400 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSEBES— OSCINES. 



Grackles (Quiscalus). (See any figs., beyond.) Excepting the arboreal orioles, the feet are 

 largo and strong, fitted for the more or less terrestrial life which all the species lead, walking 

 on the ground with ease instead of hopping like most FringilUdce. No specialties of wing or 

 tail; former usually pointed, latter rounded, sometimes very large and fan-shaped. 



Among our moderate number of species are representatives of four of the subfamilies into 

 which the Icteridce are conveniently and quite naturally divisible. In most of the genera black 

 is the prevailing color, — either uniform and of intense metallic lustre, or contrasted with 

 masses of red or yellow. In Sturnella alone the pattern is ^' niggled." In nearly all, the sexes 

 are conspicuously dissimilar, the female being smaller and brownish or streaky in. the iridescent 

 black species, greenish and yellowish in the brilliantly colored ones. All are migratory in this 

 country. Other details are best given under heads of the subfamilies. These groups, with 

 their component genera, may be analyzed as follows by the salient features more likely to 

 attract the attention of the student than less obvious technical characters : — 

 Analysis of Subfamilies and Genera. 



Agel^in^. Marsh Blackbirds. Terrestrial and gregarious. Bill conic-acute, sometimes quite fringilline, 

 shorter or scarcely longer than head. Feet stout. 



Bobolinks. Sexes unlike in summer. Black and buff, or yellowish ; no red. Tail-feathers very acute. 



Tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw Dolichonyx 98 



Cowbirds. Sexes unlike. Lustrous black (f, brown ?; no red or yellow Molothrus 99 



Blackbirds. Sexes unlike. Lustrous black cf, red on wing ; streaky $ ; no yellow . . . Agelwus 100 

 Blackbirds. Sexes unlike. Lustrous black cf, brown §, both with yellow head . Xanthocephalus 101 

 Sturnellin^. Meadow Larks. Teirestrial and imperfectly gregarious. Bill of peculiar shape. Tail very 

 short. Feet large and stout. 



Sexes alike. Motley-colored, extensively yellow below Sturnella 102 



ICTEKiNiE. Orioles. Arboreal, non-gregarious. Bill extremely acute, sometimes decurved. Feet weak. 

 Sexes unlike. 



Black, with yellow or orange or chestnut in masses, in the cf ; ? greenish and yellowish . . Icterus 103 

 QuiscALiN^. Crotv Blackbirds. Terrestrial and gregarious. Bill elongate, corvine. Feet stout. Color 

 of cf entirely iridescent black ; $ brown or blackish. 



Bill shorter than head ; even tail shorter than wings Scolecophagus 104 



Bill not shorter than head ; graduated tail not shorter than wings Quiscalus 105 



22. Subfamily ACEL>EIN/E: Marsh Blackbirds. 



Gregarious, granivorous species, more or less completely terrestrial, and chiefly palustrine, 

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

 or curiously limned eggs. With the feet strong, fitted both for walking and for grasping 

 swaying reeds ; the wings more or less pointed, equalling or exceeding the tail in length ; the 

 bill conic-acute, shorter or little longer than the head, its cutting edges more or less inflected. 

 Four well-marked genera, the species of which abound in the United States, on plain and 

 prairie, in marsh and meadow. In the West, they swarm about the settlements, stage stations, 

 military posts and other detestable places. 



98. DOLICHCNYX. (Gr. SoXt^os, dolichos, long: ovv^, 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 all very large. One remarkable species, though there are several others in tropical 

 America ; noted for the peculiar changes of plumage and the "mad music " of the ^ ; abundant 

 in marsh and meadow of the Eastern U. S. 



313. D. oryzi'vorus. (Gr. opv^a, oruza, Lat. orysa, rice; voro, I devour. Fig. 257.) Bobolink. 

 Meadow -WINK. Skunk Blackbird, Northern States. Eeed-bird, Middle States. Rice- 

 bird, Southern States. <?, in breeding plumage: Black; cervix buff; scapulars, rump and 

 upper tail-coverts ashy-white ; interscapulars streaked with black, bufl", and ashy ; outer quills 



