BIRDS OF AMERICA. 



FAMILY XVI.— AGELAIN^E. MARSH BLACK-BIRDS. 



Bill of moderate length, sometimes short, seldom longer than the head, 

 stout, straight, conical, compressed, tapering, pointed; upper mandible with 

 the dorsal line nearly straight, the nasal sinus short and very wide, the ridge 

 thus appearing to encroach on the forehead, the sides rounded, the edges 

 without notch; lower mandible with the angle short and rounded, the dorsal 

 line straight, the edges involute. Nostrils basal, roundish or oblong. Head 

 rather large, ovate; neck short; body moderately full. Legs of moderate 

 length, stout, rather slender; tarsus compressed, with eight anterior scutella; 

 hind toe large, lateral toes equal, the outer adherent at the base. Claws 

 generally long, arched, compressed, acute. Plumage soft, blended, in the 

 males usually glossy. Wings of moderate length, with the outer three or 

 four quills longest, the first being very little shorter than the second, or 

 sometimes even exceeding it; tail of twelve feathers, of moderate length, or 

 elongated. The roof of the upper mandible concave, with three longitudinal 

 ridges, of which the middle is larger, and at the base forms a hard promi- 

 nence; tongue sagittate and papillate at the base, narrow, deep, pointed. 

 (Esophagus wide, dilated about the middle; proventriculus oblong; stomach 

 roundish or elliptical, with the lateral muscles distinct and well developed; 

 the epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous; intestine short and rather 

 wide; coeca very small, cylindrical; cloaca oblong. Trachea simple, with 

 four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles. Female much smaller. Nest 

 various, on trees or bushes, or on the ground, generally elaborate. Eggs 

 about five, ovate, spotted and streaked. 



Vol. IV. 2 



