150 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



Length, 8|-10.'f ; wing, ^-^ ; tail, ; 



tarsus, IJ ; culmen, f. West- 



ern Nortli America from tlie Plains to the Pacific. Accidental in Illinois. 



10. Purple Grackle (511. Quiscalus qu'iscula). — A common, 

 large, iridescent blackbird, with brilliant metallic rejdections of 

 greens and blues, arranged in bars on the back, rump, and belly. 

 The female is much duller, but still a blackbird and somewhat 



iridescent. This is a 

 gloomy bird with 

 crackling notes which 

 can hardly be called 

 a song. (Crow Black- 

 bird.) 



Length, 11-13J- ; wing, 

 4|-6 ; tail, 4}-6, gradu- 

 ated, \\ ; tarsus, 1| ; cul- 

 men, 1^. Mainly east of 

 the Alleghanies; breeding 

 north to Massachusetts, 

 and wintering from New 

 Jersey south. The Flor- 

 ida Grackle (51 1". Q. q. 

 aglMis) of the southern 

 portion of Gulf States, 

 from Plorida to Texas, is 

 smaller and the head is decidedly violet-purple by reflections, and the 

 back a rich green. The iridescent bars are not so distinct, though readily 

 recognized. The female differs from the last only in being smaller. 

 Length, 10-12; wing, 5-5|; tail, i\-b\; culmen, \\. The Bronzed 

 Grackle (h\\^. Q. q. ceneus') of the region east of the Rocky Mountains 

 to the Alleghanies, north to Newfoundland and Great Slave Lake, and 

 south to Texas, differs from the purple grackle more in the lack of irides- 

 cent bars on the bronze-colored back than in any other feature. The female 

 is almost without metallic reflections and never has the iridescent bars. 



11. Great-tailed Grackle (612. Quiscalus macrourus). — A 

 very large, long-tailed, glossy-black bird with metallic-violet 

 tints over the head, breast, back, and wing coverts, but without 

 iridescent bars. Female a dark brown with metallic-greenish 

 gloss on the back ; the head almost without gloss. 



Pniple Grackle 



Length, llJ-18.} ; wing, 6|-8 ; tail, 5| 

 Texas to Central America. 



culmen, lJ-1.^ 



Eastern 



