KjmmmmmHmum 
72 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 
Genus XANTHOCEPHALUS, Bonap. (Page 70.) 
X. icterocephalus. Black, including the inner surface of wings and axillaries, base 
of lower mandible all round, feathers adjacent to nostrils, lores, upper eyelids, and re- 
maining space around the eye. The head and neck all round, the forepart of the breast, 
extending some distance down on the median line, and a somewhat hidden space round 
the anus, yellow. A conspicuous white patch at the base of the wing formed by the 
spurious feathers, interrupted by the black alula. Female smaller, browner ; the yellow 
confined to the under parts and sides of the head, and a superciliary line. A dusky 
maxillary line. No white on the wing. Length of male, 10.00 ; wing, 5.60 ; tail, 4.50. 
Nest as in Agelaius. Eggs greenish- white, well covered with blotches and? dots of drab 
and brown. Sab. From Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Red River, to California, 
south into Mexico ; straggles into Atlantic Province. ( Yellow-headed Blackbird.) 
Genus STURNELLA, Yieillot. (Page 70.) 
B. magna. Above brownish, or grayish, spotted and barred with black ; 
crown divided by a median whitish stripe ; side of the head whitish, with a 
blackish streak along upper edge of the auriculars. Beneath more or less 
yellowish, with a more or less distinct dusky crescent on the jugulum. Sides, 
flanks, and crissum whitish, streaked with dusky ; lateral tail-feathers partly 
white. Adult. Supraloral spot, chin, throat, breast, and abdomen deep gamboge- 
yellow ; pectoral crescent deep black. Young. The yellow only indicated ; 
pectoral crescent obsolete. Length, about 9.00 to 10.50 inches. Sexes similar 
in color, but female much smaller. Nest on ground, usually domed. Eggs wlu$e, 
with reddish blotches, generally distributed equally. Mottling finest in var. 
neglect a. (. Meadow Lark.) 
a. In spring birds, the lateral stripes of the vertex either continuous black, .j 
or with black largely predominating ; the black spots on the back extending 
to the tip of the feather, or, if not, the brown tip not barred (except in 
winter dress). Yellow of the throat confined between the maxillae, or 
just barely encroaching upon their lower edge. White of sides, flanks, and 
crissum strongly tinged with ochraceous. Fab. Eastern United States. 
var. magna. 
b. In spring birds, crown about equally streaked with black and grayish ; 
black spots of back occupying only basal half of feathers, the terminal 
portion being grayish-brown, with narrow bars of black j feathers of the 
rump with whole exposed portion thus barred. Yellow of the throat 
extending over the maxillae nearly to the angle of the mouth. Fab. West- 
ern United States and Western Mexico var. neglecia. 
Subfamily ICTERINiE. (Page 70.) 
4 
Genus ICTERUS, Auct. (Page 70.) 
Nest generally more or less pensile, and purse-shaped ; entrance sometimes at the side. 
Eggs varying with the species ; but whitish, with spots in straight or zigzag lines (some- 
times hair lines) of dark brown or black. 
ICTERUS. Head all round deep black, sharply defined against the yellow 
of the nape j wings black, with or without white markings. Body generally, 
including lesser wing-coverts,* deep greenish-yellow (intense orange-red in some 
South American species). 
