306 BIRDS or ILLINOIS. 



.1. Agelaiai. Flr!<t quill Hhortor than tlio Hooonil ami lliinl. Outer lateral dawn 



s.'np'>'ly nui'hlDR to tlip bnce of mldtllo; eluwg niodonite. 

 4. XanthooepbaltM. FirHt quIM loiiKost Outor lateral claw rcarhlDR uoarly to th<> 

 tl|i of tlir midilk>. TocH aud olaws all mu<.-h floucatod. 

 C. Bill ua \>n\it at^, or loneor than, the head. Foathcro of crown with the shaftK pro- 

 lonc'-d into HtifTened bristloB. NostrllM covered by a scale which stands out more or lesN 

 horizontally. 



6. Sturnella. Tall feathers acute. Middle toe equal to the tarsus. 



Sithfamily Ictcrina. 



6. lotems. Bill slender, acute, sometlnifs Blightly decurved. about as lone n». or a 

 little shorter than, the head. Nostrils as in Agelaiug. Tali rounded orBniduuted 

 about us long as. or slightly longer than, the wing.* 



Subfamily Qiiiscalinep. 



7. Sooleoophagns. Tall shorter than the wings: nearly even. Bill shorter than the 

 lioad. 



X. Qaitoalua. Taillongerthanthewlngs; muehgraduuted. Bill as long as. or longer 

 Than, tlie head. 



The three so-called subfamilies represent, supeiiicially, three Old 

 World famihes ; viz. : The Aiielaina: may l)e said to correspond to 

 the Starlings {Sturnithe), and have been called the American Star- 

 lings; the Irtcriiue may likewise be compared with the Orioles 

 (()riolid<f'), and in fact currently, though very improperly, bear the 

 same name. For want of a more distinctive tenn, that of American 

 Orioles is perhaps defensible, the name "Hang-nests," while very 

 appropriate for the Icterbue, lacking sufficiently exclusive pertinence 

 to make it preferable. The Qtdscalhue are very appropriately called 

 Crow-Blackbirds, but they have been termed Grakles by many 

 authors, on account of a supposed resemblance to the true Grakles, 

 or Minos, (Graculid(E) of Southern Asia. 



Some of the Aficlahuf' (notably the genera DoUrhoin/.r an<l Moloth- 

 rits) present a very close resemblance to certain FriiifiiHiihr in their 

 general fonn, especially in the shortness and conical shape of the 

 bill. They may, however, be readily separated by tlie family char- 

 acters, as given on page 43. 



All of the genera characterized in tlic above synopsis belong to 

 the Illinois fauna, no others occurring in North America. 



• Decidedly siKirter than the wing in the subgenu.s Vplianlrf. to which th<' Baltimore 

 and Bullock's Orioles (/. galbrila and /. hiillocki) belong. 



