BIRDS — SYLVICOLIDAE ICTERIA LONGICAUDA. 
249 
The graduation of the tail in this species amounts to about .40 of an inch or less. There is the 
faintest possible trace of a whitish tip to the inner webs of the lateral tail feathers. 
The female is smaller than the male, the markings less distinct, and the under mandible, 
instead of being entirely bluish black, is brownish white, the edges darker. A specimen from 
Guatemala agrees exactly with females from the Atlantic States, except in having the lower 
mandible rather purer white than in those before me, but the difference is not very great. 
This character of bill corresponds with that of Icteria velasquezii of Bonaparte, but as the long 
tailed western species or race has the bill light colored also in the female and young, it is 
difficult to say to which Bonaparte's species should be referred. It is possible that Guatemala 
winter specimens belong to J. viridis, and Mexican summer ones to J. longicauda. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
No. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
When col- 
lected. 
Whence obtained. 
Orig. 
No. 
Collected by— 
Length. 
Stretch 
of wings 
Wing. 
Remarks. 
2311 
2260 
2292 
2312 
7578 
7535 
6997 
3 
May 23, 1845 
May 14, 1845 
May 20, 1845 
7.33 
7.41 
7.08 
7.00 
10.00 
10.00 
9.60 
9.50 
3.08 
3.25 
3.00 
3.00 
$ 
9 
May 23, 1845 
May 17, 1855 
May 11,1855 
3 
May — , 1857 
Jan. 29, 1857 
May 28, 1857 
June 14, 1355 
Lieut. Bryan 
Win. M. Magraw . . 
107 
8397 
5647 
5648 
8195 
7954 
3 
Independence, Mo 
Dr. Cooper 
7.20 
9.00 
3.00 
Iris brown, feet lead 
3 
3 
9 
9 
.0 
34 
131 
Nemaha river, K. T. . . . 
June 20, 1856 
do 
July 16, 1857 
Wm. M. Mag.aw. . . 
Dr. Cooper .... 
7.00 
9.00 
2.i5 
Iris brown, bill black and 
ICTERIA LONGICAUDA, Lawrence. 
Long-tailed Chat. 
Icteria longicauda, Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, Ap. 1853, 4. 
"Helena auricollis, (Licht. Mus. Ber.) Bonap. Consp. 1850, 331. 
Sp. Ch.— Similar to J. viridis. Fourth quill longest ; third and fifth shorter ; first shorter than the seventh. Above ash 
color, tinged with olive on the back and neck ; the outer surface of the wings and tail olive . The under parts as far as the 
middle of the belly bright gamboge yellow, wiih a tinge of orange ; the remaining portions white. The superciliary and 
maxillary white stripes extend some distance behind the eye. Outer edge of the first primary white. Length, 7 inches ; wing, 
3.20 ; tail, 3.70. 
Hah.— High central plains of the United States to the Pacific ; south into Mexico. 
This Icteria appears to differ in some appreciable points from the common species of the 
United States. The upper parts are less olivaceous, the forehead and even the crown decided 
ash color, instead of olive. The white marks on the head are more extended, the superciliary 
stripe broader and extending a quarter of an inch behind the eye. The maxillary white stripe 
is broader, and reaches back to a distance equal to the length of the lower mandible, instead of 
little more than half as far. The outer edge of the first primary is pure white instead of 
olivaceous. The yellow of the breast is more orange. The proportions of the quills are 
different, in having the fourth quill longest, the first shorter than the seventh. The tail also 
is nearly half an inch longer. 
This description, based on No. 3978, from New Leon, agrees in the main with nearly all the 
32 b 
