ICTERID.^ — THE OPJOLES. 



215 



longest ; first between fourth and fifth. Color black, variously pflossed with metallic 

 reflections of bronze, purple, violet, blue, and green. Female similar, but smaller and 

 duller, with perhaps more green on 

 the head. Length, 13.00; wing, 6.00; 

 ill above, 1.25. 



Hab. From Atlantic to the high 

 Central Plains. 



Of the Crow Blackbird of the 

 United States, three well-marked 

 races are now distinguished in 

 the species : one, the common 

 form of the Atlantic States ; an- 

 other occurring in the Mississippi 

 Valley, the British Possessions, 

 and the New England States, and 

 a third on the Peninsula of Flor- 

 ida. The comparative diagnoses 

 of the three will be found on page 809 



Quiscaliis purpureiis. 



Var. purpureus, Bartram. 



PUEPLE GRAKLE. 



Gracula q^iiscala, LiNN. Syst. Nat. I, (ed. 10,) 1758, 109 (Monechtla purpurea, Cal.) ; I, (ed. 

 12,) 1766, 165. — Gmelin, I, 1788, 397. —Latham, Ind. I, 1790, 191. — Wil.sox, Am. 

 Orn. Ill, 1811, 44, pi. xxi, f. 4. ClmlcojJhanes quiscalus, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827 {Gra- 

 cula). — Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851, 196. 1 1 Oriolus ludovicianus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 

 1788, 387 ; albino var. 7 1 Oriolus niger, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 393. ? Gracula 

 purpurea, Bartram, Travels, 1791, 290. Quiscalus versicolor, Vieillot, Analyse ? 

 1816. — Ib. Nouv. Diet. XXVIIL 1819, 488. — Ib. GaL Ois. I, 171, pi. cviii. — Bon. 

 Obs. Wils. 1824, No. 45. — Ib. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 45, pi. v. — Ib. List, 1838. — Ib. Con- 

 spectus, 1840, 424. —Sw. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 485. — Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 194. 



— AuD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 35 ; V, 1838, 481 (not the pi. vii.). — Ib. Syn. 1839, 146. 



— Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 58 (not the pi. ccxxi.). — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 575. 

 Gracula barita, Ord, J. A. N. Sc. I, 1818, 253. "Quiscalus purpureus, Light." — 

 Cassin, Pr. A. N. So., 1866, 403. — Ridgway, Pr. A. N. S. 1869, 133. — Allen, 

 B. E. Fla. 291 (in part). Quiscalus nitens. Light. Verz. 1823, No. 164. Quiscalus 

 purpuratu^, Swainson, Anim. in Menag. 1838, No. 55. Purple Grakle, Pennant, 

 Arctic Zool. II. 



Sp. Char. Length about 12.50; wing, 5.50; tail, 4.92; culmen, 1.24; tarsus, 1.28. 

 Second quill longest, hardly perceptibly (only .07 of an inch) longer than the first and 

 third, which are equal; projection of primaries beyond secondaries, 1.56; graduation of 

 tail, .92. Greneral appearance glossy black ; whole plumage, however, brightly glossed 

 with reddish- violet, bronzed purple, steel-blue, and green ; the head and neck with purple 

 prevailing, this being in some individuals more bluish, in others more reddish : where 

 most blue this is purest anteriorly, becoming more violet on the neck. On other portions 

 of the body the blue and violet forming an iridescent zone on each feather, the blue first, 

 the violet terminal ; sometimes the head is similarly marked. On the abdomen the blue 



