72 How to Sex Cage Birds. 



were entirely destitute of a first primary in any form or shape 

 The Icteridce seem clearly to be a transitional group linking the 

 Weavers to the true Starlings, the male of DolicJionyx even retaining 

 the winter plumage of a Weaver. 



The Meadow-Starlings (Agelcevnce). 

 The Hobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). 

 The beak of the female is rather weaker than that of the male, 

 and not swollen at the sides when viewed from above; it is also of 

 a reddish-brown colour. Excepting that she is smaller, the female 

 is very similar to the male in its winter plumage, yellowish-brown 

 above, with blackish markings; yellowish huff below, with blackish 

 streaks on the Hanks. 



The Red-breasted Marsh-Bihd (Leistes superciliavis). 

 The beak of the female when viewed in profile is more slender 

 than that of the male, and is brown. She is smaller, brownish, 

 heavily streaked with black, the tail with black bars: the eyebrow- 

 stripe is more huffish, not so chalky in appearance : the throat dull 

 whitish-buff; the breast slightly mottled with reddish, and with 

 black ticks on the shafts of the feathers ; the abdomen more ashy, 

 heavily ticked and streaked with black; under tail-coverts barred 

 with black. The difference between the sexes is therefore very 

 striking, the male being coloured like a Military Troupial. (See 

 Foreign 1 Si nl -keeping, ii. p. 9.) 



Yellow-hkadko Maksh-Bird (Xanthocepludua icterocephalus). 



The beak of this species is nearly of the same form as in Leis/cs. 

 That of the female is much smaller and rather more slender than 

 that of the male. She is by far the smaller bird ; her general colour 

 is brown, with a dark patch at front of crown ; throat brownish- 

 white, pale orange at hack ; breast mottled brownish, with yellow 

 sides; chest and abdomen brown steaked with ashy whitish; back 

 of abdomen and vent uniform brown ; under tail-coverts more 

 bullish. 



Red-shouldkukd Meadow-Stakun<; [Agelceus phcenicn/s). 



The female is much smaller than the male, and has a smaller, 

 shorter beak ; her colouring is quite different, brown with con- 

 spicuous black shaft-streaks to the feathers : eyebrow-streak white; 

 under parts pale bullish, with white abdomen, all the feathers 

 conspicuously streaked with black ; chin hull' or reddish. 



The Brown-headed Meadow-Stakun<; {Agelceus frontalis). 



The female has a smaller and rather weaker beak than the male; 

 she is olivaceous-brown mottled with short blackish streaks; below 

 paler and more finely streaked : throat sandy buff. Agelceus 

 rupZcapillus is a much rarer bird, the female of which is not in the 

 British Museum ; it probably nearly resembles that of A. frontalis. 



