160 



Genus I.— ICTERIA, Vieill. CHAT. 



Bill of moderate length, stout, slightly arched, broad at the base, com- 

 pressed toward the end; upper mandible with the sides convex, the edges 

 sharp, destitute of notch, the tip acute and a little declinate; lower mandible 

 with the dorsal line nearly straight, the edge-line slightly arched and inflect- 

 ed. Nostrils roundish, half covered by a vaulted membrane. General form 

 rather robust; head ovate, neck short, body moderate. Legs of moderate 

 length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with eight scutella, of 

 which the upper are blended; two lateral toes nearly equal, the hind one not 

 much stouter. Claws moderate, arch much compressed, laterally grooved, 

 very acute. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles very small. Wings of 

 moderate length, rounded, third and fourth primaries longest, second little 

 shorter, first longer than sixth. Tail rather long, rounded. 



THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 



-Mcteria viridis, Gmel. 



PLATE CCXLIV.— Males, Female and Nest. 



This singular bird is extremely plentiful in Louisiana, Georgia, and the 

 Carolinas, during spring and summer. It arrives in the first of those States 

 as soon as the blossoms of the dog-wood mark the return of the vernal 

 season. Many continue their migrations eastward as far as Connecticut, but 

 beyond this the species is seldom if ever seen. I have found it equally 

 abundant in Kentucky, particularly in the barrens of that State; and it 

 ascends the Ohio, spreading over the country, and extending as far as the 

 borders of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. It never enters what is properly 

 called the woods, preferring at all periods of its short stay with us, the large 



