lOTBRID^ — THE ORIOLES. 



223 



Adult female,. Smaller. Upper parte dark brown, lighter on the head and neck lieliind ; 

 darker and nearly a dull Ijlack on the lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts ; under 

 parts lighter, dull yellowish-brown ; tibias and under tail-coverts darker ; wings and tail 

 dull brownish-black ; upper parts frequently with a slight greenish lustre. Total length, 

 about 12.50; wing, 5.50 to 6.00 ; tail, 5.50. (Oassin.) 



IIab. Coast region of South Atlantic and Gulf States of North America. Galveston 

 and Houston, Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 494). 



Habits. The Boat-tailed Cirakle, or Jackdaw, of the Southern States, is 

 found iu all the maritime portions of tlie States that border both on the 

 Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, from North Carolina to Rio Grande. In 

 Western Texas it does not seem to be abundant. Lieutenant Couch met 

 with only a single specimen at Brownsville, in company with Q. macrurus. 

 Mr. Dresser, when at Houston and at Galveston in l\Iay and June, 18G4, no- 

 ticed several of these birds. Mr. Salvin mentions finding them as far south 

 as the Keys of the Belize coast. 



"VVe learn from the observations of Mr. Audubon that this species is more 

 particularly attached to the maritime portions of the country. It rarely 

 goes farther inland than forty or fifty miles, following the marshy banks of 

 the larger streams. It occurs in great abundance in the lower portions of 

 Louisiana, though not found so high up the ISIississippi as Natchez. It also 

 abounds iu the Sea Islands on the coast of the Carolinas, and in the low- 

 lands of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 



Dr. Coues states that this species hardlj' occurs in any abundance north of 

 the Carolinas, and that it is restricted to a narrow belt along the coast of the 

 ocean and gidf, from North Carolina throughotit our entire shore to Mexico. 

 He supposed it to stop there, and to be replaced by tlie macrurus. Though 

 the larger proportion of these birds pass beyond our southern boundaries to 

 spend the winter, a lew, chiefly old males, are resident in North Carolina 

 throughout the year. In the sjjring the females are the first to appear. Just 

 before the mating has taken place, the flocks of these birds are said to exe- 

 cute sudden and unaccountable evolutions, as if guided by some single com- 

 manding spirit ; now hovering uncertain, then dashing impulsive, now veering 

 in an instant, and at last taking a long, steady flight towards some distant 

 point. During this ]>eriod, Dr. Coues further informs us, their voices crack, 

 and they utter a curious medley of notes from bass to falsetto, a jingling, 

 unnmsical jargon that is indescribable. 



The laying-season is said to be at its height during the latter part of 

 April. He found in no instance more than six eggs in a nest, nor less 

 than three. He thinks that they have two, and perhaps three, broods in 

 a season, as he found it not uncommon to meet with newly fledged birds 

 in September. 



These birds are eminently gregarious at all seasons of the year, and at 

 certain seasons assemble in large flocks. They are omnivorous, eating both 

 insects and grain, and are alternately benefactors and plunderers of the 



