KTKRID-E —THE ORIOLES. 



2ir] 



fonpfest ; first between fourth and liftli, Color l>Iaek, varionsly <xl<»<sed with tnetaUic 

 reflections of lironze, purple, vi(»l«'t, blue, and <;reen. Feinnle siniihir. but smaller and 

 duller, with peihaps more jjreen on 

 the head. Leu^'th, 13.00; win-:, 0.00; 

 ill abovi', l.'J-'. 



I [.VI!. From Atlantic to the high 

 Central I'lains. 



Of the Crow lilackbird of the 

 United States, tliree well-marked 

 races are now distinguished in 

 the species : one, the common 

 form of the Atlantic States ; an- 

 other occiirrinii^ in the Mississippi 

 Valley, the Uritish Possessions, 

 and the Xew England States, and 

 a third on the Peninsula of Flor- 

 ida. The comparative diagnoses 

 of the three will be found on page 809. 



Quiacalus purpureus. 



Var. purpureug, Bart rax. 

 FUBPLE GRASLE. 



Oraciila quvicnla, LiNV, Syst. Nat. I, (ed. 10,) 175S, 109 {yfoucdnlfi jmrjnireay Cal.^ ; I, (ed. 

 12,) 176(5, 165. — Gmelin, I, 1788, 31)7. — Lath.vm, Ind. I, 17j»0, 191. — Wil.sox, Am. 

 Orn. Ill, IMl, 44, pi. x.\i, f. 4. <'h(ih-i>i>hiincs quiscnliis, Waglku, Sy>t. Av. 1827 ((/m- 

 cula). — Cab. Mas. Hein. 1851, 196. miriolus Iiuforirianm, Gmelik, Syst. Nat. I, 

 1788, 387 ; albino var. ? i Oriohis niger, Gmklin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 393. f fJracuIa 

 2rurpurea, Bautkam, Travels, 1791, 290. Quiscnhis irrsh-olur, Vikillot, Analyse ? 

 1816. — iB. Xouv. Diet. XXVIII, 1819, 488. — In. Gal. Ois. I, 171, pi. cviii. — Bos. 

 Obs. Wils. 1824, No. 45. — Ib. Am. Orn. I, 1825. 45, pi. v. — In. List, 1838. — In. Con- 

 spectus, 1840, 424. —Sw. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 485. — Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 194. 



— Aui). Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 35 : V, 1838, 481 (not the pi. vii.). —-In. Syn. 1839, 146. 



— In. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 58 (not the pi. ecxxi.). — BAiitn, iiirds N. Am. 1858, 575. 

 frracula Ixtrita, Oi:i», .T. A. N. So. I, 1818, 253. ^'Quisathis purjntirua, Licnr." — 

 Cassix, Pr. a. N. Se., 1866, 403. — Rinr.wAV, Pr. A. N. S. 1869, 133. — Allkx, 

 B. E. Fla. 291 (in part). Quisoilus nifens, LieiiT. Verz. 1823, No. 164. (JuLscalus 

 pnrpurnfH.-i, SwAixsoN, Anim. in Menag. 1838, No. 55. Purple Grakle, Pexxant, 

 Arctic Zoid. II. 



Sp. Char. Length ahout 12..50; wincr. 5..o0; tail 4.92; cnlmen, 1.24; tarsus, L28. 

 Second quill lonrfest, hardly pereeptibly (only .07 of an inch) lon<jer than the hrst and 

 third, wliich are equal; projection of primaries beyond secondaries, L56; graduation of 

 tail, .92. General appearance glossy black ; whole plumage, however, brightly glossed 

 with reddish-viokt, bronzed purple, steel-blue, and green ; the head and neck with purple 

 prevailing, this being in some individuals more bluish, in others more reddish ; where 

 most blue this is purest anteriorly, becoming more violet on the neck. On other portions 

 of the body the blue and violet forming an iridescent zone on eaeh feather, the blue first, 

 the violet terminal ; sometimes the head is similarlv marked. On the abdomen the blue 



