ICTERID.E — A GELJEIN/E : MARSH BLACKBIRDS. 



465 



(J, iu breeding plumage: Black 



Subfamily ACEL/EIN/E : Marsh Blackbirds. 



Gregarious, graiiivorous species, more or less completely terrestrial, and chiefly pulustrine, 

 uot ordinarily conspicuous vocalists ; building rather rude, not pensile, nests, laying 4-6 spotted 

 or curiously limned eggs. Feet strong, fitted both for walking and for grasping swaying reeds; 

 wings more or less pointed, equalling or exceeding the tail in length; bill conic-acute, shorter 

 or little longer than head, its cutting edges more or less inflected. Five well-marked genera, 

 species of four of which abound in the U. S., on plain and prairie, in marsh and meadow. In 

 the West, they swarm about the settlements, stage and railroad stations, military posts, and 

 other habitable places. We have half of the ten genera which compose this subfamily, the 

 extra-limital ones being Amblyrhamphus, Leistes, Pseudoleistes, Nesopsar, and Curaus. 

 DOLICHO'NYX. (Gr. 8o\ix6s, dolichos, long ; 6W|, onux, claw.) Bobolinks. Sexes 

 unlike, but only in the breeding season: ^ black, buff, and white ; 9 brownish and yellowish. 

 Bill short, conic, fringilline, not nearly as long as head. Wings long and pointed, 1st and 2d 

 quills longest, others rapidly graduated. Tail stiffened, with rigid very acute feathers, almost 

 like a Woodpecker's, shorter than wing. Feet stout ; tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw ; 

 claws very large. One remarkable species noted for the peculiar changes of plumage and the 

 " mad music" of the ^; abundant iu marsh and meadow of eastern U. S. 



D. oryzi'vorus. (Gr. opv^a, oruza, Lat. oryza, rice ; roro, I devour. Fig. 314.) BOBOLINK. 

 Meadow-wink. Maybird. Skunk Blackbird, Northern States. Reed-bird, Middle 

 States. Rice-bird and Butter-bird, Southern States, 

 cervix buff; scapulars, rump, and upper 

 tail - coverts ashy - white ; interscapulars 

 streaked with black, buff, and ashy ; outer 

 quills edged with yellowish ; bill blackish - 

 horn ; feet brown. The faultless full dress 

 of black, white, and buff is worn only for 

 a brief period ; and even in spring and 

 summer, nn)St males are found to have 

 yellowish t<juches in the black, especially 

 of the under parts. The change occurs 

 in spring by aptosochromatism, without 

 moult ; the yellow ends of the feathers are 

 dro))ped, bringing the black to the surface. 

 A similar wliiteuing of the buff" cervix oc- 

 curs in summer, whence the untenable D. 

 0. ulbinucha Ridgw., based on speciinens °^^ ®'^'' 



I collected in N. Dakota in 1873. The "delirious song," which has stimulated so many poets 

 to the exercise of their versifying craft, is only heard while the males are trooping their way to 

 their breeding-grounds, and before the midsummer change of feather. <J in fall, 9 > J^nd young, 

 entirely difl'erent in color: Yellowish-brown above, brownish-yellow below ; crown and back 

 conspicuously, nape, rump, and sides less broadly, streaked with black ; crown with median and 

 lateral light stripes ; wings and tail blackish, pale-edged ; bill brown, paler below. In this, the 

 ordinary condition, ^ is best known by superior size. Fall birds are more buffy than spring 9 ; 

 <y changing shows confused characters of both sexes (see p. 94) ; but in any plumage the 

 species may be recognized by stiflisli, extremely acute tail-feathers, in connection with special 

 dimensions. ^: Length 7.00-7.50 ; extent 11.50-12.25 ; wing 3.50-3.80 ; tail 2.75-3.00; tarsus 

 1.00; middle toe and claw 1.25. 9: Length (5.50-7.00 ; extent 10.50-11.25 ; wing 3.25-3.50, 

 etc., averaging 0.50 in length and 1.00 iu extent less than ^. Chiefly eastern U. S. and Can- 



30 



Fio 314 —Bobolink, jf, reduced. 



(Slieppard del Nuh- 



