ICTERID.E—QUISCALIX.E: AMERICAN GRACKLES. 479 



AgelcBZis ; culmen 0.90-1.10, averaging 1.00. Tarsus 1.10; middle toe and daw tlie same. 

 Adult 9: Quite like (^; not smaller, and little different in color, contrary to the rule in this 

 genus and family. Back rather more olivaceous; wings rather more edged with white : outer 

 tail-feather edged and tipped with whitish. Young <J 9 : No black or white; plain olive-green 

 above, yellow below, shaded on the sides with olive. This is a large, beautiful Oriole, occur- 

 ring in the U. S. only, as far as known, in the Lower Rio Grande valley ; thence S. in Mexico 

 to Oaxaca: a inaguificent songster, and a favorite cage bird. Nest half-pensile, woven of 

 grasses like that of the Orchard Oriole, placed in trees and bushes, oftenest mezquite, at no 

 great elevation ; eggs laid Apr.-June, 3 to 5 in number, the set often incomplete from im- 

 position of Red-eyed Cowbird's eggs ; they measure from 1.05 X 0.75 to 0.90 X 0.70, averaging 

 1.00 X 0.72, and are pale bluish or grayish white, dusted with fine brown specks, over which 

 are stains and splashes of dark brown and lilac, with occasionally some of the blackish hiero- 

 glyphs usual in this genus. /. melanocephalus auduboni of former eds. of the Key, and I do 

 not feel sure of its specific distinction, as its difference from the Mexican melanocephalus con- 

 sists only in the white markings on the wings, extent of greenish on the scapulars, and of yel- 

 low on the middle wing-coverts, these parts being nearly or quite black in the stock form ; 

 however, I follow the A. 0. U. List in now presenting it as a good species. 

 I. ic'terus. Tkoupial. Bill elongate, attenuated, acute, straight, or scarcely decurved. 

 Throat feathers lengthened, loosened, and lanceolate. Bare space about eye, and in other re- 

 spects entirely difierent from any of the foregoing species. Adult $ 9 '■ Head and neck all 

 round, fore breast, isolated dorsal area, wings, and tail, black, the wings with a white patch 

 on the coverts, and much whitish edging of the secondaries. Rump, upper tail-coverts, lesser 

 wing-coverts, cervical collar, and under parts fr(.)m the breast, including lining of wings, rich 

 yellow, ordinarily clear and pure, sometimes intensified to orange. Large : length nearly or 

 quite 10.00; wing 4.60; tail less; bill 1.25-1.50; tarsus about the same. A common and well- 

 known species of Tropical America, also introduced in the West Indies, and often seen as a 

 cage-bird, said by Audubon to have occurred at Charleston, S. C This case is its only claim 

 to a place in our Fauna. (/. vulgaris of former eds. of the Key ; /. icterus A. O. U. Lists, 

 No. [502].) 



Subfamily QUISCALIN/E: American Crackles. 



Closely resembling Ageltcince botli in structure and in habits, these birds are distinguished 

 by length and attenuation of bill, with decidedly curved culmen, especially toward end, more 

 or less sinuate connnissure, and strongly inflected tomia. The bill is quite cultrinjstral, and 

 typical Quiscali have a certain crow-like aspect, but are readily distinguished by several fea- 

 tures, besides 9 instead of 10 primaries; one species of Scolecophagus so much resembles a 

 Thrush that it was originally classed as a Turdus. In Scolecophagus the tail is slightly rounded 

 and shorter than wings ; in Quiscalus the tail is graduated, and nearly equals or exceeds wings. 

 They are not specially palustrine. The feet are large and strong, and the birds spend much 

 time on the ground, where they walk or run instead of advancing by lef.ps. The Quiscalince 

 generally build rude, bulky, non-pensile nests, lay spotted, clouded, or streaked eggs, and their 

 best vocal efforts are hardly to be called musical. The $ of all our species is lustrous black, 

 with various iridescence, the 9 merely blackish or brown, and vmch smaller. Individuals of 

 all our species abound, especially in the South and West; only two are common eastern birds. 

 The equivocal extralimital genus Cassidir, usually referred to the Quiscalinfc, is placed by 

 Sclater in the Cassicimc. C- oryzirora is glossy black, with a rufiF on the neck of the J. 

 Other extralimital forms of this subfamily, according to the same authority, are Lampropsar 

 tanagrinus, black, vvitli a fnjntal hood of erect feathers ; Aphohus chopi ami Hi/popj/rr/ius pi/ro- 

 hi/pognster, in both of which the feathers of the head are lanceolate ; together with Macragelceus 

 subalaris and several s{)ecies of the genus Dives. In the cases of the two last-named genera, 



