ICTERIN^. 
Icterus Briss.* 
Bill conic, longer than, or as long as, the head, with the culmen straight and not dilated at the base, 
but dividing the frontal plumes by a point, and with the tip acutely pointed, the sides compressed and 
the lateral margins straight ; the nostrils basal, lateral, with the opening oval, and partly covered by a 
membrane. Wi?igs lengthened and pointed, with the second quill nearly as long as the third, which is 
the longest. Tail lengthened and laterally rounded. Tarsi as long as the middle toe, and strongly 
scaled. Toes moderate, with the lateral ones unequal, and the hind one as long as the middle toe ; and all 
strongly scaled, and armed with moderate curved claws. 
These gregarious birds reside in the vast forests of the tropical parts of America. Various fruits and insects form 
their principal food. They form cylindrical interwoven nests, composed of the dry fibres of various plants, with the 
hairs of cattle intermixed, and suspend them from the ends of the branches of trees. 
1. J. vulgaris Daud. PI. enl. 532. — Oriolus Icterus Linn.; 
Coracias Xanthornus Scop. ; Pendulinus longirostris Vieill. 
2. I. mexicanus (Linn.) — I. citrinus Spix, Av. Bras. t. 66. ; 
Psarocolius gymnops Wagl.; PI. enl. 533. ; Agelaius melanicterus 
Vieill. 
3. I. leucopteryx (Wagl.) — Oriolus mexicanus Leach, Zool. 
Misc. 1. pi. 2. 
4. I. cucullatus Swains. Phil. Mag. 1 827- 436. 
5. I. costototl (Gmel.) Daud. Isis, 1829. P- 758. 
6. l.flavigaster (Wagl.) Isis, 1829.756. 
7. I. melanocephalus (Wagl.) Isis, 1829. 756. 
8. I. graduacauda (Less.) Rev. Zool. 1829- 105. 
9. I. Jamacaii (Gmel.) Daud. Catesby's Car. t. 6. — Agelaius 
longirostris Vieill. 
10. I. melanochrysura Less. Rev. Zool. 1839. 105. 
11. I. croconotus (Wagl.) Isis 1829. P- 757 
12. I. gularis (Licht.) Isis 1829. p. 754, 
13. I. pectoralis (Wagl.) Isis 1829. P- 755. 
14. I. personatus Temm. PI. col. desc. with pi. 482. 
15. I. Xanthornus (h'lnu.) Daud. Pi. enl. 5. f. 1., Edwards' Birds, 
pi. 243. 
16. I. Bullockii (Swains.) Phil. Mag. 1827. 436., Audub. B. of 
Amer. pi. 388. f. 5. 
17. I. olivaceus (Gmel.) Daud. Pi. enl. 606. f.2. 
18. I. mentalis Less. Cent. Zool. t. 41. 
19. l.pustulatus Licht. Isis 1829. 757- 
20. I. Abeillei Less. Rev. Zool. 1839. 101. 
21. I. musicus (Cabot), Proc. Bost. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1834. 155. 
22. I, badius (Vieill,) Nouv. Diet. H. N. 34. p. 535., Azara No. 
63. 
Xanthornus Cuv.'\ 
Bill lengthened, or shorter than the head, with both mandibles arched for their whole length, the 
culmen rounded and advancing in a point on the forehead ; the nostrils basal, lateral, with the opening 
oval, and covered by a membrane. Wings moderate, with the second quill slightly shorter than the third 
and fourth, which are longest. Tail lengthened and wedge-shaped. Tarsi shorter than the middle toe, 
and strongly scaled. Toes moderate, with the lateral ones equal, and the hind one as long as the 
middle toe ; all strongly scaled. 
This division is also composed of bli'ds that are peculiar to the warmer parts of South and North America and the 
West Indies. They are generally seen in search of those insects and caterpillars that infest the fruit trees, and prey 
on the leaves, blossoms, and embryo of the fruit of the lofty trees in the primeval forests. The North American species 
only visits the northern states at the time when those insects are to be found. The nest of the North American species 
• Brisson (Ornithologip) established this genus in I76O. In 1777 ScopoH, and Cuvier in 1829, used Xanthornus for the same division ; 
in 1811, Illiger that of Oriolus ; and these are all probably coequal with Rhyndace of McEhriiig, who published in 1752. 
t Cuvier adopted this name between 1799 a»il 1800 {Anat. Compar.). It is coequal with Vieillot's Pendulinus, published in 1816 ; 
and Icterus of Cuvier, in 1 829. 
T 
