The Orchard Oriole {icterus spuHus) 



By Thomas Nuttall 



Length, about 714 inches. Our only oriole with black and chestnut mark- 

 ings. Female grayish olive green. 



Range : Confined to eastern North America. Breeds from North Dakota, 

 Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, southern Ontario, central New York and 

 Massachusetts south to northern Florida, the Gulf Coast and southern Mexico, 

 west to central Nebraska and western Kansas ; winters from southern Mexico 

 to northern Columbia. 



Though clad in modest garb (for an oriole) and in no respect a rival of the 

 Baltimore, the orchard oriole has merits of his own. As his name implies, he 

 is a lover of orchards, and I have always associated him with the glory of apple 

 orchards in full bloom and with the delicious perfume with which the air is 

 heavy. Amidst such surroundings, the black and chestnut livery of the orchard 

 oriole marks him as one of the princes of our bird world. Gardens and parks 

 also know him well, and he is not averse to swinging his nest from the trees that 

 shade the farmer's house. His nest betrays his connection with the family of 

 weavers, but his skill does not equal that of the Baltimore and he is content with 

 a smaller pensile basket made chiefly of grasses. His song, like his dress, is 

 modest, but it is exceedingly sweet, and one who hears it is sure to pause in his 

 walk and wish that it were longer and given more frequently. 



The orchard oriole is chiefly insectivorous, as indeed are all of our species. 



The orchard oriole has many of the habits of the Baltimore oriole, and arrives 

 about a week later. They enter the southern boundary of the United States 

 early in March and remain there until October. They do not, however, often 

 migrate farther north and east than the state of Connecticut. 



Their stay in the United States, it appears from Wilson, is little more than 

 four months, as they retire to South America early in September, or at least do 

 not winter in the southern states. According to my friend Mr. Ware, they breed 

 at Augusta in Georgia ; and Mr. Day observed the species at Major Long's winter 

 quarters on the banks of the Missouri. 



Audubon remarks that the northern migrations of this species, like those of 

 the Baltimore oriole, are performed by day, and that the males arrive a week or 

 ten days sooner than their mates. They appear to affect the elevated and airy 

 regions of the Allegheny mountains, where they are much more numerous than 

 the Baltimore orioles. 



The orchard oriole is an exceedingly active, sprightly, and restless bird ; in 

 the same instant, almost, he is on the ground after some fallen insect, fluttering 

 amid the foliage of the trees, prying and springing after his lurking prey, or 



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