482 ICTEEID^. 



called Megaquiscalus by Cassin, which contains the largest species of the genus. Mexico 

 and Central America, indeed, appear to be their headquarters, for only Q. major, of 

 the Atlantic States of North America, from which Q. macrurus is barely separable, 

 appears to be found outside our limits, though Q. macrurus spreads southwards into 

 Western Peru. One other species is ascribed to Mexico, Q, meocicanus, which, according 

 to Cassin (for we do not know the bird), belongs to the section Eoloquiscalus, of which 

 Q. lugubris is a better known member. 



Q. macrurus, one of the most familiar birds in Central America, lives in societies, 

 building in trees and reeds ; the male much exceeds the female in size, and they are 

 probably of polygamous habits. The bill of Q. macrurus is long, the culmen slightly 

 depressed for the greater part of its length, and rather abruptly curved towards the tip ; 

 the tomia is slightly incurved, and there is hardly any apparent angle towards its base ; 

 the nostrils are bordered above by a conspicuous membrane ; the rictal bristles are very 

 short ; the tarsi and toes are very strong, especially the former, and the hind claw well 

 developed ; the wings are pointed, the third primary being the longest, the first equalling 

 the fifth, the longest secondaries falling a little short of the seventh ; the tail is long 

 and cuneate, and the lateral feathers, when the bird is in fiight, are brought together 

 over the median feathers, hence their trivial name of " boat-tails." 



The general colour of the male is black with a rich purple hue, the females are more 

 or less brown beneath ; this diff'erence in the plumage of the sexes applies chiefly to 

 the larger members of the genus, in others the sexes are alike. 



1. Quiscalus macrurus. 



Quiscalus macrurus, Sw. An. in Menag. p. 299'; Bp. Consp. Av. i, p. 424^; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, 



p. 300 ' ; 1858, p. 358* ; 1864, p. 175 ' ; Ibis, 1884, p. 156 " ; Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xi. p. 396' ; 



Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 20" ; P. Z. S. 1870, p. 837'; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 112"; Lawr. 



Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii. p. 180" ; BuU. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4. p. 24 "; Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1866, 



p. 410 " ; Snmichrast, Mem. Bost. Soe. N. H. i. p. 553 " ; Frantz. J. f. Om. 1869, p. 303 " ; 



Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 270"; Nutt. & Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 383 "; Nutt. & 



Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 392"; vi. p. 402"; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 446'°; 



Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. viii. p. 570". 

 Quiscalus macrurus'^, Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1860, p. 138"; Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 191"'. 

 Chakophanes macrourus, Cab. J. £. Orn. 1861, p. 82". 

 Quiscalus major, var. macrurus, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. p. 225"; Lawr. Mem. Bost. 



Soc. N. H. ii. p. 28^". 

 Quiscalus m^jor, Bp. P. Z. S. 1837, p. 110"; Moore, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 58 "^ Salv. Ibis, 1866, 



p. 194''; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 281 '". 

 Quiscalus peruvianus, Sw. An. in Menag. p. 354"; Cass, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1866, p. 412''. 

 Quiscalus assimilis, Scl. Cat. Am. B. p. 141''; Ibis, 1884, p. 156'*; Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xi. p. 396"; 



Wyatt, Ibis, 1871, p. 330"; Tacz. Orn. Per. ii. p. 431". 



Nitide atro-purpureus in dorso et ventre imo in seneiyn transiens; alis caudaque aeneo-nigris ; rostro at pedibus 



