AMPELIN^. 
163 
GENUS I. ICTERIA. Vieill. CHAT. 
Bill of moderate length, stout, slightly arched, broad at 
the base, compressed toward the end ; upper mandible with 
the sides convex, the edges sharp, destitute of notch, the tip 
acute and a little decimate ; lower mandible with the dorsal 
line nearly straight, the edge-line slightly arched and in- 
flected. Nostrils roundish, half covered by a vaulted mem- 
brane. General form rather robust ; head ovate, neck short, 
body moderate. Legs of moderate length, slender ; tarsus 
compressed, anteriorly covered with eight scutella, of which 
the upper are blended ; two lateral toes nearly equal, the hind 
one not much stouter. Claws moderate, arch much compres- 
sed, laterally grooved, very acute. Plumage soft and blend- 
ed. Bristles very small. Wings of moderate length, round- 
ed, third and fourth primaries longest, second little shorter, 
first longer than sixth. Tail rather long, rounded. 
244. Icteria viridis, Gmel. Yellow-breasted Chat. 
Plate CXXXVII. Male and Female. 
Upper parts deep olive-green ; fore part of neck and breast bright 
yellow ; abdomen and lower tail-coverts white ; eyelids, a band over 
the eye, and a shorter one from the base of lower mandible, white ; 
loral space black. 
Male, 7, 9. 
From Texas to Connecticut. Inland as far as Kentucky. Abundant. 
Migratory. 
Yellow-breasted Chat, Pipra polyglotta, WiLs. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 90. 
Icteria viridis, Bonap. Syn. p. 69. 
Yellow-breasted Chat, Icteria viridis, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 299. 
Yellow-breasted Chat, Icteria viridis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 223 ; v. v. p. 433. 
FAMILY XXIL AMPELIN^. CHATTERERS. 
Bill short, depressed, rather weak, triangular when 
viewed from above, compressed at the end, its upper out- 
line arched, the gape-line nearly straight, the notches very 
small, the tip very small and decimate. Nostrils elliptical. 
