THE BOBOLINK. 335 



Family ICTERID^. 



Primaries nine; tarsi scutellate anteriorly; plated behind; bill long, generally 

 equal to the head or longer, straight or gently curved, conical, without any notch, 

 the commissure bending downwards at an obtuse angle at the base; gonys generally 

 more than half the culmen ; basal joint of the middle toe free on the inner side, 

 united half-way on the outer; tail rather long, rounded; legs stout. 



Sub-Family Agelaein^. — The Starliyigs. 



Bill stout, conical, and acutely pointed, not longer than the head; the outlines 

 nearly straight, the tip not decurved; legs adapted for walking, longer than the 

 head; claws not much curved; tail moderate, shorter than the wings; nearly even. 



DOLICHONYX, Swainson. 



Dolichonyx, Swaixson, Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 351. (Type Emheriza oryzivo- 

 ra, L.) 



Bill short, stout, conical, little more than half the head; the commissure slightly 

 sinuated; the culmen nearly straight; middle toe considerably longer than the tar- 

 sus (which is about as long as the head); the inner lateral toe longest, but not reach- 

 ing the base of the middle claw; wings long, first quill longest; tail feathers 

 acuminately pointed at the tip, with the shafts stilfened and rigid, as in the Wood- 

 peckers. 



The peculiar characteristic of this species is found in the rigid scansorial tail and 

 the verj- long middle toe, by means of which it is enabled to grasp the vertical stems 

 of reeds or other slender plants. The color of the known species is black, varied 

 with whitish patches on the upper parts. 



DOLICHONYX ORTZIVORUS. — Swainson. 

 The Bobolink; Reed-bird; Rice-bird. 



Emheriza oryzivora, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 311. Wils. Am. Orn., II. 

 (1810)48. 



Dolichonyx oryzivora, Swainson. Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 351. 



Icterus agripennis, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1824), No. 87. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. 

 (1831) 283; V. (1839) 486. Nutt. Man., L (1832) 185. 



Description. 

 General color of male in spring black; the nape brownish -cream color; a patch 

 on the side of the breast, the scapulars and rump white, shading into light ash on 

 the upper tail covers and the back below the interscapular region ; the outer prima- 

 ries sharply margined with yellowish-white, the tertials less abruptly; the tail 

 feathers margined at the tips with pale bro^mish-ash. In autumn similar to the 

 female. 



