CASSIQUES AND HANGNESTS. 
357 
Cassiques The first subfamily ( Cassicince ) is represented by several closely 
allied genera, among which the crested cassique ( Ostinops decumanus) 
of South America, and the yellow cassique ( Cassicus persicus), which is likewise 
South American, are well-known species. It will be unnecessary here to mention 
the characters by which these genera are severally distinguished from one 
another; and it will suffice to say that the subfamily to which these belong 
is characterised by the naked exposed nostrils, and the presence of a shield on 
the forehead at the base of the beak. The crested cassique is characterised by the 
small crest from which it takes its name; and while the general colour of 
the upper-parts is deep black, with the feathers of the mantle and shoulders 
shaded with brown, and the upper and lower tail-coverts chestnut, the five 
outermost pairs of tail-feathers are a brilliant citron-yellow. The elongated form 
of the nest characterising the crested cassique is sufficiently indicated in our 
illustration. 
The True The true hangnests, as represented by a large number of species 
Hangnests. ranging from North and Central America to Southern Brazil and 
Bolivia, constitute (together with an allied genus containing one species) a second 
subfamily ( Icterince ) in which the nostrils are more or less covered by a membrane, 
while the culmen of the beak is more or less incurved, and there is no shield on 
the forehead; the metatarsus being short, the feet adapted for perching, and the 
tail rounded. As a rule, the plumage is bright orange and yellow, relieved with 
black and white; the sexes being in some cases similar, and in others very 
dissimilar. Unlike the members of the preceding subfamily, these hangnests are 
thoroughly arboreal in their habits, and while the majority construct pendant 
nests like those of the cassiques, others appear to build open cup-shaped nests. 
The eggs are bluish or pinkish white, profusely spotted with purple and red. 
The best known species is the Baltimore hangnest (. Icterus galbula), frequently 
termed the Baltimore oriole, of the United States. These birds build in large 
companies, the males generally arriving first at the breeding-places, where they 
are soon joined by their partners. The nest is wider and less elongated than 
that of the crested cassique. On a single tree sometimes as many as forty nests 
may be observed; and during November they will be found to contain both eggs 
and young birds. All the numerous species of the genus Icterus are good 
songsters, the notes of the Baltimore hangnest being especially melodious. 
Belonging to another subfamily ( Agelceince ) differing from the last 
by the straight culmen of the beak and the elongated metatarsus, this 
genus, as typified by the common rice-bird or bobolink ( Dolichonyx oryzivorus), is 
characterised by the short and conical beak, the long and pointed wings, the rigid 
acuminate feathers of the tail, and the stout and long-clawed feet. An inhabitant of 
North America, where it is especially common in the States, this well-known bird 
winters in Central America and the West Indies, returning northwards in vast flocks 
along the Atlantic coast in spring, when the males are in nearly full breeding-plumage, 
and are thus very conspicuous as they flock to the meadows and orchards. “ Their 
number,” says Dr. Coues, “ seems out of all proportion to that of the females, but 
this is probably due to the silent and more retiring ways of the latter sex. They 
really pass through, in the vernal migration, quite rapidly, though they do not 
Rice-Birds. 
