Range. - North America east of the Rockies and from the southern British Provinces southward to the Gulf; winter in southern United States.

These birds are familiar to every frequenter of the country, in their range; too familiar to many, for the enormous flocks do considerable damage to grain fields in the fall. They also do a great amount of good at other seasons in the destruction of injurious insects and weed seed. They breed from April in the southern parts of their range to May and June in the northern, making their nests of grasses, woven and twisted together and placing them in bushes in swamps or over water, and sometimes on the ground in clumps of grass. Their eggs are from three to five in number, bluish white boldy spotted, clouded or lined with blackish brown and purplish. Size 1.00 x .70. The nests and eggs of the numerous sub-species are all precisely the same as those of this bird, so we will but enumerate the varieties and their range. To identify these varieties other than by their ranges will require micrometer calipers and the services of the men who separated them.

Red-winged Blackbird.

498a. Sonora Red-Wing. Agelaius Phaeniceus Sonoriensis

Range. - A slightly larger variety found in southern United States.

498b. Bahama Red-Wing. Agelaius Phaeniceus Bryanti

Range. - Bahamas and southern Florida. This species has a slightly longer bill.

498c. Florida Red-Wing. Agelaius Phoeniceus Floridanus

Range. - Florida and Gulf coast. A smaller species with a longer bill.

498d. Thick-Billed Red-Wing. Agelaius Phoeniceus Fortis

Range. - Breeds in the interior of British America; in winter south through the Plains to southwestern United States.

498e. San Diego Red-Wing. Agelaius Phoeniceus Neutralis

Range. - Great Basin between the Rockies and Sierra Nevadas, from British Columbia to Mexico, wintering in the southern parts of its range.

498f. Northwestern Red-Wing. Agelaius Phoeniceus Caurinus

Range. - Pacific coast from California to British Columbia.

Bluish white.