BULLOCK'S ORIOLE 277 



excited she seemed to get, and she fluttered against the glass till out of breath. 

 Then the mate flew down beside her. Time after time the birds were seen at 

 the window. 



Once a strange male oriole alighted in the nesting tree, but "the new- 

 arrival had hardly lit when there was a flash of color, and the father 

 of the nestlings darted at the intruder like a little fury. Through 

 the branches, under trees, over the barn, and across the orchard the 

 righteous pursuer and the invidious pursued darted." 



On another occasion, "a newly mated pair of orioles were living 

 about a grove of trees, and the male bird was in such fine plumage 

 that a collector shot him for his cabinet. The next day the female 

 appeared with a new husband, who was as bright and fine looking 

 as the bird she lost the day before. At the first chance this male was 

 also shot, partly, it was said, because he was such a fine bird and 

 partly to see if the female would find another as readily. Two days 

 later she appeared with a third husband, who went the way of the 

 two former ones. The female then disappeared for a few days, but 

 returned again with a fourth suitor. These two began building in a 

 eucalyptus tree and soon had a family of young birds." 



This incident clearly illustrates the well-known fact that the urge 

 for reproduction is very strong in birds, also that they do not grieve 

 long over the loss of a mate, and that there are always enough unmated 

 birds to fill in a gap caused by accident. Though this may have been 

 an extreme case, such happenings are very common. 



A. W. Anthony (1921) tells of the strange behavior of a captive 

 Bullock's oriole that had never shown any fear of human beings, but 

 showed "absolute terror" whenever its mistress appeared in a new 

 dress adorned with a string of dark beads; after the beads were 

 removed, the behavior of the bird became normal. 



Voice. — Dawson (1923) writes: "The Bullock Oriole is either 

 musical or noisy, but oftener both together. Both sexes indulge a 

 stirring rattle which seems to express nearly every variety of emotion. 

 Upon this the male grafts a musical outcry, so that the whole ap- 

 proaches song. A purer song phrase more rarely indulged in may be 

 syllabized as follows: Cut cut cudut whee up chooup. The last note 

 comes sharp and clear, or, as often, trails off into an indistinguishable 

 jumble. The questing note, or single call, of the male is one of the 

 sweetest sounds of springtime, but an even more domestic sound, 

 chirp trap, uttered while he is trailing about after his swinking spouse, 

 appears ridiculously prosaic." 



Grinnell and Storer (1924) describe the song of the male as a 

 "slightly varying series of syllables, rhythmically accented, like hip- 

 kip-y-ty-hoy-hoy , but with a peculiar quality impossible to describe 

 (fide senior author) ; also a mildly harsh cha-cha-cha-cha, etc., in rapid 



