Remsen, J.V. 1978 Great-tailed Grackle Cassidix mexicanus June 18 Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, San Francisco Co., Calif.: 1 ♂ on the island in the north end of the lagoon and adjacent "mainland" shoreline where it had been found earlier in the day for the first record for northern California. The bird spent most of the time hidden from view in the foliage of the trees on the island, occasionally giving loud whistled notes which sounded similar to those given by this species at Imperial Dam, Furnace Creek Ranch, Ramer Lake etc. - an explosive, rising whistle, sometimes followed by a similar, higher-pitched whistle. Twice I heard it give a burst of 4 quick, inflected, rising whistles. I have never heard Common Grackle give these calls, and I grew up with the bird in Colorado. We watched the bird perched in the open at about 100 feet for 5-10 minutes. Most of the upperparts and underparts were an iridescent blackish with blue tones around the head; the wingcoverts were dark brown and looked The primaries looked dull blackish. worn. The iris was gleaming white. The tail was long and vaulted in flight. The bill was long, blackish, slightly decurved, and hooked; it seemed longer and thinner proportionally than Common Grackle. The body size was 2-3 x as long as a Brewer's Blackbird, much too large for Common Grackle. This bird lacked the bronzy-greenish and violet iridescence which is conspicuous on Common Grackle. Boat-tailed Grackle has a dark iris and would be highly unlikely to even occur in California.