,No. 9 (Publ. of Cooper Ornith. Club).Tyler, Winsor Marrett1923. Courting orioles and blackbirds from the female bird's eye-view.Auk, vol. 40, pp. 696-697.
530 U- S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211VAN ROSSEM, ADRIAAN JOSEPH1926. The California races of Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus). Condor, vol.28, pp. 215-230.1936. Birds of the Charleston Mountains, Nevada. Pacific Coast Avi-fauna, No. 24 (Publ. of Cooper Ornith. Club).1945. A distributional survey of the birds of Sonora, Mexico. Occas. Pap.Mus. Zool. Louisiana State Univ., No. 21.Van Tyne, Josselyn, and Sutton, George Miksch1937. The birds of Brewster County, Texas. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ.Michigan, No. 37.Walker, Fred S.1910. The wintering of meadowlarks at Pine Point, Maine. Auk, vol. 27,p. 341.Walkinshaw, Lawrence H.1949. Twenty-five eggs apparently laid by a cowbird. Wilson Bull., vol. 61,pp. 82-85.Warren, Benjamin Harry1890. Report on the birds of Pennsylvania, ed. 2.Wayne, Arthur Trezevant1910. Birds of South Carolina. Contr. Charleston Mus., No. 1.1918. Some additions and other records new to the ornithology of SouthCarolina. Auk, vol. 35, pp. 437-442.Weaver, Richard Lee1939. Winter observations and a study of the nesting of English sparrows.Bird-Banding, vol. 10, pp. 73-79.1942. Growth and development of English sparrows. Wilson Bull., vol.54, pp. 183-191.1943. Reproduction in English sparrows. Auk, vol. 60, pp. 62-74.Weber, Jay Anthony1912. A case of cannibalism among blackbirds. Auk, vol. 29, pp. 394-395.Wellman, Gordon Boit1928. Baltimore oriole feeding on larvae of needle miner. Auk, vol. 45,p. 507.Wetmore, Alexander1920. Observations on the habits of birds at Lake Burford, New Mexico.Auk, vol. 37, pp. 393-412.1926. The migration of birds.1936. The number of contour feathers in passeriform and related birds.Auk, vol. 53, pp. 159-169.1937. Observations on the birds of West Virginia. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.,vol. 84, pp. 401-441.1939. Observations on the birds of northern Venezuela. Proc. U. S. Nat.Mus., vol. 87, pp. 173-260.1943. The birds of southern Veracruz, Mexico. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.,Vol. 93, pp. 215-340.Wetmore, Alexander, and Swales, Bradshaw Hall1931. The birds of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. U. S. Nat. Mus.Bull. 155.Wheaton, John Maynard1882. Report on the birds of Ohio. Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio, vol. 4, pt. 1,Zool., pp. 187-628.
LITERATURE CITED 531Wheelock, Irene Grosvenor1904. Birds of California.1905. Regurgitative feeding of nestlings. Auk, vol. 22, pp. 54-70.White, Francis Beach1937. Local notes on the birds at Concord, New Hampshire.Widmann, Otto1907. A preliminary catalog of the birds of Missouri. Trans. Acad. Sci.St. Louis, vol. 17, pp. 1-288.Williams, J. Fred1940. The sex ratio in nestling eastern red-wings. Wilson Bull., vol. 52,pp. 267-277.Williams, Laidlaw1952. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor, vol. 54, pp. 3-47.Wilson, Alexander1832. American ornithology, vols. 1 and 2.Wing, Leonard1943. Spread of the starling and English sparrow. Auk, vol. 60, pp. 74-87.Witherby, H. F.1919. A practical handbook of British birds, pt. 2, pp. 104-106.Wolcott, Robert Hugh1899. Red-winged blackbird and cowbird. Bull. Michigan Ornith. Club,vol. 3, p. 18.Wood, Harold Bacon1938. Nesting of red-winged blackbirds. Wilson Bull., vol. 50, pp. 143-144.1945. The sequence of molt in purple grackles. Auk, vol. 62, pp. 455-456.WORTHINGTON, WlLLIS WOODFORD, and ToDD, WALTER EdMOND CLYDE1926. The birds of the Choctawhatchee Bay region of Florida. WilsonBull., vol. 38, pp. 204-229.Wright, Mabel Osgood1907. The red-winged blackbird. Bird-Lore, vol. 9, pp. 93-96.Yarrell, William1876. A history of British birds, vol. 2, pp. 82-88.YOUNGWORTH, WlLLIAM1931. Unusual food of the Baltimore oriole. Wilson Bull., vol. 43, p. 58.1932. Notes on the nesting of the bronzed grackle and Say's phoebe. Wil-son Bull., vol. 44, p. 41.

PLATES

U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 1
Kent County, Mich., June 14, 1944 B. \Y. BakerMale Bobolink
3S0928?58 35
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 2
J. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 3
JlnlIS
Sutler County, Pa., June 1947 H. H. HarrisonNest of Bobolink
Nest of Eastern M A. 0. GrossEADOWLARK
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE i
^0.
Near Toronto, Ontario H. M. HallidaEASTERN MEADOWLARK
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE
Duval County, Fla., May 27, 1931Fledgling Southern Meadowlark S. A. Grimes
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 6
Mud Lake, Minn., June 1943.Female yellow-Headed blackbird at nest R. T. Petersor
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 7
? V
I
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE
G. A. AmmannFifteen davs old
Hennepin County, Minn., June 1929 S. A. GrimesYoung Yellow-Headed Blackbirds
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 9
o *
2 ?
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 10
Buffalo, N. Y., May 1927Nests of Red-Winged Blackbird S. A. Grimes
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 11
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 12
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 13
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 14
Arizona Eliot PorteiMale Arizona Hooded Oriole at Nest
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 15
Arizona Eliot PorterFemale Arizona Hooded Oriole at Nest
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 16
fcK
Los Angeles County, Calif., May 11, 1946? E. M. Hall
\.4 .... /Cv^r** h Cochise County, Ariz., June 1, 1922^<&lf>&- ." 1 ' A - C - Bent
%
E. N. HarrisonNesting Sites and Nest of Scott's Oriole
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 17
Mojave Desert, Calif., May 1922Nest of Scott's Oriole 6 Feet up in Joshua Tree \V. M. Pierce
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 18
Near Toronto, Ontario H. M. Hallida;Male Baltimore Oriole at nest
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 19,
Butler County Pa., June 1947FEMALE BALTIMORE ORIOLE AT NEST H. H. Harrison
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 20
Cameron County, Tex., June 1940MALE BULLOCK'S ORIOLE AT NEST IN MESQU1TE S. A. Grimes
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 21
Grand Lake, Newfoundland, June 17, L912NESTING SITE AND NESTS OF RUSTY BLACKBIRD A. C. Bern
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 22
Shasta County, Calif., June IS, 1944Nest of Brewer's blackbird
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 23
I. < ',<] in Ibrewer's Blackbird. Winter Adult
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 24
Butler County, Pa., May 1947Nest and Eggs of bronzed Grackle
S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 25
tier County, P H. H. HarrisonEastern Cowbird Laying EggsTop: in nest of red-eyed vireo at 4:43 a.m. (E.S.T.), June 11, 1945.Bottom: in nest of song sparrows at 4:40 a.m., May 29, 1944.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 26
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 27
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 28
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 29
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 30
Arizona F. C. Willard
J. E. GalleyNest of Western Tanager and adult Male
i. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 31
K. H. MaslowskiFEMALE SCARLET TANAGER
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE
Erie County, N. Y., June 10, 1927 S - A - GnFEMALE ON NEST (TOP) AND EGGS OF SCARLET TANAGER
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 33
380928?58 37
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 34
Huachuca Mts., Ariz., May 26, 1922Habitat and Nest of Hepatic Tanager A. C. Bent
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 35
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 36
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 PLATE 37
%**: **St? a'gfc ^
:?~>^
Near Martinsburg, W. Va., June 1949Female Summer Tanager Brooding II. II. Harrison



Index(Page numbers of principal entries in italics.)
aciculatus, Agelaius phoeniceus, 174aeneus, Molothrus, 460Tangavius, 234, 458Tangavius aeneus, 225, 238, 458,463Agelaioides, 422badius, 422Agelaius gubernator, 170, 175, 179gubernator californicus, 170humeralis, 190phoeniceus, 151, 169, 170, 178, 179,185, 187, 317, 318, 320phoeniceus aciculatus, 174phoeniceus arctolegus, 158, 162phoeniceus bryanti, 151, 153phoeniceus californicus, 169, 170,176phoeniceus caurinus, 164, 165, 168,169, 177phoeniceus floridanus, 151, 153phoeniceus fortis, 157, 158, 159,160, 162, 177, 178phoeniceus littoralis, 151, 155phoeniceus mailliardorum, 168, 169phoeniceus mearnsi, 151, 155phoeniceus magapotamus, 151, 155,157phoeniceus neutralis, 157, 158, 164,171, 174, 175, 176phoeniceus nevadensis, 164, 168,175, 176, 177, 178phoeniceus phoeniceus, 128, 151,155, 157, 158, 161, 168phoeniceus predatorius, 157phoeniceus richmondi, 151, 157phoeniceus sonoriensis, 157, 164,165, 168, 176, 177tricolor, 170, 179, 310, 317aglaeus, Quiscalus quiscula, 325, 391Aiken, C. E. H., and Warren, E. R., onwestern tanager, 469Alexander, Gordon, on Cooper's summertanager, 507380928?57 38
aliastus, Euphagus cyanocephalus, 302Allen, A. A., on eastern redwing, 124,125, 126, 128, 130, 132, 133, 134,143, 144, 145on mesquite boat-billed grackle, 353Allen, C. N., on western meadowlark, 92Allen, C. S., on purple grackle, 377Allen, F. H., on Baltimore oriole,*r248,257, 261on bobolink, 43on bronzed grackle, 397, 412, 414on continental rusty blackbird, 289,292on eastern meadowlark, 70on eastern redwing, 137, 139on orchard oriole, 203on scarlet tanager, 481, 486Allen, G. M., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 422Allen, J. A., on western meadowlark, 90,91Allin, A. E., and Dear, L. S., on Brewer'sblackbird, 302Alta Mira Lichtenstein's oriole, 231Amraann, G. A., on yellow-headed blackbird, 100, 103, 106, 107, 111, 115,117, 118, 119Anderson, R. M., on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 434Anthony, A. W., on Bullock's oriole, 277on Scott's oriole, 244arctolegus, Agelaius phoeniceus, 158,162argutula, Sturnella magna, 80Arizona hooded oriole, 220, 226, 227,228, 451, 455Arizona meadowlark, 88artemisiac. Molothrus ater, 415, 451assimilis, Tangavius aeneus, 462ater, Molothrus, 313, 325, 422, 460, 461,462, 465, 503Molothrus ater, 421Attwater, II. P., on Audubon's black-headed oriole. 214 533
534 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Audubon, J. J., on Baltimore oriole, 251,254, 259on bicolored redwing, 170, 171on bobolink, 31on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 368,369, 370, 371, 373on eastern summer tanager, 498on scarlet tanager, 480on tricolored redwing, 179, 186on western meadowlark, 84on western tanager, 466audubonii, Icterus graduacauda, 210Audubon's black-headed oriole, 210,455, 461
Bachman, Rev. John, on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 368, 373badius, Agelaioides, 422Bagg, A. C, and Eliot, S. A., Jr., onbronzed grackle, 414Bailey, Florence M., on Brewer's black-bird, 310on California hooded oriole, 227on Cooper's summer tanager, 508on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 353on yellow-headed blackbird, 116,119Bailey, H. H., on eastern boat-tailedgrackle, 365Baillairge, Wilson, on bronzed grackle,412Baird, S. F., Brewer, T. M., and Ridg-way, Robert, on bobolink, 31on eastern brown-headed cowbird,441on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 356on Sennett's hooded oriole, 218on San Lucas hooded oriole, 230on tricolored redwing, 179baltimore, Icterus, 92, 131Baltimore oriole, 84, 92, 157, 191, 193,194, 195, 202, 203, 205, 217, 220,236, 247, 270, 278, 368, 433Bangs, Outram, on eastern hepatictanager, 492on southern meadowlark, 80Barbour, Thomas, on orchard oriole, 193on tawny-shouldered blackbird, 190Barnes, C. T., on Bullock's oriole, 275on English sparrow, 7on Nevada redwing, 165on western meadowlark, 93
Barnes, C. T., on western tanager, 471,474Barrows, W. B., on Baltimore oriole,257, 263on English sparrow, 2, 3, 12, 22, 23on European tree sparrow, 24on orchard oriole, 201on scarlet tanager, 486Bassett, F. N., on Brewer's blackbird,323Baumgartner, F. M., on Brewer'sblackbird, 329Bay-winged cowbird, 422Beal, F. E. L., on Baltimore oriole, 257on bicolored redwing, 172on bobolink, 39, 45on Brewer's blackbird, 317, 319on bronzed grackle, 404, 409, 410on Bullock's oriole, 274on continental rusty blackbird, 288on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 369on eastern brown-headed cowbird,442, 444on eastern meadowlark, 69on eastern redwing, 136, 138on Florida redwing, 152on purple grackle, 379on tricolored redwing, 185on western meadowlark, 88on western tanager, 472on yellow-headed blackbird, 112,113Beal, F. E. L., McAtee, W. L., andKalmbach, E. R., on easternmeadowlark, 68Beck, R. H., on tricolored redwing, 182Behle, W. H., on Brewer's blackbird,327, 330Bendire, C. E., on Alta Mira Lichten-stein's oriole, 232, 234, 236on Arizona hooded oriole, 220, 221,222, 223, 225on Audubon's black-headed oriole,210, 212, 214on Baltimore oriole, 247, 250, 252,253, 254, 256on bicolored redwing, 172on bobolink, 32, 36, 45on Brewer's blackbird, 307, 309,313, 332on bronzed grackle, 399, 400on Bullock's oriole, 270, 272, 278on California hooded oriole, 227
INDEX 535
Bendire, C. E., on eastern meadowlark,62, 74on continental rusty blackbird, 283,286on dwarf brown-headed cowbird,453, 454on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 367on eastern brown-headed cowbird,431, 432, 438on eastern redwing, 133, 136on European tree sparrow, 25on Florida grackle, 392, 393on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 354on Miller's bronzed cowbird, 456on Nevada brown-headed cowbird,451on orchard oriole, 198, 199, 200on purple grackle, 377, 378, 380on red-eyed bronzed cowbird, 461on Scott's oriole, 241, 242, 244on Sennett's hooded oriole, 217on tricolored redwing, 184on western meadowlark, 87, 89on yeilow-headed blackbird, 108Bennett, F. M., on eastern summertanager, 497Bent, A. C, on Baltimore oriole, 253,260, 261on eastern meadowlark, 60on scarlet tanager, 482on yellow-headed blackbird, 99Bergtold, W. H., on English sparrow, 5,16Bicknell, E. P., on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 445on scarlet tanager, 487Bicolored redwing, 170, 317Blackbird, 28, 45, 92, 410, 421, 446, 453Brewer's, 163, 166, 175, 212, 285,293, 302, 453, 465continental rusty, 282crow, 291, 375, 392, 418Newfoundland rusty, 300red-and-black-shouldered, 170red-and-buff-shouldered, 170red-and-white-shouldered, 170redwing, 47, 102, 104, 115, 118,123, 161, 170, 202, 283, 287, 290,293, 318, 320, 321, 325, 328, 383,386, 399, 413, 420, 424, 425, 446,460rusty (see continental rusty black-bird), 282, 325, 386, 418, 424, 425380928?57 39
Blackbird?ContinuedSumichrast's, 464, 465tawny-shouldered, 190yellow-headed, 99, 165, 187, 311,313, 399Black-headed oriole (see Audubon'sblack-headed oriole), 211, 213, 231Blake, Charles, on bronzed grackle, 418Blincoe, B. J., on bronzed grackle, 405Boat-tailed grackle, 295, 335, 355, 356,359, 360Bobolink, 28, 92, 143, 202, 410, 421Bolles, Frank, on scarlet tanager, 480,486bonariensis, Molothrus, 422, 462Bond, R. M., on Brewer's blackbird,310, 319, 326, 327, 328, 329Bonwell, J. R., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 441Brackbill, Harvey, on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 439, 443on English sparrow, 8, 15, 17on purple grackle, 380, 383Brand, A. R., on Baltimore oriole, 262on eastern meadowlark, 71on eastern redwing, 142on scarlet tanager, 488on western meadowlark, 93Brandt, Herbert, on Bullock's oriole,271, 274on Miller's bronzed cowbird, 456Brewer's blackbird, 163, 166, 175, 212,285, 293, 302, 453, 465Brewster, William, on Baltimore oriole,254, 257on bronzed grackle, 399, 409on continental rusty blackbird, 284,291, 294on eastern meadowlark, 54on eastern redwing, 124, 131, 132on San Lucas hooded oriole, 230on scarlet tanager, 487on Scott's oriole, 240, 243on western hepatic tanager, 495Bronzed cowbird, 225, 238, 454, 458Bronzed grackle, 290, 325, 375, 386, 395Brooks, Allan, on Florida boat-tailedgrackle, 358Bruner, Lawrence, on eastern redwing,138Bryant, H. C, on bicolored redwing, 174on Brewer's blackbird, 317on Scott's oriole, 241
536 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Bryant, H. C, on western meadowlark,87, 88, 94bryanti, Agelaius phoeniceus, 151, 153Buckalew, Herbert, on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 366Buffalo-bird (see eastern brown-headedcowbird), 421bullockii, Icterus bullockii, 237, 270, 281bullockii, Xanthornus, 281Bullock's oriole, 215, 225, 227, 245, 270,281, 368, 460, 473Burleigh, T. D., on Baltimore oriole, 250on Alta Mira Lichtenstein's oriole,231on eastern brown-headed cowbird,424on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 357on Florida grackle, 392on western tanager, 469Burleigh, T. D., and Lowery, G. H., Jr.,on western tanager, 468Burns, F. L., on bobolink, 36Burr, I. W., on English sparrow, 14Burroughs, John, on English sparrow, 17Butler, A. W., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 434
"Butter bird" (see bobolink), 28, 48Buttrick, P. L., on bobolink, 33
California hooded oriole, 226, 460californicus, Agelaius phoeniceus, 169,170, 176Agelaius gubernator, 170Icterus cucullatus, 226Cameron, E. S., on Brewer's blackbird,310on western meadowlark, 86, 94, 95on bronzed grackle, 398Campbell, H. C, on orchard oriole, 197Campbell, L. W., on giant redwing, 161carolinus, Euphagus, 325Euphagus carolinus, 282Carriker, M. A., Jr., on boat-tailedgrackle, 348Cassidix, 464mexicanus, 335, 352, 359mexicanus major, 357mexicanus mexicanus, 335, 352, 373mexicanus monsoni, 351mexicanus nelsoni, 351mexicanus prosopidicola, 352mexicanus torreyi, 365, 374
Cassin, John, on Audubon's black-headedoriole, 213, 214Catesby, Mark, on purple jackdaw, 391caurinus, Agelaius phoeniceus, 164, 165,168, 169, 177Chapman, F. M., on Audubon's black-headed oriole, 213on bobolink, 47on bronzed grackle, 403on eastern boat-trailed grackle, 367,368on eastern redwing, 124on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 362on orchard oriole, 202on purple grackle, 374on Sennett's hooded oriole, 217on Scott's oriole, 243on yellow-headed blackbird, 111Christofferson, K., on bronzed grackle,408
"Clarineros" (see boat-tailed grackle),335Cliff swallows, 8, 16Coatney, G. R., and West, Evaline, onbronzed grackle, 416Compton, L. V., on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 352confluenta, Sturnella neglecta, 98Continental rusty blackbird, 282Cooke, May T., on bronzed grackle, 404on eastern redwing, 144cooperi, Piranga rubra, 503, 507Cooper's summer tanager, 507Corvus brachyrhynchos pascuus, 362Cottam, Clarence, on Bullock's oriole,276on English sparrow, 9on purple grackle, 381Cottam, Clarence, and Uhler, F. M., oneastern boat-tailed grackle, 366Coues, Elliot, on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 423, 434on Nevada brown-headed cowbird,451on tricolored redwing, 179on western hepatic tanager, 493Coues, Elliot, and Prentiss, D. W., onbobolink, 45Cowan, I. M., on Brewer's blackbird,313, 316, 330on giant redwing, 159, 160on Nevada brown-headed cowbird,451
INDEX 537Cowbird, 203, 214, 263, 290, 291, 313,325, 330, 350, 413, 415, 422, 460bay-winged, 422bronzed, 225, 238, 454, 458dwarf, 203, 214, 218, 225, 457dwarf brown-headed, 453eastern, 415, 451, 452, 462eastern brown-headed, 421giant, 464Nevada, 293, 415, 475Nevada brown-headed, 451Miller's bronzed, 455North American, 422, 424red-eyed, 203, 212, 214, 218, 234,278, 456, 458red-eyed bronzed, 455, 458shiny, 422Crow, Florida, 362Crow blackbirds, 291, 375, 392, 418Cuban redwing (see tawny-shoulderedblackbird), 190cucullatus, Icterus, 231Icterus cucullatus, 215, 219Currier, E. S., on Baltimore oriole, 249on bronzed grackle, 399cyanocephalus, Euphagus, 302, 316,317, 320
Davis, Malcolm, on purple grackle, 384Dawson, W. L., on Arizona hoodedoriole, 221.on bobolink, 30, 35on Brewer's blackbird, 312, 313on Bullock's oriole, 277on California hooded oriole, 226,228, 229on dwarf brown-headed cowbird,454on Scott's oriole, 245on tricolored redwing, 182, 183, 185,186, 187on western tanager, 470, 473, 475on yellow-headed blackbird, 101,116, 118Dawson, W. L., and Bowles, J. H., onBrewer's blackbird, 302, 310, 313,321on western meadowlark, 85, 88, 93,94Deane, Ruthven, on bronzed grackle,411on continental rusty blackbird, 291
Deane, Ruthven, on English sparrow,21Demeritt, W. W., on tawny-shoulderedblackbird, 190Denig, R. L., on eastern meadowlark 60Dennis, J. V., on orchard oriole, 197dextra, Piranga flava, 4^2Dickey, R. D., and van Rossem, A. J.,on Alta Mira Lichtenstein's ori-ole, 233, 234, 235, 236on Miller's bronzed cowbird, 456,457on orchard oriole, 200, 207on western tanager, 476Dingle, E. S., on Florida boat-tailedgrackle, 362Dives dives, 464Dolichonyx oryzivorus, 28domesticus, Passer domesticus, 1Du Bois, A. D., on Baltimore oriole, 249,250, 254, 256, 259on bobolink, 34, 36, 41, 43on eastern brown-headed cowbird,438on eastern redwing, 130, 137, 140,142on English sparrow, 8on orchard oriole, 194on scarlet tanager, 482on western meadowlark, 91on western tanager, 471, 474, 475on yellow-headed blackbird, 114Du Mont, P. A., on Florida redwing, 152Dwarf brown-headed cowbird, 453Dwarf cowbird, 203, 214, 218, 225, 457Dwight, Jonathan, Jr., on Baltimoreoriole, 254, 255on bobolink, 38, 39on bronzed grackle, 402on continental rusty blackbird, 287,288on eastern brown-headed cowbird,442on eastern meadowlark, 65on eastern redwing, 135on eastern summer tanager, 499on English sparrow, 12on orchard oriole, 199on purple grackle, 378on scarlet tanager, 483, 484on western tanager, 471, 472
538 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
Eastern boat-tailed grackle, 359, 360,365Eastern brown-headed cowbird, 1^21Eastern cowbird, 415, 451, 452, 462Eastern hepatic tanager, J+92Eastern meadowlark, 53, 92Eastern redwing, 123, 290Eastern summer tanager, 496, 507, 508Eaton, E. H., on Baltimore oriole, 249,250, 262on bobolink, 36on eastern brown-headed cowbird,446Eaton, W. F., on English sparrow, 4Eifrig, G., on eastern meadowlark, 74Emerson, W. O., on Bullock's oriole, 275on western tanager, 468Emlen, J. T., Jr., on Brewer's blackbird,317English sparrow, 1, 27, 39, 45, 259, 377,380, 384, 408Ernst, S. G., on bronzed grackle, 407Errington, P. L., on yellow-headedblackbird, 118erythromelas, Piranga, 475Euphagus carolinus, 325carolinus carolinus, 282carolinus nigrans, 300cyanocephalus, 302, 316, 317, 320cyanocephalus aliastus, 302cyanocephalus minusculus, 302European tree sparrow, 24Evenden, F. G., Jr., on yellow-headedblackbird, 111Ewing, H. E., on English sparrow, 23
Farley, F. L., on Baltimore oriole, 260on bronzed grackle, 399on continental rusty blackbird, 295Fautin, R. W., on yellow-headed black-bird, 108, 109, 110, 111, 119ferrugineus, Scolecophagus, 284Finches, weaver, 1Finley, W. L., on Bullock's oriole, 276on English sparrow, 9Fisher, A. K., on bronzed grackle, 414on eastern redwing, 140on Scott's oriole, 242Fletcher, L. B., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 441, 462
Florida boat-tailed grackle, 357, 366,371, 372Florida crow, 362Florida grackle, 295, 375, 391, 400, 403Florida redwing, 151floridanus, Agelaius phoeniceus, 151, 153Floyd, C. B., on bronzed grackle, 418Forbes, S. A., on bronzed grackle, 419Forbes, S. A., and Gross, A. O., onbronzed grackle, 419Forbush, E. H., on Baltimore oriole, 248,250, 254, 259, 262on bobolink, 40, 41on bronzed grackle, 408, 418on eastern brown-headed cowbird,441, 444on eastern redwing, 136on English sparrow, 14on scarlet tanager, 481, 484, 485,486Ford, E. R., on eastern meadowlark, 75fortis, Agelaius phoeniceus, 157, 158,159, 160, 162, 177, 178Foster, F. B., on purple grackle, 384Frazar, M. A., on eastern summer tan-ager, 497Friedmann, Herbert, on Arizona hoodedoriole, 225on Audubon's black-headed oriole,214on Baltimore oriole, 263on bobolink, 42on Brewer's blackbird, 330on bronzed grackle, 415on Bullock's oriole, 278on continental rusty blackbird, 293on dwarf brown-headed cowbird,453on eastern brown-headed cowbird,422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428,429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 436, 437,439, 441, 444on eastern meadowlark, 74on eastern redwing, 144on eastern summer tanager, 503on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 356on Miller's bronzed cowbird, 455on Nevada brown-headed cowbird,451on red-eyed bronzed cowbird, 460,461, 462, 463, 465on Rio Grande redwing, 158on scarlet tanager, 488
INDEX 539Friedmann, Herbert, on Sennett'shooded oriole, 216, 217, 218on thick-billed redwing, 103on western meadowlark, 94on western scarlet-headed oriole,238on yellow-headed blackbird, 118fuertesi, Icterus, 200GGabrielson, I. N., on bronzed grackle,401, 410on eastern redwing, 134on thick-billed redwing, 1G2on yellow-headed blackbird, 107,110Gabrielson, I. N., and Jewett, S. G.,on bobolink, 30on Brewer's blackbrid, 332on western meadowlark, 95on western tanager, 469galbula, Icterus, 223, 2tf, 248, 256, 257,279Galley, J. E., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 445Gander, Frank F., on California hoodedoriole, 228Gaylord, H. A., on western tanager, 469Giant cowbird, 464Giant redwing, 158, 162Gill, Geoffrey, on bronzed grackle, 404Gillespie, Mabel, on bronzed grackle,418Gillespie, Mable, and Gillespie, J. A.,on bronzed grackle, 404Gilman, M. F., on Miller's bronzed cow-bird, 456, 457Goelitz, W. A., on eastern redwing, 144Goetz, C. J., on bronzed grackle, 404Gosse, P. H., on bobolink, 48Gowanlock, J. N., on bronzed grackle,408Grackle, 21, 47, 118, 139, 203, 313, 424boat-tailed, 295, 885, 355, 356, 359,360bronzed, 290, 325, 375, 386, 895eastern boat-tailed, 359, 360, 865Florida, 295, 375, 891, 400, 403Florida boat-tailed, 357, 366, 371,372great-tailed (see mesquite boat-tailed), 352, 353, 354, 464, 465mesquite boat-tailed, 852Monson's boat-tailed, 851
Grackle?Continuedpurple, 348, 368, 374, 391, 400, 403,414, 419rusty (see continental and New-foundland rusty blackbirds) , 283,284, 300, 452Sonoran boat-tailed, 351graduacauda, Icterus, 231Icterus graduacauda, 211Great-tailed grackle (see mesquite boat-tailed grackle), 352, 353, 354, 464,465Greene, E. R., on Florida grackle, 393,394on orchard oriole, 193Grimes, S. A., on Florida boat-tailedgrackle, 358, 359, 363on orchard oriole, 196, 199, 204Grinnell, Joseph, on Cooper's summertanager, 508on Nevada brown-headed cowbird,451on Nevada redwing, 165on San Lucas hooded oriole, 230on Scott's oriole, 244, 245on western meadowlark, 95on western tanager, 468Grinnell, Joseph, Dixon, Joseph, andLinsdale, J. M., on Brewer'sblackbird, 310, 319on western tanager, 468Grinnell, Joseph, and Linsdale, J. M.,on western meadowlark, 95Grinnell, Joseph, and Miller, A. H., onbobolink, 30on Brewer's blackbird, 302, 309, 310Grinnell, Joseph, and Storer, T. I., onbicolorcd redwing, 171, 172on Brewer's blackbird, 328on Bullock's oriole, 277on tricolored redwing, 184, 186on western meadowlark, 90Griscom, Ludlow, on boat-tailed grack-les, 347on bobolink, 29Gross, A. O., on bronzed grackle, 395on eastern meadowlark, 53, 60gubernator, Agelaius, 170, 175, 179gularis, Icterus, 232, 234, 235, 462Icterus gularis, 231Gulf Coast redwing, 155Gullion, G. W., on yellow-headed black-bird, 100
540 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
Hagar, Mrs. Jack, on Brewer's black-bird, 330Harnaher, J. I., on eastern summertanager, 501Harm, H. W., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 435Hanna, W. C, on dwarf brown-headedcowbird, 454Harper, Francis, on Florida boat-tailedgrackle, 362Harrington, Paul, on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 443Harris, Harry, on thick-billed redwing,163Harris, W. G. F., on bobolink, 36on scarlet tanager, 482, 483on western hepatic tanager, 494on western tanager, 470Hays, J. A., Jr., on bobolink, 45Hazzard, W. M., on bobolink, 32, 45Hebard, F. V., on orchard oriole, 194Henderson, A. D., on continental rustycowbird, 293Henshaw, H. W., on Arizona hoodedoriole, 220, 223on western hepatic tanager, 495on western tanager, 467hepatica, Piranga, 492Piranga flava, 492Herrick, F. H., on Baltimore oriole,251, 252on eastern brown-headed cowbird,422on eastern redwing, 134Hess, I. E., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 438Hoffmann, Ralph, on Baltimore oriole,262on Brewer's blackbird, 313, 325on Bullock's oriole, 278on Scott's oriole, 239on tricolored redwing, 179, 187on western tanager, 475Holland, H. M., on eastern redwing, 132Holt, E. G., and Sutton, G. M., onFlorida redwing, 153hoopesi, Sturnella magna, 82, 83, 85Hopkins, J. W., on bronzed grackle, 407House sparrow, 24, 25, 27Howard, W. J., on bronzed grackle, 406on English sparrow, 16
Howell, A. H., on bobolink, 40on bronzed grackle, 406on Bullock's oriole, 275on eastern brown-headed cowbird,443on eastern meadowlark, 68on eastern summer tanager, 498,500on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 357,362on Florida grackle, 392, 393on Florida redwing, 151, 152on Maynard's redwing, 154on orchard oriole, 193, 201on southern meadowlark, 81Howell, A. H., and van Rossem, A. J.,on Florida redwing, 151on Gulf coast redwing, 155Huey, L. M., on mesquite boat-tailedgrackle, 352on Scott's oriole, 240on western scarlet-headed oriole,237humeralis, Agelaius, 190Hunn, J. T. S., on Baltimore oriole, 262Hurd, T. D., on Arizona hooded oriole,222on California hooded oriole, 227
Icteridae, 28, 92, 231, 438, 464Icterus, 231, 461baltimore, 92, 131bullockii bullockii, 237, 270, 281bullockii parvus, 281cucullatus, 231cucullatus californicus, 226cucullatus cucullatus, 215, 219cucullatus nelsoni, 220, 227, 230cucullatus sennetti, 215cucullatus trochiloides, 230fuertesi, 200galbula, 223, 247, 248, 256, 257, 279graduacauda, 231graduacauda audubonii, 210graduacauda graduacauda, 211gularis, 232, 234, 235, 462gularis gularis, 231gularis tamaulipensis, 231gularis xerophilus, 234parisorum, 239, 244pectoralis, 462
INDEX 541
Icterus?Continuedpustulatus, 237, 456pustulatus microstictus, 237spurius, 92, 157, 191, 207, 223Illingworth, J. F., on Bullock's oriole,272on California hooded oriole, 227, 229Ivor, H. R., on bronzed grackle, 412
Jackdaw, purple, 391"Jackdaw" (see eastern boat-tailedgrackle), 365, 367, 372Jackson, H. H. T., on bronzed grackle,398Johnston, Verna L., on Brewer's black-bird, 315Jones, Lynds, on bronzed grackle, 416Judd, S. D., on eastern redwing, 138on English sparrow, 14on orchard oriole, 200on purple grackle, 382
Kalmbach, E. R., on bobolink, 40on Brewer's blackbird, 317on Bullock's oriole, 275on eastern brown-headed cowbird,443on English sparrow, 3, 13, 14, 22on Nevada redwing, 166on western meadowlark, 89on yellow-headed blackbird, 113Kalter, L. B., on bronzed grackle, 411Kendeigh, S. C, on bobolink, 33on western meadowlark, 85, 87, 90Kennard, F. H., on continental rustyblackbird, 284, 285, 287, 294Kennedy, C. H., on Brewer's blackbird,302Kenyon, K. W., and Uttal, L. J., onbronzed grackle, 415Kern redwing, 174Keyes, C. R., on bronzed grackle, 417on eastern brown-headed cowbird,434King, F. H., on eastern redwing, 136Knight, Ora W., on Baltimore oriole,249, 252on orchard oriole, 197Knowlton, G. F., on Nevada redwing,166
Knowlton, G. F., and Harmston, F. C,on Brewer's blackbird, 316Knowlton, G. F., and Telford, P. E., onBrewer's blackbird, 316Kohler, L. S., on eastern meadowlark,67on scarlet tanager, 483Kopman, H. H., on Florida grackle, 392on orchard oriole, 196, 204
La Rivers, Ira, on Brewer's blackbird,310, 311, 313, 316, 320, 325, 326,328on western meadowlark, 89on yellow-headed blackbird, 113Lack, David, and Emlen, J. T., Jr., ontricolored redwing, 180, 184Lackey, J. B., on eastern meadowlark, 75Lamb, C. C, on boat-tailed grackle, 348Langille, J. H., on continental rustyblackbird, 284on eastern brown-headed cowbird,438Laskey, Amelia R., on bronzed grackle,401on eastern brown-headed cowbird,426Lawrence, G. N., on Miller's bronzedcowbird, 456on western hepatic tanager, 495on western scarlet-headed oriole,237Lesser Bullock's oriole, 281Lewis, J. B., on continental rusty black-bird, 291Lewis, W. E., on thick-billed redwing,163Ligon, J. S., on mesquite boat-tailedgrackle, 352lilianae, Sturnella magna, 82, 83Lincoln, F. C, on bobolink, 40on California hooded oriole, 226on continental rusty blackbird, 282on eastern meadowlark, 76on western tanager, 468Linsdale, J. M., on Brewer's blackbird,309, 310, 315, 320, 329on Nevada redwing, 165, 167on western meadowlark, 86, 93on yellow-headed blackbird, 101,106, 113, 115, 117littoralis, Agelaius phoeniceus, 151, 155
542 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Lockerbie, C. W., on Brewer's blackbird,309, 323, 330Lockwood, Samuel, on Baltimore oriole,256Louisiana tanager (see Western tana-ger), 466, 474Lowery, G. H., Jr., on Brewer's black-bird, 330on bobolink, 31on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 352on orchard oriole, 192ludoviciana, Piranga, 466, 468Sturnella, 84 MMacoun, John, and Macoun, J. M., onBrewer's blackbird, 312on bronzed grackle, 399magna, Sturnella, 80, 82, 83, 84Sturnella magna, 53, 80Mailliard, Joseph, on bicolored redwing,170on Kern redwing, 174, 175on tricolored redwing, 184, 185, 188mailliardorum, Agelaius phoeniceus,168, 169major, Cassidix mexicanus, 357Megaquiscalus, 295Manwell, R. D., on eastern redwing, 140Mathews, F. S., on bobolink, 44on bronzed grackle, 413May, J. B., in Forbush, E. H., oneastern summer tanager, 498"May bird" (see bobolink), 28Mayito (see tawny-shouldered black-bird), 190Maynard, C. J., on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 428on eastern redwing, 131on Florida grackle, 394on Maynard's redwing, 153on Newfoundland rusty blackbird,300on southern meadowlark, 81Maynard's redwing, 153Mayr, Ernest, on eastern redwing, 127,128Mazatlan oriole, 456McAtee, W. L., on Baltimore oriole, 255on bobolink, 30on Brewer's blackbird, 317on scarlet tanager, 485McCabe, T. T., on tricolored redwing,189
McCann, H. D., on purple grackle, 419McClure, II. E., on bronzed grackle, 400,415Mcllhenny, E. A., on Florida boat-tailedgrackle, 358, 359, 360, 361, 364Mcllwraith, Thomas, on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 447McLaughlin, W. J., on yellow-headedblackbird, 114McMullen, T. E., on eastern redwing,130on orchard oriole, 194on purple grackle, 377Meadowlark, 28, 53, 81, 245, 283, 290,380Arizona, 83eastern, 53, 92Missouri (see western meadowlark),84Pacific western, 98Rio Grande, 82southern, 80"Meadow-wink" (see bobolink), 28mearnsi, Agelaius phoeniceus, 151, 155megapotanius, Agelaius phoeniceus, 151,155, 157Megaquiscalus major, 295Mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 352Merrill, J. C, on orchard oriole, 203on red-eyed bronzed cowbird, 460,465on Sennett's hooded oriole, 215on western tanager, 470mexicanus, Cassidix, 335, 352, 359Cassidix mexicanus, 835, 352, 373western, 84, 245, 316microstictus, Icterus pustulatus, 237Miller, A. H., on lesser Bullock's oriole,281Miller, Lyle, on bobolink, 35on bronzed grackle, 400on scarlet tanager, 486milleri, Tangavius aeneus, 455Miller's bronzed cowbird, 455Milliken, A., on Baltimore oriole, 248Milne, L. J., on bronzed grackle, 406Minot, H. D., on bobolink, 44minusculus, Euphagus cyanocephalus,302Missouri meadowlark (see westernmeadowlark), 84Molothrus, 422, 431aeneus, 460
INDEX 543Molothrus?Continuedater, 313, 325, 422, 460, 461, 462,465, 503ater artemisiae, 415, 451Molothrus ater obscurus, 225, 451, 458ater ater, 481bonariensis, 422, 462monsoni, Cassidix mexicanus, 851Monson's boat-tailed grackle, 351raontanus, Passer, 24Passer montanus, 84Moore, Tilford, on English sparrow, 4,14, 20Mousley, Henry, on Baltimore oriole,249, 250Mulford, Alice S., on Brewer's black-bird, 321, 322Munro, J. A., on Brewer's blackbird,317on continental rusty blackbird, 284Murie, Adolph, and Bruce, H. T>., onBrewer's blackbird, 317Murphey, E. E., on Florida grackle, 391Murray, J. J., on eastern boat-tailedgrackle, 366on English sparrow, 10, 12Musselmann, T. E., on bronzed grackle,419
Neff, J. A., on tricolored redwing, 180,181, 188Neff, J. A., and Meanley, Brooke, onBrewer's blackbird, 321neglecta, Sturnella, 82, 83, 92, 316Sturnella neglecta, 84, 98Nelson, E. W., onbicolored redwing, 170on Sonora redwing, 177nelsoni, Cassidix mexicanus, 351Icterus cucullatus, 880, 227, 230Nero, R. W., on eastern redwing, 124neutralis, Agelaius phoeniceus, 157, 158,164, 171, 174, 175, 176Nevada brown-headed cowbird, 451Nevada cowbird, 293, 415, 475Nevada redwing, 164nevadensis, Agelaius phoeniceus, 164,168, 175, 176, 177, 178Newfoundland rusty blackbird, 300Nice, Mrs. M. M., on bronzed grackle,417on eastern brown-headed cowbird,430, 435, 437, 439, 444
Nice, Mrs. M. M., on eastern summertanager, 502on English sparrow, 4Nicholson, D. J., on Florida redwing,152on southern meadowlark, 81Niedrach, R. J., on Brewer's blackbird,309Niethammer, G., on English sparrow, 10nigrans, Euphagus carolinus, 300Norris, J. P., on English sparrow, 18on European tree sparrow, 25Norris, R. T., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 434, 442North American cowbird, 422, 424northwestern redwing, 168Nuttall, Thomas, on eastern blackbird,132on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 371372on purple grackle, 382on tricolored redwing, 179, 186on western tanager, 466
Oberholser, H. C, on Arizona meadow-lark, 83on Baltimore oriole, 252on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 368,369on giant redwing, 158on Gulf Coast redwing, 155on orchard oriole, 192on purple grackle, 375on Rio Grande meadowlark, 82on Rio Grande redwing, 157obscurus, Molothrus ater, 225, 451, 453Odum, E. P., and Pitelka, F. A., onbronzed grackle, 415Oehser, P. H., on eastern summer tana-ger, 501olivacea, Piranga, 4"9Orchard oriole, 92, 191, 217, 454, 460Oriole, 421Alta Mira Lichtcnstein's, 231Arizona hooded, 820, 226, 227, 228,454, 455Audubon's black-headed, 210, 455,461Baltimore, 84, 92, 157, 191, 193,194, 195, 202, 203, 205, 217, 220,236, 241, 270, 278, 368, 433
544 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Oriole?Continuedblack-headed (see Audubon's black-headed oriole), 211, 231Bullock's, 215, 225, 227, 245, 270,281, 368, 460, 473California hooded, 226, 460lesser Bullock's, 281Mazatlan, 456orchard, 92, 191, 217, 454, 460palm-leaf (see California hoodedoriole), 227San Lucas hooded, 230scarlet-headed (see western scarlet-headed), 237Sclater's, 455Scott's, 225, 239Sennett's hooded, 215, 219, 223,224, 229Swainson's hooded, 219western scarlet-headed, 237
"Ortolan" (see bobolink), 28oryzivorus, Dolichonyx, 28Psomocolax, 350, 464PPacific western meadowlark, 98Packard, F. M., on eastern redwing, 127,144, 146on western meadowlark, 95on yellow-headed blackbird, 100Palm-leaf oriole (see California hoodedoriole), 227parisorum, Icterus, 239, 244Parks, G. H., on bronzed grackle, 413parvus, Icterus bullockii, 281pascuus, Corvus brachyrhynchos, 362Passer, 24domesticus domesticus, 1montanus, 24montanus montanus, 24Passeriformes, 1Pearson, T. G., on eastern redwing, 139on mesquite boat-tailed grackle,352, 354, 356.Pearson, T. G., Brimley, C. S., andBrimley, II. H., on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 367, 373on eastern summer tanager, 496Peck, C. J., on purple grackle, 384pectoralis, Icterus, 462Pellet, F. C, on bronzed grackle, 407Pennock, C. J., on Florida boat-tailedgrackle, 358
Perkins, S. E., Ill; on bronzed grackle,419Peters, H. S., on bronzed grackle, 415on continental rusty blackbird, 294on eastern brown-headed cowbird,446on eastern meadowlark, 75on eastern redwing, 144on eastern summer tanager, 503on orchard oriole, 203Peters, H. S., and Burleigh, T. D., onNewfoundland rusty blackbird,300, 301Peters, J. L., on Bullock's oriole, 273Peterson, R. T., on Brewer's blackbird,325on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 352Phillips, A. R., on boat-tailed grackle,335on Brewer's blackbird, 328on mesquite boat-tailed grackle,352Phillips, J. O, on continental rustyblackbird, 295on English sparrow, 1Phillips, J. C, and King, K. M., onBrewer's blackbird, 317phoeniceus, Agelaius, 151, 169, 170,178, 179, 185, 187, 317, 318, 320Agelaius phoeniceus, 123, 151, 155,157, 158, 161, 168Pierce, F. J., on western meadowlark, 93Pike, Nicolas, on English sparrow, 2Piranga erythromelas, 475flava dextra, 492flava hepatica, 492hepatica, 492ludoviciana, 466, 468olivacea, 479rubra cooperi, 503, 507rubra rubra, 496, 503Ploceidae, 1, 24predatorius, Agelaius phoeniceus, 157Proctor, Thomas, on eastern redwing,128prosopidicola, Cassidix mexicanus, 352Psomocolax oryzivorus, 350, 464Purple grackle, 348, 368, 374, 391, 400,403, 414, 419Purple jackdaw, 391pustulatus. Icterus, 237, 456
INDEX 545
Quiscalus, 92, 313quiscula, 325quiscula aglaeus, 295, 391quiscula quiscula, 374, 384, 891quiscula stonei, 874, 375quiscula versicolor, 375, 395quiscula, Quiscalus, 325Quiscalus quiscula, 374, 384, 391
Rapp, F. W., on eastern meadowlark, 60on scarlet tanager, 482Rathbun, S. F., on Brewer's blackbird,322on English sparrow, 3on Pacific western meadowlark, 98on western meadowlark, 86on western tanager, 470, 473, 474,475Rau, Phil, on eastern summer tanager,501Ray, M. S., on Brewer's blackbird, 313Red-and-black-shouldered blackbird,170Red-and-buff-shouldered blackbird,170Red-and-white-shouldered blackbird,170Red-eyed bronzed cowbird, 455, 458Red-eyed cowbird, 203, 212, 214, 218,234, 278, 456, 458Redbird (see eastern summer tanager),496Redwing, 47, 102, 104, 115, 118, 123,161, 170, 202, 283, 287, 290, 293,318, 320, 321, 325, 328, 383,386, 399, 413, 420, 424, 425,446, 460bicolored, 170, 317Cuban (see tawny-shouldered black-bird), 190eastern, 123, 290Florida, 151giant, 158, 162Gulf coast, 155Kern, 174Maynard's 153Nevada, 164northwestern, 168Rio Grande, 157, 453, 461San Diego, 176San Francisco, 169
Redwing?ContinuedSonora, 177thick-billed, 158, 159, 162tricolored, 179, 310, 317, 325, 329Redwing blackbird (see redwing)"Reed bird" (see bobolink), 28, 29, 45(see eastern redwing), 143Reneau, A. C. Jr., on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 438on orchard oriole, 194Rice, J. H., on bobolink, 42
"Rice bird" (see bobolink), 28, 46Richardson, Frank, on Brewer's black-bird, 320richmondi, Agelaius phoeniceus, 151,157Ridgway, Robert, on Alta Mira Lich-tenstein's oriole, 231, 235on bobolink, 30on Brewer's blackbird, 310, 315,325on bronzed grackle, 398, 414oyi continental rusty blackbird, 288on eastern summer tanager, 502on Florida grackle, 391on lesser Bullock's oriole, 281on Nevada redwing, 166on northwestern redwing, 168on red-eyed bronzed cowbird, 463on San Diego redwing, 176on thick-billed redwing, 162on tricolored redwing, 184, 185on western hepatic tanager, 494on western meadowlark, 85, 90, 92on western scarlet-headed oriole,238on western tanager, 473on yellow-headed blackbird, 112Rio Grande meadowlark, 82Rio Grande redwing, 157, 453, 461Ripley, L. W., on purple grackle, 385Roberts, T. S., on bobolink, 29on Brewer's blackbird, 302on bronzed grackle, 406on eastern brown-headed cowbird,435, 438on giant redwing, 161on yellow-headed blackbird, 100,105, 108, 110Robertson, J. McB., on Brewer's black-bird, 329Rowley, J. S., on San Lucas hoodedoriole, 231
546 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211
rubra, Piranga rubra, 496, 503Rusty blackbird (see continental rustyblackbird), 282, 325, 386, 418,424, 425Rusty grackle (see continental rustyblackbird), 283, 284, 452
Samuels, E. A., on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 434San Diego redwing, 176San Francisco redwing, 169San Lucas hooded oriole, 230
"Sanates" (see boat-tailed grackle), 335Sanborn, C. C, and Goelitz, W. A., oneastern brown-headed cowbird,438Saunders, A. A., on Baltimore oriole,261on bobolink 30, 42on Brewer's blackbird, 330on bronzed grackle, 413, 414on continental rusty blackbird, 291on eastern brown-headed cowbird,445on eastern meadowlark, 72on eastern redwing, 140on eastern summer tanager, 502on orchard oriole, 201on purple grackle, 386on scarlet tanager, 487on western tanager, 467, 474on yellow-headed blackbird, 116Saunders, G. B., on eastern meadowlark,55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65,67, 69, 71, 74, 75, 76Saunders, W. E., on continental rustyblackbird, 285Savage, James, on eastern meadowlark,66Scarlet tanager, 474, 475, 479Scarlet-headed oriole (see western scarlet-headed oriole), 237Schorger, A. W., on bronzed grackle, 410on Brewer's blackbird, 303, 310Sclater's oriole, 455Scolecophagus ferrugineus, 284Scott, W. E. D., on Arizona hoodedoriole, 221, 223on Scott's oriole, 239, 241, 244, 245Scott's oriole, 225, 239Semple, J. B., on Baltimore oriole, 250
Sennett, G. B., on Audubon's black-headed oriole, 211, 214on mesquite boat-tailed grackle, 355on orchard oriole, 196on Rio Grande redwing, 157on Sennett 's hooded oriole, 215,216, 218sennetti, Icterus cucullatus, 215Sennett's hooded oriole, 215, 219, 223,224, 229Seton, Ernest Thompson, on bobolink,47on continental rusty blackbird, 283on English sparrow, 20on Nevada brown-headed cowbird,452Shairin, V. E., on bobolink, 31Sharp, C. S., on Bullock's oriole, 271Sherman, Althea R., on eastern red-wing, 131Shiny cowbird, 422Simmons, G. F., on orchard orioles, 192on Rio Grande redwing, 158Skinner, M. P., on continental rustyblackbird, 289, 290, 295on eastern meadowlark, 67on eastern redwing, 147on purple grackle, 387"Skunk blackbird" (see bobolink), 28Skutch, A. F., on Alta Mira Lichten-stein's oriole, 234, 236on Baltimore oriole, 258, 264on boat-tailed grackle, 335on bobolink, 34, 35, 41, 47on eastern brown-headed cowbird,440on eastern redwing, 130, 140on eastern summer tanager, 496,500, 503on orchard oriole, 192, 205on red-eyed bronzed cowbird, 458,459, 462, 464, 465on scarlet tanager, 480, 488Slade, Elisha, on Baltimore oriole, 256on boblink, 34Slipp, J. W., on western meadowlark, 86Smith, F. R., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 438on purple grackle, 380Smith, L. H., and Hadley, C. H., onpurple grackle, 380Smith, Winnifred, on orchard oriole, 199Smyth, E. A., Jr., on Baltimore oriole, 256
INDEX 547Snyder, L. L., on bronzed grackle, 403,407Sonora redwing, 177Sonoran boat-tailed grackle, Solsonoriensis, Agelais phoeniceus, 157, 164,165, 168, 176, 177Southern meadowlark, SOSparrow, English, 1, 27, 39, 45, 259,377, 380, 384, 408European tree, 24, 25, 27house, 24, 25, 27Sprunt, Alexander, Jr., on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 365on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 357on scarlet tanager, 480spurius, Icterus, 92, 157, 191, 207, 223Staebler, A. E., on English sparrow, 13Starr, F. A. E., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 438Stephens, Frank, in Bendire, on Scott'soriole, 241on Scott's oriole, 244Stephens, Kate, on Scott's oriole, 243Stephens, T. C, on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 440Stevens, O. A., on giant redwing, 159,160Stockard, C. R., on eastern summertanager, 498on English sparrow, 8Stone, Witmer, on bronzed grackle, 413on eastern redwing, 131, 142on purple grackle, 376, 378, 383, 387on Rio Grande meadowlark, 82stonei, Quiscalus quiscula, 374, 375Stoner, Dayton, on English sparrow, 20,22Stott, Ken, Jr., on Brewer's blackbird,323Stott, Ken, Jr., and Du Bois, A. D., onBrewer's blackbird, 321Sturnella ludoviciana, 84magna, 80, 82, 83, 84magna argutula, 80magna hoopesi, 82, 83, 85magna lilianae, 82, 83magna magna, 53, 80neglecta, 82, 83, 92, 316neglecta confluenta, 98neglecta neglecta, 84, 98Sumichrast's blackbird, 464, 465Sumner, E. L., Jr., on Brewer's black-bird, 327
Sutton, G. M., on eastern brown-headedcowbird, 446on eastern redwing, 131Sutton, G. M., and Burleigh, T. D., onAlta Mira Lichtenstein's oriole, 233Sutton, G. M., and Pettingiil, O. S., Jr., onAlta Mira Lichtenstein's oriole,231, 232, 233Sutton, G. M., and Phillips, A. R., onwestern hepatic tanager, 492Swainson's hooded oriole, 219Swarth, H. S., on Cooper's summertanager, 507on Miller's bronzed cowbird, 457on Scott's oriole, 240, 244on Sonora redwing, 178on -western hepatic tanager, 493on western tanager, 468, 476
Taber, Wendell, ixon continental rusty blackbird, 294tamaulipensis, Icterus gularis, 231Tanager, 466Cooper's summer, 507eastern hepatic, 492eastern summer, 496, 507, 508Louisiana (see western tanager),466, 474scarlet, 474, 475, 479western, 466western hepatic, 492Tangavius aeneus, 234, 458aeneus aeneus, 225, 238, 458, 463aeneus assimilis, 462aeneus milled, 455Tate, R. C, on orchard oriole, 197Tatum, G. F., on Baltimore oriole, 253Taverner, P. A., on bronzed grackle, 407on giant redwing, 159on yellow-headed blackbird, 116,120Tawny-shouldered blackbird, 190Taylor, W. P., on Nevada redwing, 167Thick-billed redwing, 158, 159, 162Thraupidae, 466Tippens, J. R., on bronzed grackle, 399Tood, W. E. C, on bobolink, 29, 33on eastern redwing, 132Todd, W. E. C, and Carriker, M. A., onbobolink, 47on orchard oriole, 200
548 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211Tompkins, I. R., on eastern boat-tailedgrackle, 370on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 359Torrey, Bradford, on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 363torreyi, Cassidix mexicanus, 365, 374Townsend, C. H., on eastern meadow-lark, 67Townsend, C. W., on bobolink, 33on bronzed grackle, 397, 408on continental rusty blackbird, 284on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 372on eastern brown-headed cowbird,427on eastern redwing, 129on English sparrow, 6, 18, 19on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 362,363on orchard oriole, 202Trautman, M. B., on bobolink, 47, 48on bronzed grackle, 398, 420on continental rusty blackbird, 283,290, 295on eastern brown-headed cowbird,441, 447on eastern meadowlark, 53, 55, 74,77on eastern redwing, 144, 146on giant redwing, 161Tree sparrow, European, 24, 25, 27tricolor, Agelaius, 170, 1 79, 310, 317Tricolored redwing, 179, 310, 317, 325,329Trimble, Ruth, on bobolink, 33trochiloides, Icterus cucullatus, 230Troupials, 28yellow-headed, 84Tufts, R. W., on Baltimore oriole, 264on bobolink, 29on Newfoundland rusty blackbird,300, 301on purple grackle, 375Twomey, A. C, on western tanager, 467,476on yellow-headed blackbird, 100Tyler, J. G., on bicolored redwing, 171,173on Bullock's oriole, 276, 278on tricolored redwing, 183, 186, 187on western meadowlark, 87, 95Tyler, W. M., on Baltimore oriole, 247on scarlet tanager, 479
Vaiden, M. G., on Baltimore oriole, 249,250, 259on bronzed grackle, 415on orchard oriole, 195van Rossem, A. J., on bicolored redwing,171on lesser Bullock's oriole, 281on Nevada redwing, 164on northwestern redwing, 168on San Diego redwing, 176on San Francisco redwing, 169on Sonora redwing, 177on western tanager, 472, 476Van Tyne, Josselyn, and Sutton, G. M.,on Cooper's summer tanager, 508versicolor, Quiscalus quiscula, 375, 895wWalker, F. S., on eastern meadowlark,77Walkinshaw, L. H., on eastern brown-headed cowbird, 437Warren, B. H., on bobolink, 39on eastern brown-headed cowbird,433, 443on eastern redwing, 138on English sparrow, 22on purple grackle, 379, 381Wayne, A. T., on continental rustyblackbird, 295on eastern boat-tailed grackle, 372on eastern summer tanager, 496on Florida grackle, 391, 394on orchard oriole, 196on purple grackle, 374, 387Weaver, R. L., on English sparrow, 7, 9,10, 11Weaver finches, 1Weber, J. A., on eastern redwing, 143Wedemeyer, Winton, on Brewer's black-bird, 319Weisner, H. E., on Cooper's summertanager, 508Wellman, G. B., on Baltimore oriole, 257Western hepatic tanager, 1+92Western meadowlark, 84, 245, 316Western scarlet-headed oriole, 237Western tanager, ^66Weston, F. M., on eastern summertanager, 498, 499, 503on Florida boat-tailed grackle, 357
INDEX 549Weston, F. M., on Gulf coast redwing,155, 156on orchard oriole, 193, 195, 204on scarlet tanager, 480, 486, 488Wetmore, Alexander, on Alta MiraLichtenstein's oriole, 232, 236on bobolink, 46, 48on eastern brown-headed cowbird,428, 429on English sparrow, 13on giant redwing, 159on orchard oriole, 192on red-eyed bronzed cowbird, 464on yellow-headed blackbird, 101,115, 117Wetmore, Alexander, and Swales, B. H.,on tawny-shouldered blackbird,190Wheaton, J. M., on bronzed grackle, 408Wheelock, Irene G., on Arizona hoodedoriole, 223, 224on Baltimore oriole, 257on bobolink, 36on Bullock's oriole, 272, 278on Scott's oriole, 243on western meadowlark, 88on western tanager, 471, 474on yellow-headed blackbird, 110White, F. B., on Baltimore oriole, 263Widmann, Otto, on bronzed grackle,396, 398, 420on eastern brown-headed cowbird,423on English sparrow, 12on European tree sparrow, 24, 25,26, 27on orchard oriole, 194, 203on western meadowlark, 84Wilkinson, T. S., on eastern redwing, 138Willard, F. C., on Cooper's summertanager, 508on western hepatic tanager, 495Williams, G. G., on Brewer's blackbird,330
Williams, J. F., on eastern redwing, 129Williams, Laidlaw, on Brewer's black-bird, 302Wilson, Alexander, on Baltimore oriole,247on eastern redwing, 139, 142on orchard oriole, 191on purple grackle, 387Wilson, F. M., on eastern summertanager, 497Wing, Leonard, on English sparrow, 3Witherby, H. F., on European treesparrow, 24, 25, 26Wolcott, R. H., on eastern redwing, 144Wolfe, L. R., on thick-billed redwing,163Wood, H. B., on bronzed grackle, 403on eastern redwing, 133, 134, 143on purple grackle, 379Woods, R. S., on Arizona hooded oriole,220on California hooded oriole, 226Worthington, W. W., and Todd, W. E.C, on Florida boat-tailed grackle,357Wright, Mabel O., on eastern redwing,129Wyman, L. E., on English sparrow, 21
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, 99,311, 313Xanthornus bullockii, 281xerophilus, Icterus gularis, 234
Yarrell, William, on European treesparrow, 24, 27Yellow-headed blackbird, 99, 165, 187,311, 313, 399Yellow-headed troupials, 84Youngworth, William, on Baltimoreoriole, 256on bronzed grackle, 400o