ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



506. Icterus spurius. ly^, inches. 



Male chestnut and black; female dull yellowish and 

 gray; young male, second year, like female, but with 

 black face and throat. These Orioles are usually found 

 in open country and, as their name suggests, have a 

 preference for orchards. They are also found abundantly 

 in shrubbery along streams and roadsides. They feed 

 chiefly upon worms, caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, 

 etc., and are one of the most beneficial birds that we 

 have. 



Song". — A rich, loud and rapid warble, cheery and 

 pleasing but impossible to describe; a chattering note of 

 alarm. 



Nest. — A beautiful basket of grasses woven into a 

 deeply cupped ball and situated in forks of trees or 

 bushes; often they are made of green grasses. Four 

 to six white eggs, specked, scrawled and spotted with 

 black and brown (.80x.55). 



Range. — U. S. east of the Plains, breeding from the 

 Gulf to Massachusetts and Michigan; winters m Centra ' 

 America. 



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