ICTEBID^ — QUISCALIN^ : CROW BLACKBIRDS. 411 



crow-liko aspect ; but they are readily distinguished by several features, besides 9 instead of 10 

 primaries. The feet are large and strong, and the birds spend much of their time on the 

 ground, where they walk or run instead of advancing by leaps. They generally build rude, 

 bulky nests, lay spotted or streaked eggs, and their best vocal efforts are hardly to be called 

 nuisiciil. The (J of all our species is lustrous black, with various iridescence, the 9 merely 

 blackish, or brown and much smaller. There is only one genus (Cassidix) besides the two 

 of this country : in Scolecophagus the tail is slightly rounded and sliorter than the wings ; in 

 Qidscnlus the tail is graduated, and nearly equals or exceeds the wings. They are not specially 

 palustrine. Individuals of all the species abound, especially in the Scjuth and West ; only two 

 are commcra Eastern birds. 

 104. SCOLECO'PHAGUS. (Gr. a-KoXr)^, gen. aKaXriKos, scolex, scolecos, a worm : (^ayoy, phagos, 

 eating.) Rusty Grackles. Thrush Blackbirds. Bill shorter or not longer than head, 

 slender for the subfamily, and somewhat like a robin's, for instance; culmen little convex, if 

 any, except at the decurved tip; gonys slightly convex; cutting edges inflexed, commissure 

 little sinuated. Wings pointed, decidedly longer than the nearly even tail ; point formed by 

 the outer 4 primaries. Tail much as in Agelmis in size and shape. Tarsus rather longer than 

 middle toe and claw. Lateral toes short, with moderate claws, scarcely or not reaching base 

 of middle claw. Nest in bushes. Eggs spotty, not veiny and streaky. 



Analysis of Species. 



Smaller : wing under 5.00. Bill slender, thrush-like. ^ greenish-black, including head. Sexes very un- 

 like : $ quite rusty-brown, even with chestnut ; a light line over eye ferrugineus 331 



Larger: wing 5.00 or more. Bill stouter, move blackbird-like, cf greenish-black, head more violet. $ 

 subsimilar, sooty-brown , no pale superciliary stripe cyanocephalus 332 



.331. S. fernigi'neus. (Lat. ferrugineus, rust-colored ; ferrugo, iron-rust : only applicable to 9 Jind 

 young.) llusTV Grackle. Thrush Blackbird. Adult (J, in summer i One lustrous black 

 with green metallic reflections ; head not notably diff"ereut from other parts in its iridescence. 

 Bill and feet black. Iris creamy or lemon. (Not ordinarily seen in the U. S. in this full dress 



— usually with some rusty.) Length 9.00-9.50 ; extent 14.00-15.00 ; wing under 5.00 ; tail 

 4.00 or less ; bill 0.80, only about 0.35 deep at base; tarsus 1.20; middle toe and claw less. 

 Adult 9 ii^ summer: Slaty- blackish, duller below, with greenish reflections chiefly on wings 

 and tail ; nearly all the upper parts overlaid with rich rusty-brown, and under parts with a 

 paler shade of the same; inner secondaries brown-edged; a whitey-browu streak over eye; iris 

 brown. Moderately smaller than the ^. The young ^ at first resembles the 9» ^'^t is 

 larger, and shows more decidedly lustrous black, esi^ecially on wings and tail. As usually 

 found in flocks in the U. S., in fall, winter, and early spring, young and old of both sexes 

 are very rusty, with light line over eye. Eastern North Amer., N. W. to Alaska; in the 

 U. S., W. to Dakota, Nebraska, etc., meeting and mixing in the fall with the next species. 

 In winter, generally dispersed over the E. U. S. ; breeds from. N. New England northward. 

 Nesting and eggs like those of Xanthocejihalus ; breeding in loose colonies, in swampy tangle ; 

 nest in bushes, of sticks and grasses mixed with mud, lined with fine grasses and rootlets ; eggs 

 usually 4, about 1.05 X 0.75, but very variable; dull greenish -bluish or grayish-white, flecked 

 and mottled with dark brown, but with little or no line-tracery. 



332. S. cyanoce'phalus. (Gr. Kvavos, kuanos, Lat. cyanus, blue ; K((f)a\f], kejihale, head.) Blue- 

 headed Grackle. Brewer's Blackbird. Similar to the last, but quite a different bird. 

 Adult (J, in summer: Very lustrous green-black, as before, but with purple and violet irides- 

 cence, especially on head, where the violet or steel-blue sheen contrasts with the general 

 greenish hue. Bill and feet black. Iris creamy or lemon. Larger : length averaging 10.00 



— 9.75-10.25; extent 16.00 or more ; wing 5.00-5.25 ; tail 4.00-4.25 ; bill 0.80, stout at base, 

 where about 0.40 deep — more like an abbreviated Quisealus-hUl than a thrush's; tarsus 1.25- 

 1.30; middle toe and claw 1.10-1.15. 9) adult, in summer: Blackish, with dull greenish 



