410 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSEBES— OSCINES. 
basal half of the lateral feathers, but only the extreme base of the central pah-. Length 8.00; 
extent 12.00 ; wing 4.00 ; tail 3.40-3.60, moderately rounded, the lateral feathers graduated 
about 0.50; bill 0.90, attenuate and slightly decurved; tarsus 1.00. Young ^ : The black 
parts all overcast with grayish-olive skirting of the feathers, giving the prevailing tone on the 
upper parts, but on the breast the black showing more clearly. The yeUow likewise obscured 
with grayish-olive, especially on the rump. Tail greenish-yellow, the middle feathers black- 
ening. Wings dusky, all the quills and the greater and middle coverts broadly edged and 
tipped with white. 9 resembling the last described ; less white on the wings ; central tail- 
feathers simply fuscous like the ends of the others. Southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona 
and Southern California, near the Mexican border. Not yet well knowTi or found breeding in 
the U. S. Nesting essentially the same as that of other orioles, often in bunches of moss 
or vines hanging in cactuses, quite near the ground; eggs 0.90 X 0.65, whitish, variously 
l)lotched and dotted with purplish and blackish-browns. 
I. melanoce'phalus aud'uboni. (Gr. fxeXas, melas, gen. fieXavos, nielanos, black; KfCpaXrj, 
Jcephale, head. To J. J. Audubon.) Black-headed Oriole. Audubon's Oriole. Adult 
Black and clear yellow. Entire body rich gamboge-yellow, without orange or flame tint, but 
shaded with greenish on back, sides, and upper tail-coverts ; under tail-coverts pure yeUow, 
like the belly. Middle and lesser wing-coverts and lining of wings pure yellow, the former 
with black bases concealed by the yellow tips. Head all around, fore neck and breast, glossy 
jet-black, without any concealed yellow, except at edges of the black on the breast — the black 
there thus ending ragged, different from the clean-cut border of cucuUatus. Wings black, the 
outer webs of the quills white-edged, especially on inner secondaries and outer primaries 
toward their end ; greater coverts with white spot at end of outer web. Tail black, the outer 
feathers more or less edged and tipped with white. Bill and feet plumbeous-blackish, former 
paler at base below. Length 9.25-9.75 ; extent 12.50-13.00; wing 4.00; tail rather more, 
much graduated, the outer feathers 1.00 or more shorter than the middle. Bill stout, straight, 
almost as in Agelmus; culmen fully 1.00. Tarsus 1.10 ; middle toe and claw the same. Adult 9 : 
Quite like the ^ ; not smaller, and little different in color, contrary to the rule in the genus 
and family. Back rather more olivaceous ; wings rather more edged with white ; outer tail- 
feather edged and tipped with whitish. The sexual characters long remained undetermined. 
This fine oriole is little known : it is a large beautiful species, occurring in the U. S. only, as 
far as known, in the Lower Kio Grande valley ; thence southward runnmg into the true Mexican 
melanocephalus. Said to be a magnificent songster, and a favorite cage bird. Nest half- 
pensile, woven of grasses; eggs 0.95-1.00 by 0.67-0.72, white dusted with fine brown specks, 
over which are stains and splashes of dark brown and lilac, with the coarse blackish hieroglyphs 
usual in this genus. 
25. Subfamily QUISCALIN>E: Crow Blackbirds; Crackles. 
Closely resembling 
the Agelceince both in 
structure and in habits, 
these birds are distin- 
guished by the length 
and attenuation of the 
bill, with decidedly 
curved culmen, es- 
pecially towards the 
end, more or less sin- 
FiG. 264. —Foot of a ^isca^Ms (Q. TOacrwrMS, nat. size). (From Baird.) uate commissure and 
strongly inflected tomia. The bill is quite cultrirostral, and the typical Quiscali have a certain 
