194 ICTERUS BALTIMOKE, BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 



The range of this. Oriole is nearly coincident with that of the last, 

 and, like it, it is generally dispersed along wooded streams of the North- 

 west. It regularly goes, however, somewhat further north, apparently 

 reaching the British border all along. It breeds in all suitable places 

 iu its Missouri range, which reaches and somewhat overlaps that of the 

 succeeding species. It is extremely abundant about Pembina, Dakota, 

 where it breefls in June, but was not observed by me west of the Red 

 Eiver Valley. The specimens from this region, as well as those from 

 Kansas, are remarkable for the brilliancy and intensity of the golden- 

 orange, which iu some cases become almost scarlet. 



The following interesting communication was prepared for the work 

 by Mr. Thomas G. Gentry, of Germantown, Pennsylvania: 



" The nidification of this species is so familiar to nearly all that it 

 may seem presumptuous upon my part to say anything in connectiou 

 therewith. Nuttall has so beautifully and faithfully delineated the 

 characteristic nest of this species that it would be worse than folly for 

 me to attempt an improvement thereon. But there is a novelty, hith- 

 erto unnoticed, so far as I am aware, in a couple of nests in my collec- 

 tion, of which a description cannot be considered amiss. 



" In the scores of nests which I have had the pleasure to examine, 

 exclusive of the above exceptions, all were begun as Nutta^ affirms, 

 'by firmly fastening natural strings of the flax of the silk-weed or 

 swamp-hollyhock, or stout artificial threads, around two or more forked 

 twigs, corresponding to the width and depth of the nest. With the 

 same materials, willow-down, or any accidental ravellings, strings, 

 thread, sewing-silk, tow, or wool, that may be lying near the neighbor- 

 ing houses, or around the grafts of trees, they interweave and fabricate 

 a sort of coarse cloth into the form intended, toward the bottom of 

 which they place the real nest, made chiefly of lint, wiry grass, horse 

 and cow hair,' &g. 



" To one of the nests referred to, the above partial description an- 

 swers satisfactorily; but it does appear that the birds had, through 

 some cause or other, manifested but little judgment, so to speak, in the 

 selection of a suitable site; for we find, in order to make the best of a 

 bad bargain, they were constrained to erect a i)ermanent roof to their 

 dwelling by interwoven strings, through their deprivation of the verdant 

 and agreeable canopy which the leaves would naturally aftbrd. In the 

 other, economy seems to have been of iDaramount importance, for this 

 nest is a faithful counterpart of the real one of Nuttall's description, 

 minus, to be sure, the inclosing pouch. 



" Xo. 1 is somewhat cylindrical in shape, with the long axis or dis- 

 tance from top to bottom slightly in excess of the short, or the distance 

 from side to side, the former being about five and the latter nearly four 

 and a half inches. It is composed of strings compactly woven to- 

 gether, Avith a slight interspersing of hairs of the horse and cow; the 

 whole forming a structure comfortable and cozy, and well calculated to 

 protect its inmates from the inclemency of the weather. So nicely is 

 the roof adjusted to the nest, that even the most critical investigation 

 cannot discern the union. The entrance is a circular opening situated 

 in the superior third of the nest, facing southwardly. 



" No. 2 is an inverted cone, with a blunt apex. The greatest diam- 

 eter at top is four inches, and the less three and a half; depth, four and 

 a half inches. It was built between two forks of a pear-tree. It is 

 composed almost entirely of the hairs of the horse and cow, firmly but 

 densely woven together. So slight is the texture that it can be readily 

 fceeu through. This sijecimeu presents the ax>pearance of an ordinary 



