366 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



c". Tail nearly or quite as long as wing, the feathers not pointed at tips; 

 wing moderate, the tertials not lengthened ; bill shorter than head, 

 the culmen narrow, not flattened ; feathers on top of head without 

 stiffened shafts; outstretched feet falling far short of tip of tail; 

 color black and yellow, orange, or chestnut in adult males (some- 

 times in females also), usually with more or less of white on wings. 



Icterus. (Page 372.) 

 a". Outlines of bill distinctly curved, the tip distinctly decurved, the commissure 

 distinctly inflected and sinuated. (Subfamily Quiscalince.) 

 b\ Tail much shorter than wing, nearly even, not folded laterally ; bill shorter 



than head, slender Scolecophagus. (Page 378.) 



b*. Tail longer than wing, graduated, and folded laterally ; bill as long as or 

 longer than head, stout Quiscalus. (Page 379.) 



Genus DOLICHONYX Swainson. (Page 365, pi. CI., fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adult male in spring : General color black, the occiput 

 and hind-neck, scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts whitish or huffy. Adult 

 female : General color ochraceous, tinged with grayish brown, paler (more buffy 

 yellowish) beneath ; upper parts and flanks streaked with dusky ; crown divided 

 by a median buffy stripe. Adult male in fall and icinter: Similar to adult female, 

 hut colors rather darker, or deeper. Young (not seen). Nest in tussocks of grass 

 or among weeds in meadows. Eggs 2-5, dull white or brownish white, heavily 

 spotted or blotched with vandyke-brown, usually with a few fine lines or irregular 

 markings of blackish. 



a 1 . Adult male with hind-neck usually deep buff, inclining to ochraceous ; streaks 

 on back also deep buff or ochraceous ; lower back rather deep ash-gray. 

 Adult female with ground-color of plumage deep olive-buffy. Length 6.30- 

 7.60, wing 3.70-4.00 (3.88), tail 2.60-2.90 (2.83). Eggs .83 X .61. Sab. East- 

 ern North America, west to edge of Great Plains, breeding in northern 

 United States and more southern British Provinces; in winter, south to 

 West Indies and South America 494. D. oryzivorus (Linn.). Bobolink. 



a'. Adult male with hind-neck and streaks on back paler buff, often nearly pure 

 white ; lower back very pale ashy, or grayish white. Adult female with 

 ground-color of plumage pale grayish buff. Length (male) about 7.00-7.25, 

 wing 3.75-4.10 (3.94), tail 2.75-3.00 (2.89). Hob. Great Plains, east to Da- 

 kota, north to Fort Garry and Manitoba, west to Salt Lake Valley and 

 eastern Nevada (Ruby Valley). 



494a. D. oryzivorus albinucha Ridgw. Western Bobolink. 



