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160 ICTERIDiE, AMERICAN STARLINGS. GEN. 93, 94. 



black ; bill and feet black at all times ; <? about 9 ; wing 4J ; tail 3 J ; bill f ; 

 very slender for the family, somewhat resembling a thrush's ; 9 smaller. 

 Eastern North America, N.W. to Alaska (Dall), very common in the U. S. 

 in the fall and winter, in flocks, in fields; breeds in Labrador and other 

 Northern regions, laying speckled, not streaky, eggs. WiLS., iii, 41, pi. 21, 

 f. 3; NuTT., i, 199; Aud., iv, 65, pi. 222; Bd., 551. . ferrugineus. 

 Blue-lieaded Gradde. Brewer's Blachbi7-d. Similar ; the general irides- 

 cence green as before, changing abruptly on the head to purplish, violet or 

 steel-blue, the difference obvious; larger; $ 9J-10J ; wing 5-5^; tail 4-4 J ; 

 bill much stouter, more like that of Agelceus, and altogether it seems to be 

 quite another bird. The 9 and young g differ much as in the last species, but 

 they are never so rusty. Plains to the Pacific, U. S. and southward, abundant. 

 Aud., vii, 345, pi. 492 ; Bd.,552; Coop., 278. . . . cyanocephalus. 



, 94. Genus QUISCALUS VieiUot. 



*,f * The <y iridescent black throughout. 

 ■}■ Great-tailed GracMe. (J about LS inches long; wing 7 J ; tail 9, its lateral 

 feathers about 3J inches shorter than the central ones ; bill aljout 1|. Texas, 



Fig. 101. Great-tailed Grackle. 



and southward. It mayijrove only an extreme form of the following species, 

 but presents dimensions that the latter has not shown. Bd., 254. macrourus. 



Boat-tailed Graolde. Jackdaw. $ 15J-17 long ; wing and tail 7-8 ; bill 

 about IJ ; graduation of the tail under 3 inches ; tarsus nearly 2, middle toe 

 and claw about the same ; the general iridescence green, purple or violet 

 mainly on the head. 9 astonishingly smaller than the <J , lacking entirely 

 the great development of the tail, and easily to be mistaken for qpiirj)ureus, 

 .but is rarely so glossy ; 12-13J ; Aving 5J-6 ; tail 4^-5^. 9 and young apt to 

 be quite brown, only blackish on the wings and tail, below graj-ish-brown, 

 frequently whitening on the throat and breast. South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States, on the coast; strictly maritime, abundant; N. regularly to the Caro- 

 linas, frequently to the Middle districts, but not to New England as currently 

 reported. Aud., iv, 62, pi. 220 ; Bd., 555 ma.iok. 



Purple GracMe. (Plate v, figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, 1«, 'ia, 4a, ba.) ^12-13; 

 wing averaging 5y ; tail 5 J ; but either from 5 to 6 ; bill al>out \\ ; tarsus 1^ ; 

 graduation of the tail IJ or less; 9 11-12; wing about 5; tail about 4J. 

 Iridescence of the male variable with age, season and other circumstances, 



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