248 
U. 8. P. R. R. EXP, AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 
Section Icterieae. 
ICTERIA, Yieillot. 
Icteria, Vieili.ot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 17D0, iii and 85. 
Bill shorter than the head ; broad at the base, but rapidly becoming compressed or much higher than broad, with the ridgo 
elevated and sharp from tho very base of the bill; the upper outline much curved throughout ; the commissure less curved but 
strongly concave ; the gonys nearly straight, the upper edge of the lower jaw as convex as the commissure is concave. No 
notch in the bill and the rictal bristles small. Tarsi longer than the toes, without scutellae, except faint indications on the 
inner side. Lateral toes about equal ; shorter than the hinder. Wings about equal to the tail, rounded ; tho first quill longer 
than the secondaries. Tail graduated ; above olive; beneath yellow. Abdomen, eyelids, maxillary patch, and line to the 
bill, white. 
The proper position of this genus has always heen a matter of much uncertainty, but I see 
no reason why it may not legitimately be assigned to the Sylvicolinae, possessing, as it does, so 
many of their characteristics. The bill is stouter and more curved than in the rest, but the 
other characters agree very well. It cannot properly be placed with the vireos and shrikes on 
account of the absence of a spurious primary, as well as of a notch in either mandible. 
The two species are best distinguished by the relative length of the tail. 
Comparative measurements of species. 
Catal. 
No. 
£602 
5520 
Species. 
Locality. 
Sex. 
Length. 
Stretch 
of wings. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Tarsus. 
Middle 
toe. 
Its claw 
alone. 
Kill 
Along 
gape. 
Specimens mea- 
sured. 
Icteria longicauda*. .. 
— 
8.00 
7.04 
7.50 
6.90 
6.75 
6.70 
7.41 
6.20 
7. 00 
3.14 
3.14 
3.16 
3.10 
3.25 
3.02 
3.25 
2.93 
3.00 
3.92 
3.80 
1.00 
1.04 
0.80 
0.86 
0.21 
0.20 
0.58 
0.60 
0.74 
0.72 
<j 
do. 
3978 
do. 
2260 
do. 
2312 
do. 
9.16 
9.75 
3 
3.70 
1.00 
0.84 
0.24 
0.80 
8 
3 28 
1.02 
0.80 
0.22 
0.60 
0.76 
10 00 
9.51) 
9 
3.16 
1.00 
0.84 
0.21 
0.58 
0.68 
Dry 
Fresh 
* Tue original of Mr. Lawrence's Icteria longicauda. 
ICTERIA VIRIDIS, Bonap. 
Yellow Breasted Chat. 
Muscicapa viridis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 936. 
Icteria viridis, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1826, No. 163.— Ib. List, 1838.— Ib. Consp. 1850, 331.— Nuttall, Man. I, 
1832, 299.— Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 223 : V, 433 ; pi. 137.— Ib. Syn. 1839, 163.— Ib. Birds Am. 
Icteria dumecola, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 85 ; pi. lv. 
Pipra polyglotta, Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 90. 
" Tanagra olivacea, Desmarest, Tangaras, (c5\ not the Q or O.)" 
" Jtmpelis lutcus, Sparrmann, Mus. Carls, tab. lxx," (Bonap.) 
? Icteria velasquezii, Bonap. Pr. Zool. Soc. 1837, 117.— Ib. Consp. 1850, 331. 
Merula viridis carolinensis, Brisson, II, 1760, 315. 
Yellow breasted chat, Catesbt, Carol. I, 1730, tab. 1. 
Chattering flycatcher, Pennant, II, 388.— Latham, Syn. II, i, 360. 
Sp. Ch. — Third and fourth quills longest ; second and fifth little shorter ; first nearly equal to the sixth. Tail graduated. 
Upper parts uniform olive green ; under parts, including the inside of wing, gamboge yellow as far as nearly half way from the 
point of the bill to the tip of the tail ; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on the sides ; the outer side of the tibia 
plumbeous ; a s.ight tingo of orange across the breast. Forehead and sides of the head ash, the lores and region below the eye 
blackish. A white stripe from the nostrils over the eye and involving the upper eyelid; a patch on the lower lid, and a short 
stripe from the side of the lower mandible, and running to a point opposite the hinder border of the eye, white. Bill black ; 
feet brown. Female like the male, but smaller ; the markings indistinct ; the lower mandible not pure black. Length, 7.40 ; 
wing, 3.25 ; tail, 3.30. 
Hah. — Eastern United States to the Missouri, south to Guatemala. 
