FAM. XIV. BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLUS, ETC. 



149 



Length, 7-8^; wing, 3^-3| ; tail, 2|-3| ; tarsus, I; culmen, | nearly. 

 United States from about the Rocky Mountains eastward ; breeding from 

 the Gulf of Mexico to Ontario, and wintering south of the United States to 

 Central America. Tlie Hooded Oriole (505. Icterus cticnllatus) of south- 

 ern Texas to Central America is an orange-colored bird with black wings, 

 black tail, and a peculiar black hood covering the face and throat ; the wings 

 have white blotches on coverts and quills. The female lacks the black 

 mask, but both sexes can be separated from all of our other orioles except 

 the next, by the fact that the tail is longer than the wings. Wing, 3]-3| ; 

 tail, 3|-4^. It can be separated from Audubon's by the size. Audubon's 

 Oriole (503. icterus audubonii) is found from southern Texas to Central 

 Mexico. It is a very large, black-headed, orange-bodied oriole with black 



wings, tail, breast, etc. 

 culmen, 1. 



Length, 8|-10^ ; wing, 3|-4|^ ; tail, 4-4^; 



8. Rusty Blackbird (o09. Scolecdphagiis caroUnus). — A com- 

 mon, medium-sized, j^lossy, bluish-black bird (in spring) with 

 all the tail feathers of 



nearly equal length. 

 In the autumn and 

 winter the black is 

 much hidden by the 

 rusty-brown tips to 

 the feathers. The 

 female in spring is 

 glossy slate-colored, 

 but in the autumn 

 and winter she, like 

 the male, is rusty. This is a quiet, ground-living, swamp- 

 loving species. (Rusty Grackle.) 



Length, 8^-9| ; wing, 4^-5 ; tail, 3i-4^ ; tarsus, 1| ; culmen, f. North 

 America from the Plains eastward ; breeding from northern New York 

 northward, and wintering from New Jersey southward. 



9. Brewer's Blackbird (510. Scolecdphagus cyanocejyhahis). — 

 A western blackbird similar to the last, but larger and with a 

 conspicuous violet-purple iridescence to the head. The bill is 

 stouter, and there are less rusty tips to the feathers at all 

 seasons. Female, glossy slate-colored with a decided brownish 

 tint near the head. (Blue-headed Blackbird.) 



Eusty Blackbird 



