A Synopsis of the Birds of North America

by John James Audubon

Third quill longest, fourth scarcely shorter, second and sixth equal; tail rather long, graduated; bill black, upper parts deep leaden-grey, lower greyish-white, the sides bluish-grey; a streak of whitish over the eye, and margining the forehead; loral space, and a patch behind the eye, black; posterior scapulars almost entirely white; quills and coverts black, secondaries narrowly tipped with white; bases of primaries white, forming a conspicuous patch on the extended wing; tail-feathers black, all except the middle pair white at the end, that colour occupying nearly two-thirds of the outer, and gradually diminishing on the rest. Female with the plumage somewhat darker. Young brownish-white beneath, the breast and sides transversely barred with dark grey.

Male, 8¹/₂, 13.

From Louisiana to Carolina, laterally to the Columbia River, and northward to the Fur Countries. Abundant. Resident in the south. Migratory in the north.

Loggerhead Shrike, Lanius Carolinensis, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iii. p. 57.

Lanius ludovicianus, Bonap. Syn. p. 72.

Lanius Excubitorides, American Grey Shrike, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 115.

Loggerhead Shrike, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 261.

Loggerhead Shrike, Lanius Ludovicianus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 300; v. v. p. 300.

FAMILY XX. VIREONINÆ. GREENLETS.

Bill of moderate length, straight, rather stout, compressed toward the end; gape-line slightly arched, notches distinct, tip very small, declinate. Head rather large, ovate; neck short; body rather slender. Feet of moderate length; tarsus compressed, slender, with seven anterior scutella; toes rather small, hind toe rather stout, lateral equal. Claws moderate, arched, compressed, acute. Plumage soft and blended. Wings of moderate length, rather pointed. Tail of moderate length, even or emarginate. Roof of upper mandible concave, with a median ridge; tongue narrow, flat above, with the point slit; œsophagus of moderate length, without dilatation; stomach, roundish, muscular, with a dense rugous epithelium; intestine short, and rather wide; cœca very small. Trachea simple, with four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles.

GENUS I. VIREO, Vieill. GREENLET.

Bill rather short or of moderate length, rather strong, straight, broader than high at the base, compressed toward the end; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly convex, the ridge narrow, the sides sloping and towards the end somewhat convex, the edges straight, the notches distinct, the tip small, decurved, acute; lower mandible with the angle of moderate length and rather narrow, the dorsal line ascending and rather convex, the sides convex, the edges inclinate, the tip acute and ascending. Nostrils basal, oblong. Head rather large, ovate; neck short; body rather stout. Tarsus rather short, slender, compressed, with seven scutella; toes small, first large, inner considerably shorter than outer, which is adnate at the base. Plumage soft and blended; bristles small. Wings rather long, with the second and third quills longest, the first not much shorter. Tail of moderate length, nearly even.

238. 1. Vireo flavifrons, Vieill. Yellow-throated Greenlet.