WESTERN BIRDS 0"oie 



rather musical, song. He was in my garden for some 

 days and was evidently trying to impress a somber fe- 

 male. A common call note is a rather musical peet, peet, 

 which strongly reminds one that this gorgeous creature 

 belongs to the same family as the Blackbird, a fact we 

 surely might forget were it not for this reminder. 



The eastern bird that most nearly resembles the 

 Hooded is the Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). It 

 would hardly seem necessary to mention this bird in a 

 western book but this last year (1920) these birds have 

 been reported as nesting near Whittier, and Elizabeth 

 Lake, California. I have not seen them myself but hope 

 the report is true and in this year of wonderful changes 

 in the bird world, it seems not unlikely. 



The male Orchard is slightly shorter than the Hooded 

 and quite different in coloring. The male has black 

 head, neck, foreback, tail and wings, the latter having 

 brown and white markings. The rest of body is a bright 

 chestnut, or as I remember it, brick-red in hue. The 

 female resembles that of the western bird, being yellow 

 below and olive above, with darker wings that have two 

 light bars. The second year male, also, resembles his 

 western cousin, having the deep round throat patch of 

 black. 



GENUS ICTERUS: BULLOCK'S 

 ORIOLE. 



Bullock's Oriole: Icterus bullocki. 



FAMILY— BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



This gorgeous bird is the western representative of 

 the Baltimore Oriole which is not found in this State. 

 In shape and size the birds are similar but the western 

 bird has more of the orange color. Instead of the black 



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