BIRDS — ICTERIDAE MOLOTHRUS. 
523 
This well known bird varies considerably in color, with differences in the maturity of plumage. 
Sometimes the black feathers generally have yellowish margins both above and below. The 
bill is generally bluish black, but in the specimens from Florida the lower mandible is white. 
The male maintains the black plumage for a comparatively short time. Shortly after mid- 
summer the female dress is assumed and kept until the ensuing spring. 
List of specimens. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
When col- 
lected. 
Whence obtained. 
Orig. 
No. 
Collected by- 
Length. 
Stretch 
ofwings. 
Wing. 
Remarks. 
3 
3 
3 
2 
3 
3 
2 
9 
3 
May 8,1841 
.May 17,1813 
May 15,184-1 
Sept. 8,1843 
May 9,1857 
13.41 
12.00 
12.25 
11.00 
12.00 
12.00 
10.50 
10.50 
3.91 
3.91 
3.83 
3.41 
4.00 
4.00 
3.50 
3.50 
......do 
7.25 
7.33 
6.58 
7.50 
7.08 
7.50 
7.50 
Spring 
June 25,1856 
7.12 
12.12 
3.75 
3 
3 
Loup fork of Platte 
July 11 
7.00 
7.25 
7.25 
12.00 
13.00 
12.00 
4.00 
3.75 
4.00 
50 miles E of Ft.Laramie 
Aug. 20 
Wm. M. Magraw .. 
163 
MOLOTHRUS, Swain son. 
Molothrus, Swainson, F. Bor. Am. II, 1831,277; supposed by Cabanis to be meant for Molobrus. Type Fringilla 
pecoris, GrM . 
Ch. — Bill short, stout, about two-thirds the length of head ; the commissure straight, culmen and gonys slightly curved, convex, 
the former broad, rounded, convex, and running back on the head in a point. Lateral toes nearly equal, reaching the base 
of the middle one, which is shorter than tarsus ; claws rather small. Tail nearly even ; wings long, pointed, the first quilj 
longest . 
The genus Molothrus has the bill intermediate between Dolichonyx and Agelaius. It has the 
culmen unusually broad between the nostrils, and it extends back some distance into the fore- 
head. The difference in the structure of the feet from Dolichonyx is very great. 
The genus Molothrus resembles some of the Fringillidae more than any other of the Icteridae. 
The bill is, however, more straight, the tip without notch ; the culmen running back further 
on the forehead, the nostrils being situated fully one-third or more of the total length from its 
posterior extremity. This is seldom the case in the American families. The entire absence of 
notch in the bill and of bristles along the rictus are strong features. The nostrils are perfectly 
free from any overhanging feathers or bristles. The pointed wings, with the first quill longest, 
and the tail with its broad rounded feathers, shorter than the wings, are a dditional features to 
be specially noted. 
Of several species of the genus found in the New World, but one belongs to the United States. 
This, the well known cow bird, never incubates, but deposits its eggs in the nests of others, 
usually smaller birds, to be hatched out by them, as is done also by the European cuckoo. One 
at least of the South American species is known to possess the same habit, and it is probably 
the same with all of them. 
The measurements of M, pecoris will be found with Dolichonyx. 
