NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 17 



3. Erythropsar. 



4. DOLICHONYX FRONTALIS, (Vieillot.) 



Agelaius frontalis, Viell., Nouv. Diet., xxxiv. p. 545, (1819.) 

 Chrysotuus et Xanthosomus frontalis, Auct. 



Gray, Gen. Birds, i. pi. 86. 



This is a well known and apparently abundant species of the northern coun- 

 tries of South America, briefly and by no means sufficiently described by Vie- 

 illot as above, but very accurately and handsomely figured by G. R. Gray in 

 his great woik, " The Genera of Birds." The locality given by Vieillot is Cay- 

 enne, and on that account, in a greater degree than on any peculiar applica- 

 bility of his description, I am induced to conclude that this is the species en- 

 titled to the name as above given. The description is short, but, in my opin- 

 ion, can safely be assumed as intended for this bird. 



Head above to near the occiput, and neck before, reddish chestnut or bay 

 color, which extends and widens on the breast. All other parts of the plu- 

 mage glossy black. Lores and sides of the head black, which color is restricted 

 to a very narrow line over the eye. Bill and feet black. Total length about 7 

 inches. 



Hab. Cayenne; Ceara, Northern Brazil. 



Numerous specimens of this species are in the Acad. Mus. and in Mus. Smiths. 

 Inst. It differs from that immediately succeeding (D. ruficapillus,) in having 

 the red or bay colors on the head, neck and breast in front much more ex- 

 tended and ot a different color, reddish chestnut in the present bird, dark chest- 

 nut in the next succeeding species. The two species are very nearly of the 

 same size. Both are, in my opinion, most properly to be arranged as a sub- 

 group of the genus Dolichonyx. 



5. Dolichonyx ruficapillus, (Vieillot.) 



Agelaius ruficapillus, Vieill., Nouv. Diet., xxxiv. p. 536, (1819.) 

 Del Corona de canella, Azara, Apuntamientos, i. p. 315, (1802.) 



This species is described as from Paraguay, by Azara, whose description is 

 copied by Vieillot as above, and is, in my opinion, distinct from that immedi- 

 ately preceding (D. frontalis,) though usually regarded as the same. The only 

 specimens that I have seen are in Capt. Page's La Plata collection now in the 

 Mus. Smiths., and are from Paraguay. 



In this species the head above and neck before are dark chestnut, and on 

 both parts that color is more restricted than in the preceding, but especially on 

 the neck in the present bird, in which it is narrower and does not extend to 

 the breast. All other parts glossy black, on the sides of the head the black 

 space is wider over the eye than in the preceding. In a young bird, also in 

 Page's collection and from the same locality, Paraguay, the chestnut color of 

 the neck in front is only beginning to appear, but is the same dark chestnut as 

 in the adult, and quite different in shade from that of the preceding bird. 



Although I regard the present and immediately preceding species as differ- 

 ent, yet if they were the same, the name here given would be entitled to adop- 

 tion, being the first given by Vieillot, though usually cited erroneously by 

 authors. In nearly all late works, when the two names A. frontalis and A. ru- 

 ficapillus are given, the pages cited in Nouv. Diet, are transposed. 



IV. Genus MOLOTHRUS, Swainson. 



(Genus Molothrus, Swains., Faun. Bor. Am., ii. p. 277.) 



1. Molothrus. 



7. Molothrus pecoris, (Gmelin.) 



Oriolus ater, Bodd., Tab. PI. Enl., p. 37, (1782.) 



Oriolus fuscus et minor, Gin., Syst. Nat., i. pp. 393, 394, (1788.) 



Fringilla pecoris, Gm., Syst. Nat., i. p. 910, (1788.) 



1866.] 2 



