366 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



c'. Tail nearly or quite as long as wing, the feathers not pointed at tips; 

 \ving moderate, the tertials not lengthened; bill shorter than head, 

 the eulmcn narrow, not flattened ; feathers on top of head without 

 stiffened shafts ; outstretched feet falling fur short of tip of tail ; 

 color black and yellow, orange, or chestnut in adult males (some- 

 times in females also), usually with more or less of white on wings. 



Icterus. (Page 372.) 

 a'. Outlines of bill distinctly curved, the tip distinctl}^ decurved, the commissure 

 distinctly inflected and sinuated. (Subfomil}- Quiscalince.') 

 6'. Tail much shorter than wing, nearly even, not folded laterally ; bill shorter 



than head, slender Scolecophagus. (Page 378.) 



fc'. Tail longer than wing, graduated, and folded lateralh- ; bill as long as or 

 longer than head, stout Quiscalus. (Page 379.) 



Genus DOLICHONYX Swainson. (Page 365, pi. CI., fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adult male in spring : General color black, the occiput 

 and hind-neck, scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts whitish or buffy. Adult 

 female: General color ochraceous, tinged with graj-ish brown, paler (more buffy 

 yellowish) beneath ; upper parts and flanks streaked with dusky ; crown divided 

 by a median buffy stripe. Adult male in fall and winter: Similar to adult female, 

 but colors rather darker, or deeper. Young (not seen). JS^est in tussocks of grass 

 or among weeds in meadows. Eggs 4-7, dull white or brownish white, heavily 

 spotted or blotched with vandyke-brown, usually with a few fine lines or irregular 

 markings of blackish. 



a'. Adidt wirt?e with hind-neck usually deep buff, inclining to ochraceous; streaks 

 on back also deep buff or ochraceous ; lower back rather deep ash-gray. 

 Adult female with ground-color of plumage deep olive-buffy. Length 6.30- 

 7.G0, wing 3.70-4.00 (3.88), tail 2.G0-2.90 (2.83). Eggs .83 X -62. Hab. East- 

 ern North America, west to edge of Great Plains, breeding in northern 

 United States and more southern British Provinces; in winter, south to 

 West Indies and South America 494. D. oryzivorus (Linn.). Bobolink. 



a». Adult male with hind-neck and streaks on back paler buff, often nearly pure 

 white; lower back very pale ashy, or grayish white. Adidt female with 

 ground-color of plumage pale grayish buff. Length (male) about 7.00-7.25, 

 wing 3.75-4.10 (3.94), tail 2.75-3.00 (2.89). Hah. Great Plains, east to Da- 

 kota, north to Fort Garry and Manitoba, west to Salt Lake Valley and 

 eastern Nevada (Ruby Valley). 



(.-,5.) 494(7. D. oryzivorus albinucha Ridgw. Western Bobolink. 



