WAGLER'S OROPENDULA 



coloration, in the males at least; black alone, 

 or black varied with yellow, orange, red or 

 white prevailing. They are generally larger in 

 size and have a more elongated bill than the 

 finches, to which, however, they are closely 

 related. The group includes arboreal forms 

 as the orioles and oropendulas, which are 

 noteworthy for their elaborately woven pen- 

 dant nests, and others that are more or less 

 completely terrestrial, as the grackles and 

 meadow larks. Their notes are loud, very 

 varied and often musical, some being fine 

 songsters, and their habits are more or less 

 gregarious, certain of them in the breeding 

 season as well as at other times. Some of 

 the largest of the song birds are members of 

 this family, several of the oropendulas be- 

 ing exceeded in size only by the crows and 

 ravens. The Old World orioles constitute 

 a different family (Oriolidce). 



i. Zarhynchus wagleri wagleri (Gray) 

 Wagler's Oropendula 



Length. Male. 350 mm. (13.70 in.); tail 

 132 mm. (5.20 in.). Female. 268 mm. (10.60 

 in.); tail 102 mm. (4.00 in.). 



Male. Head, neck, upper chest, flanks, rump 

 and lower abdomen dark chestnut brown, the 

 crown and slender crest feathers darker; back, 

 scapulars, wings, lower chest and breast, glossy 

 black; tail yellow, the middle feathers black. 

 Bill pale greenish white, swollen at the base, 

 424 



