160 ICTERIDH, AMERICAN STARLINGS. —GEN. 93, 94. 
black ; bill and feet black at all times; g about 9; wing 44; tail 34; bill 3; 
very slender for the family, somewhat resembling a thrush’s; 9 smaller. 
Eastern North America, N.W. to Alaska (Dall), very common in the U.S. 
in the fall and winter, in flocks, in fields; breeds in Labrador and other 
Northern regions, laying speckled, not streaky, eggs. Whuxs., iii, 41, pl. 21, 
f. 33 Nort:, 7, 199; Aup., iv, 65, pl. 222;-Bp., 551. . ®eREUGINETS. 
Blue-head2d Grackle. Brewer's Blackbird. Similar; the general irides- 
cence green as before, changing abruptly on the head to purplish, violet or 
steel-blue, the difference obvious; larger; ¢ 94-103; wing 5-54; tail 4-44; 
bill much stouter, more like that of Agelcus, and altogether it seems to be 
quite another bird. The 9 and young ¢ differ much as in the last species, but 
they are never sorusty. Plains to the Pacific, U.S. and southward, abundant. 
Aup., vii, 845, pl. 492; Bp., 552; Coop., 278... . . CYANOCEPHALUS. 
94. Genus QUISCALUS Vieillot. 
*.*The ¢ iridescent black throughout. 
Great-tailed Grackle. about 18 inches long; wing 74; tail 9, its lateral 
feathers about 34 inches shorter than the central ones; bill about 1?. Texas, 
Fic. 101. Great-tailed Grackle. 
and southward. It may prove only an extreme form of the following species, 
but presents dimensions that the latter has not shown. Bp., 254. Macrourus. 
Boat-tailed Grackle. Jackdaw. § 153-17 long; wing and tail 7-8 ; bill 
about 14; graduation of the tail under 3 inches; tarsus nearly 2, middle toe 
and claw about the same; the general iridescence green, purple or violet 
mainly on the head. astonishingly smaller than the g, lacking entirely 
the great development of the tail, and easily to be mistaken for 9 purpureus, 
but is rarely so glossy ; 12-134; wing 54-6; tail 47-54. 9 and young apt to 
be quite brown, only blackish on the wings and tail, below grayish-brown, 
frequently whitening on the throat and breast. South Atlantic and Gulf 
States, on the coast; strictly maritime, abundant; N. regularly to the Caro- 
linas, frequently to the Middle districts, hut not to New England as currently 
reported. Aup., iv, 52, pl. 2205. Bp.,,555. 4. 3... .. =) “MAJOR: 
Purple Grackle. (PuatTe v, figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, la, 3a, 4a, 5a.) = 12-138; 
wing averaging 53; tail 54; but either from 5 to 6; bill about 14; tarsus 14; 
graduation of the tail 14 or less; 9 11-12; wing about 5; tail about 44. 
Iridescence of the male variable with age, season and other circumstances, 
