248 



U. S. p. R. K, EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



Section Icterieae. 

 lOTERIA, Vieillot. 



Irlrrin. Vieillot, Gis. Am. Sept. I, 1790, iii and 85. 

 Bill sliorlcr than the head ; broad at the base, but rapidly becoming compressed or much higher than broad, with the rid-ro 

 elevated and sharp from the very base of the bill ; the upper outline much curved throughout ; the commissure less curved but 

 strongly concave ; the gonys nearly straight, the upper edge of the lower jaw as convex as the commissure is concave. No 

 notch in the bill and the rictal bristles small. Tarsi longer than the toes, without scutellae, e.tcept faint indications on the 

 inner side. Lateral toes about equal ; shorter than the hinder. Wings about equal to the tail, rounded ; the first quill longer 

 than the secondaries. Tail graduated ; above olive; beneath yellow. Abdomen, eyelids, maxillary patch, and line to the 

 bill, white. 



The proper position of this genBS has always been a matter of much uncertainty, but I see 

 no reason why it may not legitimately be assigned to the Sylvicolinae, possessing, as it does, so 

 many of their characteristics. The bill is stouter and more curved than in the rest, but the 

 other characters agree very well. It cannot properly be placed with the vireos and shrikes on 

 account of the absence of a spurious primary, as well as of a notch in either mandible. 



The two species are best distinguished by the relative length of the tail. 



Comparative measurements of species. 



* The original of Mr. Lawrence's Ii^eria longicauda. •<■ 



ICTERIA VIRIDIS, Bonap. 



Yellow Breasted Chat. 



Muscicnpa viridis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 93G. 



kteria viriclLi, Uohap. Obs. Wilson, 182G, No. 163.— 1«. List, 1838.— Ib. Consp. 1850, 331.— Nuttall, Man. I, 

 1832, 299.— AuD. Cm. Biog. 11,1834,223: V, 433 ; pi. 1.37.— In. Syn. 18.39, IC3.— In. Birds Am. 

 Icleria dumccola, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 85 ; pi. Iv. 

 Pipra polyglotta, Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808,90. 

 " Tanagra olivacea, Desmabest, Tangaras, (3, not the Q or o.)" 

 " Jlmpelis lutms, Sparrmann, Mus. Carls, tab. Ix.\,." (Bonap.) 

 ? Icteria vetasquezii, Bonap. Pr. Zool. Soc. 1837, 117.- In. Consp. 1850, 331. 

 Mrrula viridis carolincnsis, Brisson, II, 1760, 315. 

 Yellow breasted chat, Catesby, Carol. I, 1730, tab. 1. 

 Chattering flycatcher, Pennant, II, 388. — Latham, Syn. II, i, 360. 



Sp. Ch. — Third and fourtli quills longest ; second and fifth little shorter; first nearly equal to tho si.xth. Tail graduated. 

 Upper parts uniform olive green ; under parts, including the inside of wing, gamboge yellow as far as nearly halfway from tho 

 point of the bill to the tip of the tail ; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on the sides ; tho outer side of the tibia 

 plumbeous ; a s.ight tinge of orange across the breast. Forehead .and sides of the head ash, tho lores and region below the eye 

 blackish. A white stripe from the nostrils over the eye and involving the upper eyelid; a patch on the lower lid, and a short 

 stripe from the side of tho lower mandible, and running to a point opposite tho hinder border of the eye, white. Bill black ; 

 feet brown. Female like the male, but smaller ; the markings indistinct ; the lower mandible not pure black. Length, 7.40 ; 

 wing, 3.25; tail, 3.30. 



Ilnh. — Eastern United Stales to the Missouri, south to Guatemala. 



