258 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



I n 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



ORCHARD ORIOLE (i nat. size) 

 A beautiful but somewhat elusive bird with a curious nest-building habit 



BALTIMORE ORIOLE 



Icterus galbula {Linncriis) 



A. O. U. Number 507 See Color Plate 75 



Other Names. — Golden Robin ; English Robin ; 

 Hang-bird; Hang-nest; Fire-bird; Pea-bird; Ham- 

 mock-bird ; Golden Oriole ; Baltimore Bird. 



General Description. — Length, 8 inches. Fore and 

 upper parts, black; under parts, orange. Bill, long and 

 pointed ; wings, moderately long ; tail, more than 34 

 length of wing. 



Color. — Adult Male: Head, neck, back, and shoul- 

 ders, iinifoinn black, that of the throat extending into 

 middle portion of chest; rump, upper tail-coverts, lesser 

 and middle wing-coverts, and under parts of body, 

 rich orange or orangc-yctlozi'; wings (except lesser 

 and middle coverts), black, tlic greater coverts broadly 

 tipped 'n'ith ivhitc, the wing feathers more or less 

 edged with same; middle pair of tail-feathers, black 

 except the concealed basal portion ; remainder of tail, 

 light orange or orange-yellow, crossed near the base 

 by a broad band of black; iris, brown. Adult Female: 

 Crown, hindneck, back, and shoulders, saffron-olive, the 

 feathers with central spots of black or dusky; ruinp, 

 upper tail-coverts, and tail olive-saffron, brightest 

 (sometimes dull orange) on upper tail-coverts; wings, 

 dusky, the middle coverts broadly, the greater coverts 

 more narrowly, tipped with white, the wing feathers 

 edged with gray (sometimes white on longer pri- 

 maries) ; under parts, safifron-yellow or dull orange- 



yellow, paler and duller on abdomen, tinged with olive 

 on sides and flanks, the throat usuallv with some 

 black. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A remarkable example of 

 bird craftsmanship. Suspension strings are first firmly 

 tied to the branches, these forming the warp through 

 which the plant fibers, milkweed stalks, gray strips of 

 bark, horse-hair, or cord, are deftly woven. The com- 

 pleted structure is gourd-shaped, flaring at bottom and 

 always gray-colored. Extreme ends of large elms are 

 oftenest selected for the site, but nests are found on 

 a large variety of trees, even the conifers. The per- 

 fection of their workmanship is proved by the fact 

 that these homes sometimes endure the blasts of four 

 winters. Eggs: From 4 to 6, white with the character- 

 istic pen lines, scrawls, and spots of dark brown and 

 black of the species. 



Distribution. — Eastern temperate North Ainerica ; 

 breeding from more southern United States (Texas to 

 the Carolinas), except along the Gulf coast, northward 

 to Nova Scotia, southern New Brunswick. Ontario, 

 and Manitoba (to latitude 55°) ; west to eastern Assini- 

 boia, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, east of the 



ivocKy 



Mountains 



winter south through eastern 



Mexico and Central America to Colombia and Venezu- 

 ela ; accidental in Cuba. 



