232 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



Evidently, the Alta Mira oriole is not at all secretive in its habitat 

 nor in the selection of a nesting site, in spite of its conspicuous coloring. 

 In southern Veracruz, according to Wetmore (1943) "these birds were 

 found through the treetops in heavy forest, in the lines of trees border- 

 ing fields and streams, and in scattered groves through the pastures. 

 They were the most common of the orioles and were often kept as 

 cage birds." 



Bendire (1895) wrote at some length on the frequent occurrence 

 of orioles of this species in Louisiana, based on information received 

 from E. A. Mcllhenny; but as these may have been escaped cage- 

 birds, the species has never been accepted as occurring naturally in 

 that State, which is so far from its known range. It does not seem to 

 have been reported there in recent years. 



Nesting. — The Alta Mira oriole is a wonderful nest builder. Sut- 

 ton and Pettingill (1943) found five occupied nests near Gomez 

 Farias, Tamaulipas, all of which were "placed in much exposed situa- 

 tions. Nests of Icterus gularis reported from San Luis Potosi and El 

 Salvador were placed in similarly exposed situations." The first 

 nest was within 75 yards of the house in which they lived, and was 

 watched daily from the beginning of the construction to the laying 

 of the first egg. This nest was in "a living, though leafless, 50-foot- 

 high ear tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) ," about 35 feet from the 

 ground, not far from the end of a slender branch and attached to a 

 two-tined fork. 



Building the nest required at least 18 days (April 7-24) and possibly as many 

 as 26 days (April 7-May 2). From April 7 to 14 the work progressed irregularly; 

 from April 14 to 17 much material was added; from April 17 to 22 the structure 

 took on its final shape; but from that date on, work was desultory. We believe 

 the first egg was laid on May 2. * * * 



The nest's greatest outside length, from the fork to the bottom, was 25 inches. 

 The greatest outside diameter (not far from the bottom) was 6J4 inches. It was 

 symmetrical and quite smooth, the material being well tucked in. It was made 

 almost entirely of air-plant rootlets, most of them several inches long, and fiber 

 stripped from palmetto leaves. The lining, which covered the bottom only, 

 was of palmetto fiber and horsehair. Nowhere about the nest was there a feather, 

 bit of wool or cotton or kapok fluff, or other soft material. 



About 250 strands of rootlet or palmetto fiber passed over each eight-inch 

 length of supporting twig. The remaining third of the nest-rim consisted of 

 four or five tough rootlet "cables" hung from one tine to the other. About 

 these, slenderer rootlets were twisted tightly, giving the edge a somewhat rope- 

 like appearance. This third of the rim was notably thin and strong. * * * 



The rootlets of the nest wall ran downward and more or less parallel to each 

 other, as if they had purposely been allowed to dangle while the bird wove other 

 strands about them. Some of these meridional rootlets extended the entire 

 length of the nest, but most of the material was obviously woven in and out cross- 

 wise into a sort of rough fabric. No rootlet or fiber encircled the outside of the 

 nest. 



