Cardinalis virginianus, var. igneus (II, 103). Has been found in El Paso County, Colorado. Specimens from Eastern Kansas, collected by Mr. Allen, seem also to be referrible to this form.
Pipilo erythropthalmus (II, 109). Specimens collected by Dr. Coues at Pembina, Minnesota, in June, 1873, have (both males and females) a greater or less number of minute white specks more or less distinctly indicated on the portion where the large white spots of the western forms are located. This points to the probability that all the black races ranged in the synopsis under maculatus (including the latter itself) must be referred to erythropthalmus.
Pipilo mesoleucus (II, 125). Captain Bendire found this species breeding in Southern Arizona, in the neighborhood of Tucson. One nest was found August 2, another September 4, 1872. Both were built in mesquite-trees, and were six feet from the ground,—an unusual position in birds of this family. The eggs are also peculiar, and differ from any of this genus I have ever met with, having more resemblance to eggs of Sturnellæ, especially to the militaris of South America. The eggs from one nest are one inch in length by .73 in breadth, have a bright white ground, with a slight tinge of bluish, and are boldly plashed, especially around the larger end, with distinct deep dashes of reddish and purplish brown. A few of these blotches are scattered irregularly over the entire egg, but the greater portion are grouped around the more obtuse end. The eggs are of oval shape, both ends rounded, one slightly less than the other. The eggs in another nest are more nearly spherical, with less difference in the ends; the ground-color is more distinctly white; the spots, of reddish-brown, are finer and more concentrated about the larger end; and the faint markings of purplish are much more numerous. These measure .74 by .90 of an inch.
This species has also been found resident in El Paso County, Colorado, by Mr. Aiken.
Pipilo aberti (II, 128). Captain Bendire found this species breeding abundantly in the vicinity of Tucson, in Southern Arizona. The nests were not on the ground, as is usual among the more northern forms of Pipilos, but in trees and in bushes at the height of several feet from the ground. One nest was taken July 28, in a small ash-tree, and another was found on the same day in a willow-tree, more than eight feet from the ground. The eggs bear a close resemblance to those of Pipilo fuscus and to those of P. albigula, having a ground-color of very light blue, marked almost exclusively around the larger end with a wreath of irregular blotches of dark purplish-brown. They are of a rounded oval shape, are quite obtuse at one end, and vary in length from .97 of an inch to .88, and in breadth from .76 to .75.
Pipilo chlorurus (II, 131). Dr. Cooper met with none of this species in the Sierra Nevada between 3,000 and 7,000 feet elevation in April, 1870, when they were leisurely working their way up from the lower country; but in July he found them from Truckee, 6,000 feet on the east slope, up to the summit, 7,000 feet, but not higher. They were then feeding half-grown young. Dr. Albert Kellogg found a nest on the ground, with four eggs, spotted near the larger end on a bluish ground. The males were still singing occasionally and very melodiously, and had the same cry of alarm or anger as the Pipilo erythropthalmus. Dr. Cooper also met with this species at Clear Lake, near the end of September, showing that they probably breed in the northern Coast Range.
Dolichonyx oryzivorus (II, 149). Specimens from every portion of the Plains, and west to the Great Basin, have the black intenser and more continuous, the nuchal patch clear ochraceous-white, the scapulars and rump unshaded white, and the white of the back confined to a median line. The bill and feet are also jet-black, instead of horn-color. They constitute var. albinucha, Ridgway.
Icterus cucullatus (II, 193). Except in the materials, which difference may be more local than specific, the nests of this species are hardly distinguishable from those of I. spurius. A nest from Cape St. Lucas (S. I. No. 4,954), collected May, 1860, by Mr. Xantus, is basket-shaped and pendulous, suspended on two sides to the numerous twigs of each fork of a drooping branch. In structure it is exactly like that of I. spurius, and is composed of dry wiry grasses, lined scantily with vegetable down. The length is six inches, lower side of aperture only two and a half inches from the bottom. Another (S. I. No. 1,940) taken May 20, 1859, at San José, Lower California, by Mr. Xantus, is a very elaborately wrought basket-shaped nest. The circumference of the circular rim is much less than the greatest girth of the nest. The lower walls and base of the nest are very thick. The whole is composed of fine wiry grasses and scantily lined with vegetable down and soft flaxy fibres. The external diameter is 5.00 inches, the internal 2.10, height about 3.00, and the depth of the cavity 2.80.
Captain Charles Bendire met with this species in Southern Arizona. It was first noticed by him on the 15th of April, but he thinks they had arrived nearly ten days previously, and that the date of their coming may be given as during the first week of April. He describes it as a shy, active, and restless bird, generally frequenting the extreme tops of the tallest cottonwood-trees near the borders of the watercourses, which, however, are usually dry. There the bird flutters through the dense foliage in search of insects, and is scarcely ever seen for more than an instant at a time. It commences building about the first of June. The nest is suspended from the extremities of the lower branches of an ash, walnut, mesquite, or cottonwood tree, and is exclusively composed of fine wire-like grasses, which are made use of while green and pliable, and sparsely lined with the silky fibres of a species of Asclepias. These grasses are interlaced in such a complicated manner as to form, even when dry, a very strong structure. The dimensions of a nest are: Inner diameter, three inches; inside depth the same; outside from five and a half to four inches wide and about four deep. The eggs are from two to four in number, usually three, are of a pale bluish-white ground, spotted with dark lilac and umber-brown about the larger end. The largest eggs measure one inch by .64. Captain Bendire adds that he cannot regard this Oriole as a fine singer. Besides a usual chattering note resembling the syllables char-char-char, frequently repeated, it has a call-note something like hui-wit, which is also several times repeated.