Bill rather short, very stout, moderately compressed, conical; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, a little convex at the base, and very slightly deflected at the end, its ridge rather broad, indistinct, sides rounded, edges direct, overlapping, tip rather acute; lower mandible with the angle of moderate length, very broad, dorsal outline ascending, slightly convex at the base, sides erect and convex, tip acute; gape-line ascending for a fourth of its length, then direct. Nostrils small, elliptical, operculate. Plumage blended, but firm, with little gloss. Wings rather long, pointed, the first quill longest. Tail of moderate length, the feathers narrow and acuminate. Toes large; claws very long, little arched, slender, tapering to a fine point. 211. 1. Dolichonyx oryzivora, Linn. Wandering Rice-bird.--Bob-o-link. Maybird. Ortolan. Plate LIV. Male and Female. Male with the head, cheeks, lower parts, wings, and tail, black; a band of brownish-yellow across the hind neck; the back anteriorly black, the feathers with yellowish edges, posteriorly light grey, passing into white, of which colour are the scapulars. Female with the upper parts light yellowish-brown, longitudinally streaked with blackish-brown; the lower parts light greyish-yellow, the sides streaked with dusky. In autumn, the males assume the plumage of the female. _Male_, 7, 11. Passes from Texas eastward and northward. Breeds from the Middle Districts northward. Extremely abundant. Migratory. Rice-Bunting, Emberiza oryzivora, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. ii. p. 48. Icterus agripennis, Bonap. Syn. p. 53. Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Sharp-Tailed Rice-Bird, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 278. Rice-Bird, or Bob-o-link, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 185. Rice-Bird, Icterus agripennis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 283; v. v. p. 486. GENUS II. MOLOTHRUS, Swains. COW-BIRD. Bill rather short, very stout, moderately compressed, conical; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly convex, its ridge flattened for half its length, afterwards narrow, sides convex, edges direct, tip rather acute; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the dorsal outline ascending, straight, sides erect and convex, edges involute, tip acute; gape-line gently ascending for a third of its length, afterwards direct. Nostrils small, elliptical. Plumage blended, glossy. Wings rather long, pointed, the second quill longest, the first almost equal. Tail of moderate length, the feathers broad and rounded. 212. 1. Molothrus pecoris, Gmel. Common Cow-bird. Plate XCIX. Male and Female. Plate CCCCXXIV. Fig. 4. Young.