BIRDS — ICTERIDAE — QUISCALUS. 



553 



confined to the head and neck, the rest of the body being of a richly lustrous and strongly marked 

 green, more distinct than that on the wings and tail of /erruj/tnewa. In one specimen only, 

 from Santa Rosalia, Mexico, is there a trace of purple on some of the wing and tail feathers. 



List of specimens. 



QUISCALUS, Vieillot. 



Q,uiscalus, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816- (Gray.) Type Gracula quiscala, L. 



Ch. — Bill as long as the head, the culmen slightly curved, the gonys almost straight; the edges of tlie bill iiiHected and 

 rounded -, the commissure quite strongly sinuated . Outlines of tarsal scutellae well defined on the sides ; wings shorter than 

 the tail, sometimes much more so ; tail long, the feathers conspicuously and decidedly graduated. Colors black. 



The excessive graduation of the long tail, with the perfectly black color, at once distinguish 

 this genus from any other in the United States. The species are best known by the compara- 

 tive size and length of the tail, as shown in the following table of measurements. 



JuDC 'iH, 1858. 



70 b 



