THE BOBOLINK. 3835 
Famitry ICTERIDZ. 
Primaries nine; tarsi scutellate anteriorly; plated behind; bill long, generally 
equal to the head or longer, straight or gently curved, conical,,without any notch, 
the commissure bending downwards at an obtuse angle at the base; gonys generally 
more than half the culmen; basal joint of the middle toe free on the inner side, 
united half-way on the outer; tail rather long, rounded; legs stout. 
Sub-Family AGELAEINEZ. — The Starlings. 
Bill stout, conical, and acutely pointed, not longer than the head; the outlines 
nearly straight, the tip not decurved; legs adapted for walking, longer than the 
head; claws not much curved; tail moderate, shorter than the wings; nearly even 
DOLICHONYX, Swatnson. 
Dolichonyx, Swainson, Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 851. (Type Emberiza oryzivo- 
ra, L.) 
Bill short, stout, conical, little more than half the head; the commissure slightly 
sinuated; the culmen nearly straight; middle toe considerably longer than the tar- 
sus (which is about as long as the head); the inner lateral toe longest, but not reach- 
ing the base of the middle claw; wings long, first quill longest; tail feathers 
acuminately pointed at the tip, with the shafts stiffened and rigid, as in the Wood- 
peckers. 
The peculiar characteristic of this species is found in the rigid scansorial tail and 
the very long middle toe, by means of which it is enabled to grasp the vertical stems 
of reeds or other slender plants. The color of the known species is black, varied 
with whitish patches on the upper parts. 
DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS, — Swainson. 
The Bobolink; Reed-bird; Rice-bird. 
Emberiza oryzivora, Linneus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 811. Wils. Am. Orn., II. 
(1810) 48. 
Dolichonyx oryzivora, Swainson. Zool. Jour., IIL. (1827) 351. 
Icterus agripennis, Bonaparte. Obs. Wils. (1824), No. 87. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. 
(1831) 288; V. (1839) 486. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 185. 
DESCRIPTION. 
General color of male in spring black; the nape brownish-cream color; a patch 
on the side of the breast, the scapulars and rump white, shading into light ash on 
the upper tail covers and the back below the interscapular region; the outer prima- 
ries sharply margined with yellowish-white, the tertials less abruptly; the tail 
feathers margined at the tips with pale brownish-ash. In autumn similar to the 
female. 
