BIRDS — ICTERLDAE — ICTERUS SPURIU8 547 



ICTERUS SPURIUS, Bon. 



Orcliurd Oriole. 



Oriolus sjiiiriiij, Linn. Sjel. Nat. 1, 176G, 162.— G.m. I, 1788, 389. (Very inaccurate description ; only identified by 



lliu references.) 

 IcUnts spuriM, Bon. Obs. on Norn. Wils. 1825, No. 44.— AuD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 221 : V, 465 ; pi. 42.— Ib. IJiidB 



Amer. IV, 1842, 46 ; pi. 219. 

 Oriolus rarius, Gmeliv, Syst. Nat. 1, 1766, 390. 

 Tmulus aUr, Gm. Syst. 178S, I, H'tS, 831. 



Orio/i« caslamiis, Latha.m, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 181. (Same citations as 0. rai-iits, Gm.) 

 TnrJus jugularis, L.itiiam, Ind. Orn. 1, 1790, 361. (Same citations as Turilus aler, Gm.) 

 YpbantiS 5o/if<iria, Vieill, (?. 

 " Pindulinus nigricoUis, Vieill. O. — ririiiis, Ib." 

 Oriolus nuUalus, Wii.soN, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 64 ; pi. 4, f. 1—4. 

 .Von/Zioriiitj affinis, Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. l.yc. N. II. \', .Miiy, I8.">1, 113. (Small race from Texas.) 



Sp. Ch. — Bill slender, attenuated, considerably dccurved ; tail moderately graduated. 



Mate. — Head and neck all round, wings, and interscapular region of back, with tail feathers, black. Rest of under parts, 

 lower part of back to tail, and lesser upper wing coverts, witli the lower one, brownish chestnut. A narrow lino across the 

 wins, and the extreme outer edges of quills, white. 



Female. — Uniform greenish yellow beneath, olivaceous above, and browner in the niidille of the back ; two white bands on 

 the wings. Young male like the female, with a broad black patch from the bill to the upper part of the breast, this color 

 extending along the base of the bill so as to involve the eye and all anterior to it to the base of the bill. 



Length of Pennsylvania male specimens, 7.25 j wing, 3.25. 



//o4.— United Slates from the Atlantic to the High Central Plains, probably througliout Te.vas ; south to Guatemala. 



In this species the hill is slender, attenuated, and a good deal decurved to the tip. The 

 second and third quills are longest; the first intermediate hetween the fourth and fifth. The 

 tail is rather long; the feathers moderately graduated, the greatest difference in length 

 amounting to half an inch. 



The black of the throat extends backwards as far as the bend of the wing, and ends as an 

 obtuse angle. The tail feathers are entirely black, with dull whitish tips when not fully mature. 



Specimens are found in all stages between the characters given above. When nearly mature, 

 some yellowish feathers are found mixed in with the chestnut ones. 



As in most birds with an extensive summer range, the specimens from southern limits are 

 smaller than from northern. The difference is more strongly marked between skins from the 

 lower Rio Grande of Texas and New York or Pennsylvania, and upon the former Mr. Lawrence 

 has founded his Xanthornus offinis. The difference is not greater, however, than in nearly every 

 other species of similar habits as to summer range. The table of measurements of species 

 will illustrate the variations in size. 



The pattern of coloration in this species resembles that of I. hallbnore, but the orange red is 

 replaced by dark chestnut ; there is less wliite on the wing, and tlie tail is entirely black. The 

 bill is considerably slenderer and more attenuated and curved. The tail also is more graduated. 



