542 



U. S. p. R. R. EXP AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



ICTERUS VULGARIS, D a u d i n . 



Troupial. 



Oiiolus icterus, hjnn. Syst. Nat. I, 17G6, 161. 



Icterus vulgaris, " Daudin."— Add. Birds Araer. VII, 1844, 357 ; pi. 499.— Bp. Conspectus Av. 1850, 434. 



Le Iroiipiale vulgaire, Bdffon, PI. eiil. "532." (535, Bp.) 



Sp. Ch. — Bill curved. Throat and chin with narrow pointed feathers. A naked space around and hehind the eye. Tail 

 feathers graduated. Head and upper part of neck all round, and beneath from tail to upper part of breast, interscapular region 

 of back, wings, and tail, black. Rest of under parts, a collar on the lower hind neck, rump, and upper tail coverts, yellow 

 orange. A broad band on the wing and outer edges of secondaries, white. Length, 10 inches ; wing, 4.50 ; tail, 4.50 ; bill 

 above, 1.35. 



Hab. — Northern South America and West Indies. Accidental on the southern coast of the United States. 



This is tlie largest of the Orioles found in the United States, and diflfers from the rest in its 

 longer bill, and pointed, elongated feathers on the throat. The hill is attenuated and somewhat 

 decurved. The third quill is longest ; the first quill almost the shortest of all the primaries. 

 The outer tail feather is ahout .60 of an inch less than the middle. 



There is only a trace of whitish on the edges of the primaries. The broad white edges to the 

 eecondaries are continuous in the folded wing with the white on the greater coverts, the lowest 

 row of which, however, is black. The extreme and concealed base of the tail is white. 



One specimen has the light markings yellow instead of orange. 



This species is given by Mr. Audubon as North American, on the strength of occasional 

 stragglers from the West Indies to the southern coast. One of the specimens described was 

 received from Mr. Audubon, (2842,) and is, possibly, North American ; the other was a cage 

 bird. 



Jjist of specimens. 



ICTERUS AUDUBONII, G i r a u d . 



Audubon's Oriole. 



Icterus aiidubonii, Giraud, sixteen new species Texas birds, 1841. (Not paged.) 



Xanthornus mclanoceplutlits, Bon. Consp. 1850, 434. (Not the description of the young.) 



Icterus melanoccphalus, Cassin, 111. I, v, 1854, 137 ; pi. xxi. (Tlio description, but perhaps not tlio figure.) 



Sp. Ch. — Bill stout; upper and lower outlines very little curved downwards. Tail much graduated. Head and neck all 

 round, (this color extending down on the throat,) tail, and wings, black ; rest of body, under wing coverts, and ihiddio and 

 lesser upper coverts, yellow ; more olivaceous on the back. An interrupted band across the ends of the greater wing covorls, 

 with the terminal half of the adgcs of tho (juills, white. 



Supposed female similar, but tho colors le.sa vivid. 



Length, 9.25; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.G5; tarsus, 1.10. 



Hub, — Valley of the Lower Rio Grande of Texas, southward. 



