_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,
sometimes farther north. The Florida Red-wing (_A.
p. floridanus_, Case 4, Figs. 28, 29) is smaller
and with a slenderer bill. It inhabits Florida
(except the southeast coast and Keys) and ranges
west along the Gulf coast to Texas. The Bahama
Red-wing (_A. p. bahamensis_) is still smaller. It
is resident in southeastern Florida, the Keys and
Bahamas.
Washington, common P.R., abundant in migration.
Ossining, common S.R., Feb. 25-Nov. 11. Cambridge,
abundant S.R., Mch. 10-Aug. 30; a few winter. N.
Ohio, abundant S.R., Mch. 1-Nov. 15. Glen Ellyn,
common S.R., Mch. 5-Nov. 19. SE. Minn., common
S.R., Mch. 8-Nov. 14.
The Red-wing's mellow _kong-quer-reee_ is as certain an indication of
the presence of water as is the piping of frogs in the spring. It may be
only a bit of boggy marshland, it may be a reedy lakeside, but water
there will surely be. On a frequented perch he half spreads his wings,
fluffs out his scarlet epaulets, bursting into bloom, as it were, when
he utters his notes--a singing flower! The nest is in the alders,
button-bushes, or reeds, or even on the ground, and although the birds
come in March, their pale blue, spotted, blotched, and scrawled eggs are
not laid until May. Except when nesting, Red-wings live in flocks.