STURNID^E. 277 



durince to the Agelaince. There are, nevertheless, too many intermediate grada- 

 tions of form still wanting 1 , to allow of an accurate demarcation being traced of 

 the aberrant circle of the Sturnides. The sub-typical group formed by the 



LAMPROTORNIN^, 

 or Grakles, is entirely restricted to the hot latitudes of the Old World. The 

 plumage is glossed with the most brilliant metallic colours that can be conceived; 

 and they seem to represent, in their native regions, the pilfering and devastating 

 Maize-birds (Agelaince) of America. The form of their bill differs from that of 

 all their congeners : it is compressed, slightly curved, destitute of an angle at 

 the commissure, and, in fact, completely resembles that of a Thrush. The feet 

 are very robust, and the tail in general is short. The scansorial type is the 

 genus Ptilonorhynchus of Kuhl, arranged by methodists with the Crows. The 

 true Starlings and Pastors compose the typical sub-family of 



STURNINiE, 

 where we have, as usual in every natural group, a beautiful representation of each 

 of the five divisions we have now, for the first time, characterised. As none of 

 these types, however, occur in the New World, we must reserve their elucidation 

 for another opportunity. 



[85.] 1. Molothrus pecoris. (Swainson.) Cowpen or Cuckoo-Bunt. 



Sub-family, Agelainse. Genus, Molothrus*, Swains. 



Cowpen Finch. Penn. Arct. ZooL, ii, p. 371, No. 241. t 



Cow Bunting (Emberiza pecoris). Wils., ii., p. 145, pi. 18, if. 1, 2, and 3. 



Fringilla pecoris. Sab. Frankl. Journ., p. 67G. 



Agelaius pecoris. Swains. Syn., No. 55. 



Icterus pecoris. Bonap. Syn., p. 53, No. 53. 



Wilson's highly interesting observations satisfactorily prove that this curious 

 bird has, in common with the Cuckoo of Europe, the habit of depositing its eggs 

 in the nests of smaller birds, to whom it entrusts the safety of its future offspring. 

 It arrives in the fur-countries in May, in company with the Maizebirds and Boat- 

 tails, ranges to the sixtieth parallel, departs in September, and collects in large 

 flocks in Pennsylvania during the following month, after which it retires to winter 



* MoWj«;, qui non vocatus alienas cedes intrat. 



■)• Latham has introduced this bird, under different specific names, in three several genera, in his Index Orn. ,• viz. 

 Sturnus junceli, Oriolus minor, and Fringilla pecoris. — R. 



