BIRDS — ICTEBIDAE — QUISCALTIS. 



553 



confined to the head and neck, the rest of the body being of a richly lustrous and strongly marked 

 green, more distinct than that on the wings and tail oi ferrugineus. In one specimen only, 

 from Santa Rosalia, Mexico, is there a trace of purple on some of the wing and tail feathers. 



List of specimens. 



QUISCALUS, Vieillot. 



Quiscaius, Vietllot, Analyse, 1816. (Gray.) Type Gracula quiscala, L. 



Ch. — Bill as long as the head, the cuhnen shghtly curved, the gonys almost straight; the edges of the bill inflected and 

 rounded; the commissure quite strongly sinuated. OutHnes of tarsal scutellae well defined on the sides; wings shorter than 

 the tail, sometimes much more so ; tail long, the feathers conspicuously and decidedly graduated. Colors black. 



The excessive graduation of the long tail, with the perfectly black color^ at once distinguish 

 this genus from any other in the United States. The species are best known by the compara- 

 tive size and length of the tail, as shown in the following table of measurements. 



Jane 28, 1858. 



70 b 



