ICTERIDJE. 365 



2.60-2.90, exposed culmen .95-1.00, tarsus 1.15-1.25. Nest in holes of trees, about 

 buildings, etc. Eggs 4-7, 1.17 X -83, plain pale greenish blue or bluish white. Hab. 

 Europe and northern Asia ; accidental in Greenland. 



493. S. vulgaris Linn. Starling". 



Family ICTERIDiE. — The Blackbirds, Orioles, etc. (Page 321.) 



Genera. 



'. Outlines of bill nearly or quite straight, the tip not decurved, the commissure 

 neither inflected nor sinuated. (Subfamily Icterince.) 

 ¥. Bill stout, conical, its depth through the base equal to at least one-third the 

 length of the culmen. (Agelaice.) 

 c\ Tail-feathers shat'ply pointed at tips ; middle toe, with claw, longer 



than tarsus Dolichonyx. (Page 366.) 



c^ Tail-feathers not pointed at tips ; middle toe, with claw, not longer than 

 tarsus. 

 d}. Bill much shorter than head, its depth through base equal to 

 about half the length of the exposed culmen, the latter dis- 

 tinctly convex ; plumage uniform blackish or dusky, streaked 



only in young Molothrus. (Page 367.) 



(P. Bill nearly as long as head, its depth through base less than half 



the length of the exposed culmen, the latter very straight ; 



sexes remarkably different in size. 



e^ Claws smaller, the latei-al ones scarcely reaching to base of 



middle one ; first quill shorter than fourth ; plumage of 



male uniform black, with bright red lesser wing-coverts ; 



of female, dusky, more or less streaked with white. 



Agelaius. (Page 368.) 

 e^ Claws larger, the lateral ones reaching to beyond base of mid- 

 dle one ; first quill longer than fourth (sometimes longest) ; 

 plumage of male uniform black, with 5'ellow head, neck, and 

 chest, and white wing-patch ; of female, dusky, with yel- 

 lowish throat and chest... Xanthocephalus. (Page 368.) 

 6^ Bill slender, its depth through base decidedly less than one-third the length 

 of the culmen, 

 c^ Tail less than two-thirds as long as wing, the feathers sharp-pointed ; 

 wing short, the tertials lengthened (reaching almost to tips of pri- 

 maries) ; bill long (longer than head), slender, the culmen much flat- 

 tened ; feathers of top of head with stiffened, glossy shafts ; out- 

 stretched feet reaching beyond tip of tail ; color above brownish, 

 barred and streaked with black, beneath yellow, with a black 

 crescent on chest, the sexes not essentially difi'erent. 



Sturnella. (Page 371.) 



