1530 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



parts is deep black, with the feathers of the mantle and shoulders shaded with 

 brown, and the upper and lower tail coverts chestnut, the five outermost pairs of 

 tail feathers are a brilliant citron yellow. The elongated form of the nest character- 

 izing the crested cassique is sufficiently indicated in our illustration. 



The true hangnests, as represented by a large number of species 



L ranging from North and Central America to Southern Brazil and 

 Hangnests 



Bolivia, constitute (together with an allied genus containing one spe- 

 cies) a second subfamily (Icterintz} in which the nostrils are more or less covered 

 by a membrane, while the culmen of the beak is more or less incurved, and there is 

 no shield on the forehead; the metatarsus being short, the feet adapted for perching, 

 and the tail rounded. As a rule, the plumage is bright orange and yellow, relieved 

 with black and white; the sexes being in some cases similar, and in others very dis- 

 similar. Unlike the members of the preceding subfamily, these hangnests are 

 thoroughly arboreal in their habits, and while the majority construct pendent nests 

 like those of the cassiques, others appear to build open cup-shaped nests. The eggs 

 are bluish or pinkish white, profusely spotted with purple and red. The best- 

 known species is the Baltimore hangnest (Icterus galbula} , frequently termed the 

 Baltimore oriole of the United States. These birds build in large companies, the 

 males generally arriving first at the breeding places, where they are soon joined by 

 their partners. The nest is wider and less elongated than that of the crested cas- 

 sique. On a single tree sometimes as many as forty nests may be observed; and 

 during November they will be found to contain both eggs and young birds. All 

 the numerous species of the genus Icterus are good songsters, the notes of the Balti- 

 more hangnest being especially melodious. 



Belonging to another subfamily (Agel&ince} differing from the last 



by the straight culmen of the beak and the elongated metatarsus, this 

 genus, as typified by the common ricebird or bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), is 

 characterized by the short and conical beak, the long and pointed wings, the rigid 

 acuminate feathers of the tail, and the stout and long-clawed feet. An inhabitant of 

 North America, where it is especially common in the United States, this well-known 

 bird winters in Central America and the West Indies, returning northward in vast 

 flocks along the Atlantic coast in spring, when the males are in nearly full breeding 

 plumage, and are thus very conspicuous as they flock to the meadows and orchards. 

 " Their number, " says Dr. Coues, "seems out of all proportion to that of the fe- 

 males, but this is probably due to the silent and more retiring ways of the latter 

 sex. They really pass through, in the vernal migration, quite rapidly, though they 

 do not appear to be at all in a hurry, as we see them by day. They throw them- 

 selves in a field, scatter on the ground feeding, and at the slightest alarm, or in 

 mere wantonness, suddenly fly en masse to the nearest tree, fence, or bush, and 

 begin to sing, producing an indescribable medley, hushed in an instant only to be 

 resumed. Sometimes they sing as merrily, though with less concerted action, while 

 they are rambling in the grass. Their daytime leisure for song and food is easily 

 explained; for they migrate at this season almost entirely by night. Every night 

 in early May, as we walk the streets, we can hear the mellow metallic clinking com- 

 ing down through the darkness, from birds passing high overhead, and sounding 



