380 XORTFT AMERICAN BIRDS. 



5.40 (5.29), tail 4.G0-5.20 (4.93), graduation of tail 1.00-1.35 (1.10), 

 exposed culmen 1.19-1.30 (1.24), tarsus 1.35-1.47 (1.40). Eggs 1.20 

 X -82. Hab. Florida (chiefly southern portion), and west along 

 Gulf coast to Louisiana. 



511rt. Q. quiscula aglaeus (B.mrd). Florida Qrackle. 

 v. Plumage of body, above and below, perfectly uniform brassy olive or bronze, 

 never with mixed tints, and always verj' abruptlj- defined against the 

 color (steel-blue, violet, purple, or brassy green) of neck ; wing-coverts 

 never with mixed metallic tints; wings and tail alwaj-s purplish or 

 violet-purplish, never bluish. 



Length (male) about 12.00-13.50, wing 5.45-5.95 (5.65), tail 5.25-5.90 

 (5.52), graduation of tail 1.15-l.CO (1.36), exposed culmen 1.12-1.20 

 (1.17), tarsus 1.40-1.46 (1.44). Female: Length about 11.00-11.50, 

 wing 5.00-5.05, tail 4.80-4.90. Eggs 1.14 X -82. Hab. Eastern North 

 America, west of Alleghanies, including whole of Xew England 

 (except coast of Long Island Sound) ; north to Hudson's Bay, west 

 to Eocky Mountains, south to Louisiana (?) and Texas; occasion- 

 ally east of Alleghanies, from Virginia northward. 



5116. Q. quiscula aeneus (Ridgw.). Bronzed Grackle.' 

 <i'. Tail decidedly longer than wing; adult males without varied metallic tints, the 

 plumage being uniform glossy blue-black, or dark steel-blue, becoming grad- 

 ually- more purplish anteriorly, or greenish, changing anteriorlj- to blue; 

 adult females exceedingly different from males, being very much smaller, the 

 plumage dusky brownish above, light brownish beneath. JVest a vcrj^ bulky 

 structure of dried grasses, Spanish moss, etc., usually compacted together 

 with an internal plastering or stiffening of mud, built in low trees, or bushes, 

 in swampy situations. Eggs 3-5, ovate or conic-ovate, pale bluish or green- 

 ish, pale drab, pale olive, dull purplish gray, etc., grotesquely lined with 

 black and brown. (Subgenus Megaquiscalus Cassin.) 

 i»'. Bill stouter (greatest depth at base of gonj's more than .40 in male, .35, or 

 more, in female), the tip decidedly decurved ; adult females dull dusky 

 brown above, the lower parts similar posteriorly, becoming paler an- 

 teriorly ; no distinct superciliary sti'ipe. 

 c". Adult male with tail 8.30, or more. 



Adult male with metallic gloss violet over all anterior portions, 

 including w^holo back, scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, and all of 

 lower parts except flanks and under tail-coverts ; length 17.00- 

 18.75, wing 7.35-8.00 (7.59), tail 8..30-9.35 (8.80). exposed cul- 

 men 1.47-1.69 (1.60). Adult female : Above dusky brown, with 

 a metallic greenish gloss, becoming more deci<le(il}- brown and 

 less gloss}' on bead and neck ; superciliarj* stripe (sometimes 

 indistinct) and lower parts dull fulvous-brown, becoming more 

 buffy on chin and throat and dusky on flanks and under tail- 



• With scTrccIy a >lciubt, iv distinct species from Q. qnisrida. 



