452 MICHKiAN BIRD LIFE. 



peckers, Robins, and Blue Jays, while Catbirds and occasionally Bronzed 

 Grackles, take a hand in the work. 



On the other hand, the good work done by the Oriole in the consumption 

 of harmful insects can hardly be overestimated. The examination of 113 

 stomachs in the Division of Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, reveals the fact that more than 83 percent of the food of the year 

 consists of animal matter, almost all of which is insects. Of this material 

 the most important item is caterpillars which form more than 34 percent 

 of the whole. Next come beetles, among which the snapping-beetles, 

 of the family Elateridse, whose larvse are known as wire-worms, seem to 

 be preferred. May-beetles are also eaten greedily and the destructive 

 leaf-beetles (Chrysomelida) usually avoided by birds, seem also to be a 

 favorite food. Weevils are often taken, and wasps, ants and bees are 

 consumed in some numbers. Perhaps the most interesting item in this 

 connection is the fact that the Oriole eats considerable numbers of scale 

 insects (Coccidae) and plant-lice (Aphidse), two of the most destructive 

 families of insects known. These are so minute that it is remarkable the 

 birds should eat them, but any one who has watched the Oriole gleaning 

 among the opening buds of apple trees will realize that a single bird must 

 destroy thousands of plant-lice daily. Forbes found that it ate canker- 

 worms freely in Illinois, and Trimble, in New Jersey, found the wing-covers 

 of the plum-curculio in its stomach. It has been noted also by many 

 different observers that the Baltimore Oriole feeds freel}^ on the apple-tree 

 tent caterpillar, tearing open the silken web in order to reach the young 

 insects and returning again and again to feast upon them. The writer 

 has watched the l)ird thus employed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New 

 York and Michigan. Not a few grasshoppers and locusts are eaten also, 

 but it must be remembered that almost all the Oriole's food is gleaned from 

 trees, and that it seldom searches for food on the ground. On the whole, 

 it is one of our most valuable, as well as most beautiful birds, and the little 

 harm done is more than compensated by the blessings conferred in the 

 destruction of insects. 



"Added to these good qualities, its briUiant plumage, sprightly manners, 

 pleasing song, and skill in nest-building excite our admiration. Let the 

 farmer continue to hold his good opinion of the Oriole and accord to it 

 the protection it so well deserves." (Beal.) 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Bill much stouter than that of Orchard Oriole; conical, acute, slightly if at all dccurved; 

 tail but slightly graduated. 



Adult male: Upper parts from bill to middle of back, including scapulars, glossy black, 

 this color covering neck, chin and throat, and usually extending downward on the middle 

 of the ciiest; rest of imder parts rich orange or deep yellow (very variable), brightest on the 

 chest; wings mainly black, with a single white bar across tips of greater coverts, the tertiaries 

 margined witii white, and the lesser coverts (shoulders) l)right orange; tail yellow at base 

 and tip, each feather with a broad area of black in the middle, most on the middle feathers 

 and least on the lateral pair; bill and legs horn-blue; iris pale brown. In late summer, 

 after moulting, the wiiite wing-markings are wider and much more conspicuous. 



Adult female: Rather smaller than the male and otherwise very different. Upper parts 

 dull brownish yellow, more or less mottled or obscurely spott(>d on head and back with 

 blackish; chin and middle of belly whitish; rest of under parts dull yellow, often with obscure 

 dusky markings on throat and chest; wings grayish-brown with two white bars; tail gicenish 

 yellow without black markings. Young: Similar to female, but young males acquire 

 the color pattern of the old male (but not the brilliance) in the second year. 



Length 7 to 8.15 inches; wing 3.50 to 3.90; tail 2.85 to 3.35. 



