12 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ACADEMY OP 



mandible. My impression at present is, that this bird is properly to be 

 arranged here as a subgenus of Agelaius. 



Numerous specimens in the Academy Museum. In general appearance and 

 in the pointed feathers of the head this bird resembles Leistes curaeus (=Curneus 

 a(errimus) with which it has been sometimes confounded, though much smaller 

 and not, in my opinion, belonging to the same genus. 



4. Agelasticus. 



(Genus Agelasticus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein, i. p. 188.) 



8. Agelaius thilius, (Molina.) 



Turdus thilius, Mol. Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chili, (1782.) 

 Xanthornus chrysocarpus, Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1832, p. 3. 

 Thilius major, Bonap. Corapt. Rend. 1853, p. 833. 

 Gilliss, U. S. Astr. Exp. Chili, Birds, pi. 16. 



Numerous specimens from Chili in the Academy and Smithsonian Institution . 

 So far as I can see, this bird is an Agelaius, presenting only somewhat greater 

 attenuation of form than in the more typical species, and in my judgment it is 

 the type of a subgeneric group quite identical with Neopsar, Sclater. This 

 species intimately resembles the next succeeding but is larger. 



9. Agelaius xanthocarpus, Bonaparte. 



Agelaius xanthocarpus, Bonap. Consp. Av. i. p. 430, (1850.) 

 "Icterus chilensis, Kittlitz." Bonap. Compt. Rend. 1853, p. 834. 



This is a black species with yellow shoulders, much resembling the preceding 

 (.4. thilius) and apparently to be distinguished mainly by its smaller size. It 

 is scarcely to be recognized from the Prince Bonaparte's description in Consp. 

 Av., as cited above, but is clearly indicated by the same distinguished Natural- 

 ist in Comp. Rend. 1853, p. 833. This bird seems to be constantly smaller 

 than the preceding, with the bill disproportionately more slender, the wing 

 shorter and the proportionate lengths of the quills different. 



Specimens of this species in the Mus. Smiths. Inst., from Capt. Page's 

 La Plata Expedition, were obtained at Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe, Argentine 

 Republic. 



(Genus Neopsar, Sclater, Cat. Am. Birds, p. 139 ) 



10. Agelaius nigerrimus, (Osburn.) 



Icterus nigerrimus, Osburn, Zoologist. 1859, p. 6662. 



Neopsar nigerrimus, (Osburn,) Sclat. Cat Am. B. p. 139. 

 An entirely black species, apparently of frequent occurrence in the Island of 

 Jamaica, from whence numerous specimens have been received at the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. Specimens in the Academy Museum, also from Jamaica. 

 Structurally I cannot see that this bird is anything else than an Agelaius, and 

 of the same subgroup as the preceding. It is more nearly related to the species 

 immediately succeeding, which is also entirely black, from which, however, it 

 can readily be distinguished on examination, by its being rather smaller, the 

 bill more slender and the tarsi shorter, but the most reliable character is the 

 different color of the plumage at the ba'se of the feathers. In the present bird 

 the feathers are dark ashy or nearly black at their base, and in the next (.4. 

 cyanopus,) they are light ashy, abruptly tipped with black. The female in this 

 bird is stated to be black, in which respect it seems to differ from the suc- 

 ceeding. 



11. Agelaius cyanopus, Vieillot. 



Agelaius cyanopus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet, xxxiv. p. 552, (1819.) 

 This apparently little kaown species is in structura exceedingly like the 

 species immediately preceding (A. nigerrimus=yeopsar nigerrimus) and the adult 

 males, at least, of both being glossy black, the general resemblance also is very 

 strong. In fact, I had always supposed the two to be identical until I had un- 

 dertaken the present more extended examination, an impression which, though 



[March, 



