230 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol 86 



EUPHAGUS CAROLINUS (MQller) : Rusty Blackbird 



One was taken from a flock of three along the Ciunberland River 

 near Dover on October 26. There is also a female in the collection 

 from Rockwood taken on April 18, 1885, by W. H. Fox. 



QUISCALUS VERSICOLOR Vieillot: Bronzed Crackle 



This form of gra<?kle has the back and rump metallic bronze with- 

 out concealed purplish bars, except at the point of j miction of the 

 head color with that of the back. It is represented in the collection 

 by birds typical in every way that are supposed to have been breed- 

 ing, taken at Hickory Withe, April 15, and at Union City, May 4. 

 A female from Hickory AVithe has not molted properly and is in 

 such worn plumage that practically all metallic sheen has disap- 

 peared except on the head and upper breast. In fall, specimens 

 were obtained at Reelfoot Lake, 3 miles south of Samburg, October 

 11, on the Cumberland River, 7 miles north of Dover, October 30, 

 and near Pulaski in Giles County, November 1. 



I have indicated beyond that this bird is probably best treated as 

 a species distinct from the purple and Florida grackles of the east 

 and south, and now it is with much regret that I have to record 

 that the long-familiar name of aeneas proposed by Ridgway *' for 

 this grackle has to be replaced by versicol&i' of Vieillot,^" a name 

 at one time used for the purj^le grackle. Hellmayr -'^ has listed 

 Quiscalus versicolor Vieillot as a synonym of Qiihcdlus quiscula 

 gimcula, saying that it is a "new name for Graeula quiscula Latham 

 (Ind. Orn., 1, p. 191, VJ^O)^GracuIa quiscula Linnaeus." There is, 

 however, in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris a specimen that 

 is marked definitely as Vieillot's tyj)e of ve7\ncolor and that is a 

 typical bronzed grackle, so that this name must be used for the 

 western bird. In May 1938, in company with A. J. van Rossem, I 

 examined this specimen to find that there is no question as to its 

 identification as indicated, and there seems to be no doubt that it is 

 the basis of Vieillot's description. Hellmayr's supposition that 

 versicolor is merely a substitute name for Graeula quiscula Latham 

 is not borne out by examination of Vieillot's account, which is not 

 a transliteration of Latham's statement but is written anew, evidently 

 from the specimen cited. The type is labeled as from "I^^tats-Unis." 



The name for the bronzed gi-ackle, therefore, becomes Qui^^calus 

 versicohr Vieillot if it is considered a distinct species, or Quiscdltis 



*» Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pliiiadflpbia, 1869, p. 134. 



«> Quiscalus versicolor Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hiat. Nat., vol. 28, 1819. p. 488, pi. P. 3, flg. 

 1 ''no locality Riven'). 



=1 Field Mus. Nat. Hi^it.. zool. sor., vol. 13. pt. 10. 1937, p. 75. 



