Carolina and Louisiana to Canada; winters from
Virginia and Ohio southward.

Washington, rather rare P.R., common T.V.
Ossining, common S.R., Mch. 23-Nov. 11.
Cambridge, common S.R., Mch. 25-Nov. 1; occasional
in winter. N. Ohio, abundant S.R., Mch. 10-Nov.
15. Glen Ellyn, common S.R., Mch. 15-Sept. 10. SE.
Minn., common S.R., Apl. 11-Aug. 19.

Outlaws among birds, they pair not neither do they build. Without moral
standards or maternal instincts the female accepts the attention of any
male that chances to win her fancy and deposits her eggs in the nests of
other birds. She is a slacker and a shirker, who keeps much in the
background during the breeding season. Color, habit, his sliding, glassy
whistle, and guttural gurgling, make the male conspicuous. Leaving the
care of their foster parents the young join others of their kind and
flock in the grainfields or about cattle in the pastures.

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD

_Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Case 6, Fig. 45_

Large size and a yellow head distinguish the male;
the female is duller, the body brownish, the head
yellowish. L. 10.

_Range._ Mississippi Valley and westward, breeding
from northern Illinois northward to Canada;
winters from the west Gulf coast and southern
California into Mexico; accidental east of the
Alleghanies.

Washington, A.V., one instance, Aug. Cambridge,
A.V., one record, Oct. Glen Ellyn, A.V., May 21,
1898. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 21.

Hanging their cradle nest in the quill-reeds or rushes, the Yellow-heads
are not found far from it until the young take wing. The male entertains
his mate with a variety of strange calls and whistles, but leaves to her
the hatching of the brown speckled eggs and care of the young while they
are in the nest. Like other Blackbirds they migrate and winter in
flocks.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

_Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus. Case 5, Figs. 5, 6_

The male in spring and early summer is
unmistakable; in winter his feathers are tipped
with brownish, more pronounced in the young. The
streaked females require closer scrutiny. L.
9-1/2.

_Range._ Eastern North America, nests from Florida
to Canada; winters from Maryland southward,
sometime