Oriole WESTERN BIRDS 



head and neck, Bullock has a patch of black on the top 

 of the head and on the throat and lores, while the fore- 

 head, sides of head, breast, and lower back are a deep 

 orange, the outer tail feathers being yellow. The upper 

 parts of back, center tail feathers and wings are black, 

 the latter having white patches. The female has lemon 

 yellow under parts, the throat having more or less black; 

 the upper parts are olivaceous, becoming browner and 

 somewhat streaked on the back; the rump and tail are 

 yellowish, and wings with two wing bars. The first year 

 birds resemble the female and the second year males are 

 still like her but have the black throat patch and lores. 

 It happens sometimes, therefore, that the nesting male 

 may be one of these immature birds, which the bird 

 student might fail to identify, if unfamiliar with these 

 facts. 



In size and coloring the female resembles the Western 

 Tanager but the dark slender bill of the Oriole will 

 differentiate it from the heavy-billed Tanager. 



This is the only Oriole which ranges the entire length 

 of the Pacific Coast. It also extends to South Dakota, 

 central Nebraska, and western Kansas, wintering south 

 of the United States, and being accidental in New York 

 and Maine. 



The males usually precede the females, appearing in 

 southern California early in March, sometimes earlier. 

 Here they are not so abundant as the Arizona Hooded, 

 nor do they so often nest about the yards, seeming to 

 prefer the sycamore, eucalyptus, and willows along 

 streams. In Washington it uses the willows, cotton- 

 woods, and asps, as well as the cultivated locusts, maples, 

 and Lombardy poplars. 



In the matter of nest-building it resembles its eastern 

 cousin. A nest described by Dawson was composed 

 entirely of vegetable fibers, the frayed inner bark of 

 dead willows being chiefly in evidence, while plant downs 



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