248 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
Section Icterieae. 
1CTERIA, Yieillot. 
Icteria, Yieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1790, iii and 85. 
Bill shorter than the head ; broad at the base, but rapidly becoming compressed or much higher than broad, with tho ridge 
elevated and sharp from the very base of the bill; the upper outline much curved throughout ; the commissure less curved but 
strongly concave ; the gonys nearly straight, the upper edge of the lower jaw as convex as the commissure is concave. No 
notch in the bill and the rictal bristles small. Tarsi longer than the toes, without scutellae, except faint indications on tho 
inner side. Lateral toes about equal; shorter than the hinder. Wings about equal to the tail, rounded ; the first quill longer 
than the secondaries. Tail graduated ; above olive; beneath yellow. Abdomen, eyelids, maxillary patch, and line to tho 
bill, white. 
The proper position of this genus has always been a matter of much uncertainty, hut I see 
no reason why it may not legitimately he assigned to the Sylvicolinae, possessing, as it does, so 
many of their characteristics. The hill is stouter and more curved than in the rest, hut the 
other characters agree very well. It cannot properly he placed with the vireos and shrikes on 
account of the absence of a spurious primary, as well as of a notch in either mandible. 
The two species are best distinguished by the relative length of the tail. 
Comparative measurements of species. 
Catal. 
No. 
Species. 
Locality. 
Sex. 
Length. 
Stretcli 
of wings. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Tarsus. 
Mid Ole 
toe. 
Its claw 
alone. 
Bill 
above 
Along 
gape. 
Specimens mea¬ 
sured. 
£602 
8.00 
3.14 
3.92 
1.00 
0.80 
0.21 
0.58 
0.74 
llry. 
5520 
3 
7.04 
3.14 
3.80 
1.04 
0 86 
0.20 
0.60 
0.72 
do. 
7.50 
9 16 
3.16 
3978 
s 
6.90 
3.10 
3.70 
1.00 
0.84 
0.24 
0.60 
0.80 
Dry. 
6.75 
9.75 
3 25 
2260 
$ 
6.70 
3.02 
3 28 
1.02 
0.80 
0.22 
0.60 
0.76 
Dry. 
7.41 
10 00 
3.25 
Fresh.. 
2312 
.do. 
o 
6.20 
2.93 
3.16 
1 00 
0.84 
0.21 
0.58 
0.68 
Dry.. 
7.00 
9.50 
3.00 
* The original of Mr. Lawrence’s Icteria longicauda. 
ICTERIA VIRIDIS, Bo nap. 
Yellow Breasted Chat. 
Muscicapa viridis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 936. 
Icteria viridis, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1826, No. 163.—Iu. List, 1838.— Ib. Consp. 1850,331.— Nuttall, Man. I, 
1832, 299.— Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 223 : Y, 433 ; pi. 137.— Ib. Syn. 1839, 163.— Ib. Birds Am. 
Icteria dumecola, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 85 ; pi. Iv. 
Pipra polyglotta, Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808,90. 
“ Tanagra olivacea, Desmarest, Tangaras, (3 , not the O or O.)” 
“ JImpelis luteus, Sparrmann, Mus. Carls, tab. lxx,” (Bonap.) 
? Icteria velasquezii, Bonap. Pr. Zool. Soc. 1837, 117 .—Ib. Consp. 1850, 331. 
J)Ierula viridis carolinensis, Brisson, II, 1760, 315. 
Yelloiv breasted chut, Catesbv, Carol. I, 1730, lab. 1. 
Chattering flycatcher, Pennant, II, 388.— Latiiam, Syn. II, i, 360. 
Sp. Ch. —Third and fourth quills longest ; second and fifth little shorter ; first nearly equal to the sixth. Tail graduated. 
Upper parts uniform olive green ; under parts, including the inside of wing, gamboge yellow as far as nearly half way from the 
point of the bill to the tip of the tail ; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on the sides ; the outer side of the tibia 
plumbeous ; a slight tinge of orange across the breast. Forehead and sides of the head ash, the lores and region below the eye 
blackish. A white stripe from the nostrils over the eye and involving the upper eyelid; a patch on the lower lid, and a short 
stripe from the side of the lower mandible, and running to a point opposite the hinder border of the eye, white. Bill black ; 
feet brown. Female like the male, but smaller ; the markings indistinct; the lower mandible not pure black. Length, 7.40 ; 
wing, 3.25 ; tail, 3.30. 
Hah. —Eastern United States to the Missouri, south to Guatemala. 
