( 480 ) 

 BOAT-TAILED GRAKLE. 



QUISCALUS MAJOR, ViEILL. 

 PLATE CLXXXVII. Vol. II. p. 504. 



I FOUND this species abundant and breeding along the shores of the 

 Gulf of Mexico, from the mouths of the Mississippi to within the mari- 

 time portions of the Texas, in every suitable place, forming its nests 

 principally among the tall reeds of the salt marshes. The eggs mea- 

 sure one inch three-eighths in length, and seven-eighths in breadth, be- 

 ing of an elongated oval form. The name of Boat-tailed Grakle has 

 been of late given to om* Common Crow Blackbird, Quiscalus Tersicolor, 

 which in my opinion is improper, in our country at least, where all ori- 

 ginal well-known names ought to be retained, were it for no other rea- 

 son than to prevent inconvenience to students. No one in Kentucky, 

 for example, would know what was meant by " Little Rusty-crowned 

 Falcon," but would point out at once to any inquirer the " Sparrow 

 Hawk." 



In a male, from the mouths of the Mississippi, preserved in spirits, 

 the palate is convex, with two longitudinal ridges, anteriorly with a 

 middle and two lateral ridges. The tongue is 1 inch 2 twelfths long, 

 slender, horny nearly in its whole length, sagittate and papillate at the 

 base, concave above, its greatest breadth 2^ twelfths, tapering to a la- 

 cerated thin point, and with the edges also lacerated for nearly half an 

 inch from the tip. The posterior apertiu"e of the nares is oblong be- 

 hind, linear before, with strong papillae on the edges. The oesophagus 

 is b\ twelfths long, its width 7 twelfths at the commencement, then 

 contracting to 4 twelfths, again slightly dilated to 5 twelfths ; the pro- 

 ventriculus also 5 twelfths in width, its glands forming a belt 7^ twelfths 

 in breadth. The stomach is elliptical, 1 inch 2 twelfths long, 10^ 

 twelfths in breadth ; its muscular coat moderately thick, the right late- 

 ral muscle 2 twelfths ; the epithelium dense, tough, longitudinally ru- 

 gous, and dark brown. The intestine is of moderate length and width, 

 the former being 15 inches, the latter averaging 3 twelfths ; the coeca 

 an inch and a half long. 



