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In wandering about, many features reminded me of the seashore. Flocks of white gulls were flying overhead, uttering their well- known cry, and sandpipers coursed along the edge of the water. Amongst the willow bushes were flocks of a handsome bird belonging to the Icteridae or troupial family, adorned with a rich plumage of black and saffron-yellow.
They were said to be relatives of ours, but I do not think they were closer than seventh or eighth cousins, which is so distant that it doesn't count especially if one doesn't want it to. All I know is that their family name was the same as ours, Icteridae, and means something or other, I forget what.
Olive was driving, for she loved the old white horses. Rap, Nat, and Dodo sat in the middle seat, and the Doctor behind. "Please, Doctor, what is the name of the Bird family we are going to visit?" asked Rap. "The family of the Blackbirds and Orioles; but it has a Latin name, Icteridae, when it walks in the procession." "Listen! listen!" cried Dodo.
The cowbird belongs to the family of birds scientifically known as Icteridae, which includes such familiar species as the bobolinks, orioles, meadowlarks, and the various kinds of blackbirds, none of which, I am glad to say, are parasites. The name Molothrus has been given to the genus that includes the cowbirds.
They are confined to the American continent, having no analogues in the lands across the seas. The same may be said, indeed, of the whole Icteridae family. Of these twelve species only three are to be found within the limits of the United States, one is a resident of western Mexico and certain parts of Central America, while the rest find habitat exclusively in South America.
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