MNIOTILTIDa; — THE AMERtCAN WARnLERS. 115 



2. Middle toe, with claw, not loncer than tarsus. 



Bill without a distinct notch, or laulcins it entirely; rictal bristles want- 

 ing, or very minute; oulmen and gonys nearly straight; bill only very 

 moderately compressed. 

 a. Middle toe and claw about equal to tarsus. 



Bill not acute; culmen and gonys decidedly convex; notch just per- 

 ceptible; bristles apparent Protonotaria. 



Bill moderately acute, robust; no notch; culmen straight, Its base 



elevated and slightly arched; bristles not apparent Helinaia. 



Bill moderately acute: robust; no notch; culmen convex, its base 



not elevated; bristles apparent Helmitheros. 



6. Middle toe and claw considerably shorter than tarsus. 



Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch not perceptible; 



bristles not apiiarent Holminthophila. 



Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch just perceptible; 



bristles strong Compsothlypis. 



Bill distinctly notched; rictal br-isll"s strong; outlines generally 

 Blightly curved Deudroioa. 



h. GeothlypesB. 



3. 'Wings pointed, longer than nearly even tail. 



Above olive-brown; beneath white with dark streaks Seiurus. 



Above olive-green; beneath yellow without streaks Oporornia. 



4. Wings rounded, shor'.or than the graduated tail. 



Colors as in Oporornis GeotUypia. 



c. Icterieae, 

 6. Characters as given above; outer toe completely separated from the middle 

 one; upper mandible decidedly deeper than the lower. 



Color above uniform olive-ereen or olive-gray; beneath rich yellow 

 for anterior half, white posteriorly Ictoria. 



d. Setophagese. 



6. Bill decidedly "Tyrannlne." Tail fan-shaped, equal to or longer than wing, 



decidedly rounded. Colors mainly black, orange-red, and white in the 



male, grayish, yellow, and white in the female Setophaga 



7. Bill much less depressed, and with less strongly developed rictal bristles. 



Tail shorter and narrower (shorter than the wing), nearly even. Colors, 

 plain olive-green or gray above, yellow beneath, with more or less of 

 black about the head in the male (sometimes in the female also) Sylvania. 



It is possible that of the above the Ictcriece should properly rank 

 as a subfamily; but some tropical genera {e. g. Granatellas of Middle 

 aud South America and 2e>vfi.siri,s of Cuba) appear to connect the 

 only genus, Icteria, with the genus Gcotldypis, through certain trop- 

 ical species of the latter which have much stouter and more arched 

 bills than the North American species. The connection between 

 Dendroica and Seiurus is very nearly made in a West Indian species 

 of the former (D. jilumhea Lawr.) and the Antillean genus Catharo- 

 fcza ; the genera Seiurus and Oporornis differ more in coloration than 

 anything else, while the differences in form between the type of the 

 latter genus and that of (Icotlilypis are reduced to almost nil by the 



