544 U. S. p. E. E. EXP. AND SURVEYS- ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



clouded Willi olivaceous green on the back, less so on tlie rump. Bill and logs plumbeous, the former whitish at base. Length 

 7.70; wing, 3.75; tail, 4.80. 

 Hob. — Warm parts of Mexico. 



A specimen of this species, (No. 10201), a native of the warmer parts of Mexico, was presented 

 to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. Sclater, and I introduce it here to show its near relation- 

 ship to the /. auduhonii. It is very like the auduhonii, but is smaller, the bill much stouter, 

 shorter, and the culmen more curved. The third quill is longest ; the fourth, fifth, and second 

 successively a little shorter ; the first and seventh about equal. The black of the head and 

 neck comes further behind and on the sides than in auduhonii. The wings are totally destitute 

 of the white edges of quills and coverts as seen in auduhonii. The tail, too, is entirely black. 



A criticism of the difierent names applied conjointly to this species and the I. auduhonii will 

 be found in the preceding article. 



ICTERUS Pi^RISORUM, Bo nap. 



Icterus pm-mrum, ("Bon. Acad. Ronon. 1836.") Bp. Pr. Zool. Soc. V, 1837, 109. 



Xanlhornus parisorum, Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 434. 



Icterus nielanocbriisxtra, Lesson, Rev. Zool. 1839, 105. 



Icterus scoilii, Couch, Pr. A. N. Sc. Piiil. VII, April 1854, 66. (Coahuila.) 



Sp. Ch.- — Bill attenuated ; not much decurved ; tail moderately graduated. Head and neck all round, breast, interscapular 

 region, wings, and tail, black. Under parts generally, hinder part of back to the tail, middle and lesser upper, and whole of 

 lower wing coverts, and base of the tail feathers, gamboge yellow ; a band across the ends of the grcattr coverts, with the edges 

 of the inner secondaries and tertiaries, white. Length 8.25 ; extent, 11.75 ; wing, 4 ; tail, 3.75 ; tarsus, .95. 



Hab. — Valley of the Rio Grande; south to Guatemala. In Texas, found on the Pecos. 



The bill is slender and attenuated, very little decurved, much less than in I. cucuUahis, 

 slenderer and a little more decurved than in /. haltimore. The tail is moderately graduated, 

 the outer feather .45 of an inch less than the middle. 



In this species the black feathers of the neck, except below, have a subterminal bar of yellow ; 

 elsewhere it is wanting. The black of the breast comes a little posterior to the anterior 

 extremity of the folded wing. The posterior feathers in the yellow patch on the shoulders are 

 tinged with white. The white in the bar across the ends of the greater coverts is confined 

 mainly to the terminal quarter of an inch of the outer web. In the full plumage, there is only 

 a faint trace of white on the edges of the primaries. The yellow of the base of the tail only 

 extends on the middle feather as far as the end of the upper tail coverts ; on the three outer it 

 reaches to within an inch and a quarter of the end of the tail. 



An immature male has the yellow more tinged with green, the black feathers of the head and 

 back olivaceous with a black spot. 



In this species the second and third quills are equal and longest ; the first intermediate 

 between the fourth and fifth. 



A specimen of this species collected in western Texas by Captain Pope, and the only one yet 

 found within the limits of the United States, difi'ers from those of Lieutenant Couch in being 

 considerably larger ; the black feathers of the neck lacking entirely any subterminal yellow. 

 The outer tail feather is j)roportiouatelly a little longer. There is, however, nothing upon wliich 

 to found a specific distinction, the difl'erence in size being in accordance with what is usually 

 Been between specimens of the same species from northern and southern breeding localities. 



