
194. GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. 
adopt his name of Quiscalus ; but I add to the genus, as con- 
stituted by him, the Gracula ferruginea, which he regarded 
as a Pendulinus, and which other authors have arranged in 
several different genera, making of it a profusion of nominal 
species. Wilson judiciously included that species in the same 
genus with those above mentioned, although other authors 
had placed it in Turdus, Oriolus, &. 
The genus Quiscalus is peculiar to America, and is com- 
posed of four well-ascertained species, three of which are found 
in the United States; these are Quiscalus major,* versicolor, 
and ferrugineus ; the fourth, Quiscalus baritus, inhabits the 
West Indies, and probably South America. 
The species of this genus are gregarious and omnivorous, 
their food being composed of insects, corn, and small grains, 
thus assisting and plundering the agriculturist at the same 
time. When the first EKuropean settlements were formed in 
North America, the havoc made by these birds and the 
troopials in the grain-fields was so great that a premium was 
given for their heads. ‘Their destruction was easily effected, 
as they are not shy, and are more easily approached as their 
numbers decrease; but the evil which resulted from exter- 
minating so many of these birds was as unexpected as irre- 
mediable. The corn and pastures were so devoured by worms 
and insects, that the inhabitants were obliged to spare the 
birds in order to avert a scourge which had been previously 
unknown. As population increases, and a greater quantity 
of grain is cultivated, the ravages of these birds become less 
perceptible, and the injury they cause comparatively trifling. 
The great crow blackbird is more than sixteen inches long, 
and twenty-two in extent. The bill, from the angle of the 
mouth, is one inch and three-quarters, and its colour, like that 
of the feet, is black; the roof of the mouth is furnished with a 
slight osseous carina; the irides are pale yellow. The general 
* We call the present species Quiscalus major, agreeably to Vieillot, 
who certainly intended this bird, although his description is a mere in- 
dication. 
