ICTERIDJE — THE ORIOLES. 
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tail, 3.15. Flab. Eastern United States ; north to Selkirk Settlement, and Ottawa, Can- 
ada; west to Ruby Valley, Nevada; south to West Indies, Brazil, Paraguay, and Ga- 
lapagos Island, in winter. {Reed-Bird ; Rice-Bird ; Bobolink.') 
Genus MOLOTHRUS, Swainson. (Page 70.) 
M. pecoris. Male with the head, neck, and anterior half of the breast, light chocolate- 
brown, rather lighter above ; rest of body lustrous black, with a violet-purple gloss next 
to the brown, of steel-blue on the back, and of green elsewhere. Female light olivaceous- 
brown all over, lighter on the head and beneath. Bill and feet black. Length, 8.00 ; 
wing, 4.42; tail, 3.40. Southern-born specimen much smaller. Eggs white, usually 
covered with fine dottings, sometimes blotches, of ashy and brown ; always laid in nests 
of other birds. Hob. . United States, from the Atlantic to California ; not found immedi- 
ately on the coast of the Pacific ? South into Mexico. {Cow Blackbird.) 
Genus AGELAIUS, Vieill. (Page 70.) 
Common Characters. Males glossy black without distinct bluish lustre, lesser 
wing-coverts bright red. Females without any red, and either wholly black or 
variegated with light streaks, most conspicuous below. Nest usually in low 
bushes or reeds in wet places. Eggs bluish or bluish-white, variously blotched 
or streaked with purple and black, generally at the larger end. 
1. A. phceniceus. Tail rounded. Red of shoulders a bright' scarlet tint. 
Black of plumage without bluish lustre. Females with wing-coverts edged 
with brownish, or without any light edgings at all. 
a. Female continuous deep black, unvariegated. 
Middle wing-coverts tuholly buff in male. 
Wing, 4.04 ; tail, 3.80 ; culmen, .95 ; tarsus, 1.00. Hab. Cuba. 
var. assimilis . 
b. Females striped beneath. 
Wing, 4.90 ; tail, 3.85 ; culmen, .96 ; tarsus, 1.10. Female. 
White stripes on lower parts exceeding the dusky ones in width ; 
a conspicuous lighter superciliary stripe, and one strongly indicated 
on middle of the crown. Hab. Whole of North America, south 
to Guatemala. {Red-winged Blackbird.) . . . var. phceniceus. 
Middle wing-coverts black , except at base. 
Wing, 5.00; tail, 3.90; culmen, .90 ; tarsus, 1.10. Female. White 
stripes on lower parts narrower than dusky ones ; the posterior 
portion beneath being almost continuously dusky. No trace of 
median stripe on crown, and the superciliary one indistinct. Hab. 
Pacific Province of United States, south through Western Mexico. 
{Red and black shouldered Blackbird.) . . . var. gubernator . 
Middle wing-coverts wholly white in male. 
2. A. tricolor. Tail square. Red of the shoulders a brownish-scarlet, or 
burnt-carmine* tint. Black of the plumage, (both sexes, at all ages) with a 
silky bluish lustre. Female with wing-coverts edged with pure white. 
Wing, 4.90 ; tail, 3.70 ; culmen, .97 ; tarsus, 1.13. Female. Like 
that of gubernator , but with scarcely any brownish tinge to the plum- 
age, and the lesser wing-coverts sharply bordered with pure white. 
Hab. California (only ?). {Red and white shouldered Blackbird.) 
