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U. S. p. E. R, EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



Section Icterieae. 

 lOTERIA, Vieillot. 



hteritt, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1790, iii and 85. 

 Bill shorter than the head ; broad at the base, but rapidly becoming compressed or much higher than broad, with the ridge 

 elevated and sharp from the very base of the bill ; the upper outline much curved throughout ; the commissure less curved but 

 strongly concave ; the gonys nearly straight, the upper edge of the lovifer jaw as convex as the commissure is concaye. No 

 notch in the bill and the rictal bristles small. Tarsi longer than the toes, without scutellae, except faint indications on the 

 inner side. Lateral toes about equal ; shorter than the hinder. Wings about equal to the tail, rounded ; the first quilllonger 

 than the secondaries. Tail graduated; above olive; beneath yellow. Abdomen, eyelids, maxillary jatch, and line to the 

 bill, white. 



The proper position of this genus has always been a matter of much uncertainty, but I see 

 no reason why it may not legitimately be assigned to the SylvicoUnae, possessing, as it does, so 

 many of their characteristics. The bill is stouter and more curved than. in the rest, but the 

 other characters agree very well. It cannot properly be placed with the vireos and shrikes on 

 account of the absence of a spurious primary, as well as of a notch in either mandible. 



The two species are best distinguished by the relative length of the tail. 



Comparative measurements of species. 



* The original of Mr. Lawrence's Meria longicauda, 



lOTEKIA VIEIDIS, Bo nap. 



Yellow Breasted Chat. 



Muscicwpa viridis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 936. 



Icteria viridis, Bokap. Obs. Wilson, 1826, No. 163.— Ib. List, 1838.— Ib. Consp. 1850, 331.— Nuttall, Man. I, 

 1832, 299.— AuD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 223 : V, 433 ; pi. 137.— Ib. Syn. 1839, 163.— Ib. Birds Am. 

 Icteria dumecola, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 85 ; pi. Iv. 

 Piprapolyglotta, Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808,90. 

 " Tanagra olivacea, Desmarest, Tangaras, ((?, not the Q or O.)" 

 " .Smpelis luteus, Sparrmann, Mus. Carls, t^b. Ixx," (Eonap.) 

 7 Icteria velasquezii, Bonap. Pr. Zool. Soc. 1837, 117. — Ib. Consp. 1850, 331. 

 Merula viridis carolinensis, Brisson, II, 1760, 315. 

 Yellow breasted chat, Catesbt, Carol. I, 1730, tab. 1. 

 Chattering flycatcher, Pennant, II, 388. — Latham, Syn. II, i, 360. 



Sp. Ch. — Third and fourth quills longest ; second and fifth little shorter; first nearly equal to the sixth. Tail graduated. 

 Upper parts uniform olive green ; under parts, including the inside of wing, gamboge yellow as far as nearly halfway from the 

 point of the bill to the tip of the tall ; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on the sides ; the outer side of the tibia 

 plumbeous ; a siight tinge of orange across the breast. Forehead and sides of the head ash, the lores and region below the eye 

 blackish. A white stripe from the nostrils over the eye and involving the upper eyelid ; a patch on the lower lid, and a short 

 stripe from the side of the lower mandible, and running to a point opposite the hinder border of the eye, white. Bill black ; 

 feet brown. Female like the male, but smaller ; the markings indistinct ; the lower mandible not pure black. Length, 7.40 ; 

 wing, 3.25; tail, 3.30. 



Hah. — Eastern United States to the Missouri, south to Guatemala. 



