212 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



few on Vancouver Island in the yards where cattle were fed, and a small 

 number frequented the mule-camp on the Sumas prairie. East of the 

 Cascades he met none except at Colville, where a small flock had wintered 

 in a settler's cowyard. They appeared to have a great liking for the pres- 

 ence of those animals, arising from their finding more food and insects 

 there than elsewhere, walking between their legs, and even perching upon 

 their backs. 



Captain Blakiston found this species breeding on the forks of the Sas- 

 katchewan, June 3, 1858, where he obtained its eggs. 



Genus QUISCALUS, Vieillot. 



Quiscalv^s, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816 (Gray). (Type, G-racula quiscala, L.) 



Sp. Char. Bill as long as the head, the culmen slightly curved, the gonys almost 

 straight ; the edges of the bill inflected and rounded ; the commissure quite strongly 



Quiscalus purpureiis. 



sinuated. Outlines of tarsal scutellse well defined on the sides ; tail long, boat-shaped, or 

 capable of folding so that the two sides can almost be brought together upward, the 

 feathers conspicuously and decidedly graduated, their inner webs longer than the outer. 

 Color black. 



The excessive graduation of the long tail, with the perfectly black color, 

 at once distinguishes this genus from any other in the United States. Two 

 types may be distinguished : one Quiscalus, in which the females are much 

 like the males, although a little smaller and perhaps with rather less lustre ; 

 the other, Megaquiscalus, much larger, with the tail more graduated, the 

 females considerably smaller, and of a brown or rusty color. The Qidscali 

 are all from North America or the West Indies (including Trinidad) ; none 

 having been positively determined as South American. The Mcgaquiscali 

 are Mexican and Gulf species entirely, while a third group, the IToloquiscali, 

 is West Indian. 



