448 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



It is very desirable that someone should search for the Meadowlark 

 in the western part of our Upper Peninsula, and if colonies can be found, 

 should study them carefully and publish the results. At present we do 

 not know that either species occurs in this territory, yet from the fact that 

 the western form is not uncommon in northern Wisconsin it seems likely 

 that it may frequently enter adjoining Michigan territory. 



The nesting habits and eggs are entirely similar in the two species, 

 but the eggs of the western form average slightly larger and rather more 

 sparsely marked. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult male: Upper jiarts mainly dark brown, streaked, spotted and barred with 

 grayish, thus giving a lighter and grayer tone to the plumage; tertiaries and middle tail- 

 feathers distinctly barred with black and grayish, the latter color reaching the shaft, not 

 merely indenting or scalloping the black as it does in the eastern Meadowlark; under parts 

 similar to those of the eastern form, but the yellow somewhat paler, and that of the throat 

 extending laterally more or less over the malar region; flanks and under tail-coverts nearly 

 white — not buffy. The sexual and seasonal differences are parallel with those of the 

 common form. 



Male: Wing 4.85 to 5.30 inches; culmen 1.20 to 1.36. Female: Wing 4.30 to 4.60 

 inches; culmen 1.10 to 1.22. 



202. Orchard Oriole. Icterus spurius {Linn.). (506) 



Synonyms: — Brown Oriole, Basket-bird. — Oriolus spurius, Linn. 1766. — Oriolus mutatus, 

 Wilson, 1808.^ — Pendulinus spurius, Cassin. — Icterus spurius of most authors. 



Adult male mostly deep black, the breast and belly rich chestnut brown; 

 no pure white anywhere. Female yellowish olive above and olive-yellow 

 below, with two white wing-bars. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States, north to the southern portions of 

 New England, New York, Ontario, Michigan and North Dakota, west 

 to the Plains, south in winter to northern Colombia. Breeds throughout 

 its United States range. 



In Michigan the Orchard Oriole is a resident from May to September 

 in most of the southern half of the state. ■ It seems to be a fairly common 

 bird in suitable localities as far north as Grand Rapids and Port Huron, 

 or about to the parallel of 43°; farther north than this it is decidedly 

 uncommon and probably the Saginaw-Grand Valley forms the northern 

 limit of its distribution. Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay City records a single 

 specimen from Kawkawlin, in Bay County about ten miles north of Bay 

 Cit5% the only record for the county. At Goodrich, in the southeastern 

 part of Genesee county, Mr. Samuel Spicer reports it common and nesting. 



This oriole arrives from the south at about the time the apple blossoms 

 open, the dates ranging from May 6 or 7 at Petersburg and Ann Arbor to May 

 19 or 20 at Lansing and Grand Rapids. It is everywhere much less com- 

 mon than the Baltimore Oriole, but shows decided preferences for some 

 localities. Thus, about Lansing an entire season may pass without the 

 record of a single Orchard Oriole and it is never common, while along the 

 western shore of Lake St. Clair and St. Clair River, in INIacomb and St. Clair 

 counties, Swales and Taverner call it a fairly abundant summer resident. 



Its song, according to Bendire, is quick, hurried and impossible to de- 

 scribe, but reminds one somewhat of the Warbling Vireo, but is louder and 

 clearer. In Michigan the song always seems to have a pecuhar wiry, 

 metallic twang which suggests the inti'Oductory notes of the Bobolink's 



