ICTEEIDiE, AMEEICAN STAKLIKGS. GEN. 92, 93. 159 



f] '■ Hooded Oriole. $ orange ; wings, tail, a narrow dorsal area and a largo 

 mask on the face and throat, black ; tips of wing coverts, and edges of many 

 quills, white ; size of the foregoing, Init wings shorter and tail longer. The 

 9 lacks the black mask ; but the species may be distinguished in any plum- 

 age from either of the foregoing by not having the wings evidently longer 

 than the tail. Valley of the Rio Grande and Colorado, Lower California, 

 and southward. Cass., 111. 42, pi. 8 ; Bd., 546 ; Coop., 275. cucullatus. 

 * * * The $ black and clear yellow. 



« M/ jScoU's Oriole. $ black; below from the breast, rump and upper tail 

 coverts, lesser, middle and under wing coverts, both above and below, and 

 basal portions of all the tail feathers, except the central ones, clear yellow ; 

 greater wing coverts tipped, inner quills edged, with white ; in the 9 or young 

 the black is replaced by brownish, and the yellow is not pure; about 8; 

 wing and tail about 4. Valley of the Rio Grande and Colorado, Lower 

 California, and southward. Bd.,544; Coop., 276. ... paeisokum. 



jL %'^'' Audubon's Oriole. $ yellow, somewhat olivaceous on the middle of the 

 back ; head, neck, breast, wings and tail black ; wings with a white cross bar 

 and white edging ; about 9 ; wing 4 ; tail 4J. Texas, and southward. Cass., 

 111., p. 137, pi. 21 ? (apparently represents the Southern smaller true melun- 



ocephalus) ; Bd., 542 (melanocephalus var?) audubonii. 



Obs. Several additional orioles have been ascribed to this country, but the fore- 

 going are all that appear to have been actually taken within our limits ; others, 

 however, may be confidently expected to occur on our Southern border. 



Subfamily QUISGALINJE. Croiv Blackhirds. 



Closely resembling the Agelceince both in structure and in habits, these birds are 

 distinguished by the length and attenuation of the bill, with decidedly curved culmcn, 

 especially towards the end, and strongly inflected tomia. The tj'pical Quiscali have 

 a certain crow-like aspect, but thej' are readily distinguished by several features. 

 The feet are large and strong, and the birds spend much of their time on the ground, 

 where they walk or run instead of advancing by leaps. They generally build rude, 

 bulky nests, lay spotted or streaked eggs, and their best vocal efforts are hardljr to 

 be called musical. The <y of most of the species is uniform lustrous black, the 

 9 brown and much smaller. There is only one genus (Cassidix) besides the two 

 of this country ; in 93, the tail is slightly rounded and sBorter than the wings ; 

 in 94, the tail is graduated, and about equals or exceeds the wings. 



93. Genus SCOLECOPHAGUS Swainson. 



.' ')_ ' Rusty Grachle. $ in summer lustrous black, the reflections greenish, and 

 not noticeably different on the head ; but not ordinarily found in this condi- 

 tion in the U. S. ; in general simply glossy black, nearly all the feathers 

 skirted with warm brown above, and brownish-yellow below, frequently 

 continuous on the fore parts ; the $ of the first season, like the 9 , is entirely 

 rusty brown above, the inner quills edged with the same ; a pale superciliary 

 stripe ; below, mixed rusty and grayish-black, the primaries and tail alone 



