irTERID.E — THE ORIOLES. 181 



The colors of the On\)l('s are chietlv l>l:iek and yellow, or orani'e, the w'nvj, 

 soiiK'tiiiies marked with white. The ieiiiale:3 are u:enerallv much duller in 

 plumaL^e, and the yuuni; male usually remains in immature dress till tlie 

 third year. Tn all tlie Xoitli Ameriean species the rump is of the .same 

 color w itii the belly ; tiie chin, throat, and tail, black. 



In tlie North xVnierican Orioles the hcltiinorc and hnUoiki have the tail 

 but little jiiraduated ; sjjHrifts, more so , the others very decidedly graduated. 

 The bills of the two first mentioned are stout and nearly straight; that of /. 

 nuJanonphalm quite similar. /. parisorum has the bill more attenuated, 

 but scarcely more decurved ; in spur ins it is attenuated and decurved, much 

 as in vafjkri ; this character is strongest in /. cocuUutus. The nuich "gradu- 

 ated tail is cond»ined with a slender decurved bill in 1. rucullatits and vdijlfri ; 

 with a straighter one in parisorum ; with a thick, nearly straight, one in mr- 

 lanoccplwlus. The arrangement, according to the graduation oi" the " ^ 

 would be haJtiniorc, huUocli, spurius, parisorum, wiKjleri, mdanocrphalus, and 

 cucidlatus. According to stmitness and curvature of bill, it would l)e hal- 

 timore, melanoccphalus, hullocki, p)a7'isorumy sjjurius, wo.tjkri, and vurullatus. 



All the species have the rump and under parts yellow or orange. All 

 have the head entirely black, except bullocki, in which its sides are orange, 

 and ciuuUdtus, which has an orange crown. All have black on the throat. 

 In the species with black head and neck, all have the tails black towards the 

 end, except hu/locki and haJtimore. 



The females and young males are so entirely different in colors from the 

 adult males, and so similar in the ditl'erent species, that they can best be 

 distinguished by the details of form and size. The /. j>?'o.'?//<(^wu7f?.s and /. 

 rndanoccphahis are placed, according to the above arrangement, in different 

 subgenera, yet the young male of the former and the adult male of the latter 

 are so perfectly similar in colors as to be undistinguishable in this respect, 

 and require careful examination of points of external structure to be sepa- 

 rated (see description of /. mr/ftnoaphahfs, p. 782). 



The following syno])sis may help to distinguish the Xorth American 

 Orioles and their nearest allies, as far as color is concerned. 



Species and Varieties. 



ICTSRUS. Head all round <k'ep bla(?k. sharply defined ap-ainst the yellow 

 of the nape; winirs Mack, with or without white markings. Body generally, 

 includinpc lesser win<;-eoverts. deep greenish-yellow (intense orantre-red in some 

 South American species). 



L vulgaris. Feathers of the throat elongated and lanceolate. Bill longer 

 than head. Back and scapulars black ; greater coverts and tcrtials with 

 much white on out^r webs ; middle wing-eoverts white. Rest of plumage, 

 including lesser covert-^, chrome-yellow. Sexes alike. Ilab. Northern South 



is ra. ler well marked by square tail and straight outlines of the bill, as indicated al>ove. The 

 diffei^nces are really so minute, and tlie characters so variable with the species, that it seems 

 entirely unneoes.'siry to subdivide the genus. 



