ICTERUS, a genus of birds belonging to the family, Icteridae intermediate between the finches (q.v.) and starlings (q.v.) ; many of them are called troup ials ; others are known as the American grackles (q.v.). One of the best-known species is Icterus spurius, the orchard oriole, an inhabitant of nor t he r n South and Central America and the United States. Very many species exist in the Neo tropical region, though a few migrate northward in summer. They are nearly all gregarious, many of them with loud and melodious notes, rendering them favourites in captivity. Some have a plumage wholly black, others are richly clad ; the well-known Baltimore or i o 1 e, golden robin or hangnest of the United States, Icterus gal bula, has plumage of brightly contrasted black and orange, the tinctures of the armorial bearing of Lord Baltimore, the original grantee of Maryland.
The most divergent form of Icteridae seems to be that known in the United States as the meadow-lark, Sturnella magna, while the bobolink or rice-bird (q.v.) with its bunting-like bill, is not much less aberrant.