482 ICTERIDZ. 
called Megaquiscalus by Cassin, which contains the largest species of the genus. Mexico 
and Central America, indeed, appear to be their headquarters, for only Q. major, of 
the Atlantic States of North America, from which Q. macrurus is barely separable, 
appears to be found outside our limits, though Q. macrurus spreads southwards into 
Western Peru. One other species is ascribed to Mexico, Q. mexicanus, which, according 
to Cassin (for we do not know the bird), belongs to the section Holoquiscalus, of which 
Q. lugubris is a better known member. 
Q. macrurus, one of the most familiar birds in Central America, lives in societies, 
building in trees and reeds; the male much exceeds the female in size, and they are 
probably of polygamous habits. The bill of Q. macrurus is long, the culmen slightly 
depressed for the greater part of its length, and rather abruptly curved towards the tip ; 
the tomia is slightly incurved, and there is hardly any apparent angle towards its base ; 
the nostrils are bordered above by a conspicuous membrane ; the rictal bristles are very 
short; the tarsi and toes are very strong, especially the former, and the hind claw well 
developed; the wings are pointed, the third primary being the longest, the first equalling 
the fifth, the longest secondaries falling a little short of the seventh; the tail is long 
and cuneate, and the lateral feathers, when the bird is in flight, are brought together 
over the median feathers, hence their trivial name of “ boat-tails.” 
The general colour of the male is black with a rich purple hue, the females are more 
or less brown beneath; this difference in the plumage of the sexes applies chiefly to 
the larger members of the genus, in others the sexes are alike. 
1. Quiscalus macrurus. 
Quiscalus macrurus, Sw. An. in Menag. p. 299*; Bp. Consp. Av. i. p. 424°; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, 
p. 800°; 1858, p. 858°; 1864, p.175°; Ibis, 1884, p. 156°; Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xi. p. 396’; 
Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 20°; P. Z. 8S. 1870, p. 837°; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 112°; Lawr. 
Ann. Lyc. N.Y. viii. p. 180"; Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. no. 4. p. 24; Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1866, 
p-410°°; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p.553™; Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 303 ; 
Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 270°; Nutt. & Ridgw. Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 383"; Nutt. & 
Ridgw. Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 392"; vi. p. 402”; Boucard, P. Z. 8S. 1883, p. 446”; 
Ridgw. Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. viii. p. 570”. 
Quiscalus macrurus?, Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1860, p. 188”; Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 191”. 
Chalcophanes macrourus, Cab. J. f. Orn. 1861, p. 82™. 
Quiscalus major, var. macrurus, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. p. 225”; Lawr. Mem. Bost. 
Soc. N. H. ii. p. 281”. 
Quiscalus major, Bp. P. Z. 8. 1837, p. 110; Moore, P. Z. 8. 1859, p. 58”; Salv. Ibis, 1866, 
p. 194°°; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 281”. 
Quiscalus peruvianus, Sw. An. in Menag. p. 354°; Cass, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1866, p. 412”. 
Quiscalus assimilis, Scl. Cat. Am. B. p. 141°; Ibis, 1884, p. 156; Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xi. p. 896” ; 
Wyatt, Ibis, 1871, p. 330°; Tacz. Orn. Pér. ii. p. 481°. 
Nitide atro-purpureus in dorso et ventre imo in #neum transiens ; alis caudaque eneo-nigris ; rostro et pedibus 
