Range.--Pacific coast, west of the Sierra Nevadas, from Washington south to Lower California. The males of this species are distinguished from those of the Red-wings by the absence of light margins to the orange red shoulders. They are fairly abundant in their restricted localities, building their nests in swamps about ponds and streams. The nests are like those of the Red-wings, and the eggs are similar and with the same great variations in markings, but average a trifle smaller; size .95 × .67. 500. TRICOLORED RED-WING. _Agelaius tricolor._ Range.--Pacific coast of California and Oregon; rare east of the Sierra Nevadas. This species differs from the Red-wing in having the shoulders a much darker red and the median coverts white instead of buffy. Like the last species they have a limited range and are nowhere as common as are the Red-wings in the east. Their nests are like those of the Red-wings and the eggs are not distinguishable in their many variations, but they appear to be more often lined than those of the former. 501. MEADOWLARK. _Sturnella magna magna._ Range.--North America east of the Plains and north to Nova Scotia and Manitoba; winters from New England southward. This handsome dweller among our fields and meadows is frequently heard giving his high, pleasing, flute-like whistle with its variations; his beautiful yellow breast with its black crescent is not so frequently seen in life, for they are usually quite shy birds. They artfully conceal their nests on the ground among the tall grass of meadows, arching them over with dead grass. During May or June they lay from four to six white eggs, speckled over the whole surface with reddish brown and purplish; size 1.10 × .80. 501a. Rio Grande Meadowlark. _Sturnella magna hoopesi._ Range.--A brighter and slightly smaller variety found along the Mexican border. [Illustration 319: Dull bluish white.] [Illustration: Meadowlark.] [Illustration: Dull bluish white.] [Illustration: White.] [Illustration: 500--501.1.] [Illustration: right hand margin.] Page 318 [Illustration 320: R. H. B. Beebe. NEST AND EGGS OF MEADOWLARK.] Page 319 501.1. WESTERN MEADOWLARK. _Sturnella neglecta._ Range.--North America west of the Mississippi and from Manitoba and British Columbia southward, its range overlapping that of the eastern Meadowlark in the Mississippi Valley, but the two varieties appear not to intermingle. This variety is paler than the eastern, but the greatest point of difference is in the songs, they being wholly unlike, and that of the western bird much louder, sweeter and more varied than the simple whistle of the eastern form. The nesting habits of both varieties are the same and the eggs indistinguishable. 501c. SOUTHERN MEADOWLARK. _Sturnella magna argutula._ Range.--Florida and the Gulf coast. A very similar bird to the northern form but slightly smaller and darker. There is no difference between the eggs of the two varieties.