262 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



simple preventive then would be to trim the 

 vine. He is charged with attacking early apples 

 and pears, piercing them with his bill to get at 

 the pulp, and, of course, ruining each apple or 

 pear. But probably more of this damage is done 

 by Red-headed Woodpeckers, Robins, and Blue 

 Jays, and even Catbirds and Crackles, and the 



Oriole loses his good name because of the com- 

 pany he keeps. However, the amount of damage 

 done by him cannot be very great when there is 

 such a small percentage of vegetable matter in 

 his diet, and the amount of good he does in eating 

 harmful insects should earn for him full protec- 

 tion and encouragement of his presence. 



BULLOCK'S ORIOLE 

 Icterus buUocki (Swainson) 



A. O. U. Number 508 



General Description. — Length, 8l4 inches. Plum- 

 age, black and orange. Bill, long and pointed; wings, 

 moderately long ; tail, more than ^ length of wing. 



Color. — Adult Male: Greater part of crown, hind- 

 neck, back, shoulders, lores, streak behind eye, front 

 portion of cheeks, chin, and broad stripe down middle 

 of throat, black; rest of head and neck (including a 

 broad stripe over eye and sometimes the Zi'hole fore- 

 head), orange; the under parts similar, but rather paler 

 toward the rear; rump and upper tail-coverts, orange 

 tinged with olive ; lesser wing-coverts, black and orange ; 

 exposed portion of middle and greater coverts, white, 

 forming a large patch ; rest of wing, including greater 

 portion of inner webs of greater coverts, black, the 

 secondaries (e.xcept at base of five or six outermost) 

 broadly, the primaries more narrowly, edged with white ; 

 middle pair of tail-feathers black, except at base; next 

 pair mostly black; remaining tail-feathers orange-yellow, 

 with black or dusky at tips; iris, brown. Adult 

 Female: Crown and hindneck, yellowish-olive, be- 

 coming grayer toward the back ; back, shoulders, and 

 rump olive-grayish, the back sometimes narrowly 

 streaked with dusky ; upper tail-coverts and tail, wax- 

 yellow, rather brighter on edges of the tail-feathers; 

 sides of head, stripe over eye, sides of neck, and chest 

 (sometimes most of throat also), saffron-yellowish; 



chin and center line of throat, more whitish, sometimes 

 blotched with black; rest of under parts, dull buflfy- 

 whitish, the sides and flanks tinged with pale olive- 

 grayish, and breast (sometimes abdomen also) tinged 

 with yellow ; anal region and under tail-coverts more 

 yellowish, sometimes distinctly yellow ; wings, dusky, 

 the middle coverts broadly tipped with white, forming a 

 distinct band, the greater coverts and wing feathers 

 edged with grayish-white. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Suspended from branches 

 of poplars, cottonwoods, mesquite, or other trees, some- 

 times in a cluster of mistletoe, from 5 to 40 feet up; 

 a woven, pensile structure of vegetable fibers, inner 

 bark, and horse-hair, lined with wool, down, horse- or 

 cow-hair. Eggs : 3 to 6, paler and of clearer bluish 

 ground color than the Baltimore Oriole's and marked 

 with erratic hair lines chiefly around larger end. 



Distribution. — Western United States and British 

 provinces and plateau of Mexico; north to southern 

 British Columbia, southern Alberta, and southern 

 Assiniboia ; east to eastern border of the Great Plains 

 in middle portions of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, 

 Oklahoma, and Texas, more sparingly to eastern 

 portion of the same States ; breeding south at least 

 to northern Mexico; in winter south to Mexico; 

 accidental in Maine. 



The Bullock Oriole is one of our most striking 

 birds in orange and black. In some parts of the 

 Pacific coast, the bird is especially fond of nest- 

 ing in an orchard tree near the house. The 

 weeping willow tree is a great favorite. Through 

 the irrigated districts, the bird may always be 

 found among the cottonwoods and poplars. 



As a rule, the Oriole builds a strong nest of 

 horse-hair and fibers. It is usually made so 

 strong and elastic that, if pressed together, it 

 springs back into shape. It survives many a 

 hard winter; for often where the Orioles live, 

 one can count the old nests, still hanging, that 

 have been used in years past. 



It is difficult at times to try to explain the 

 actions of a bird. I know of a pair of Orioles 

 that lived in a neighbor's orchard. They swung 



their nest on one of the lower branches of a wil- 

 low tree. One day, we saw the female Oriole 

 light on a low branch in front of a window. In 

 a few moments, she flew down and lit on the sash. 

 Then she fluttered up against the window, trying 

 her best to hang on. She would turn her head 

 and watch in the glass. The more she looked, 

 the more excited she seemed to get, fluttering 

 against the glass until she was out of breath. 

 The bird kept up these antics every day. It was 

 not merely that she wanted to get inside, for 

 when the window was opened, her curiosity 

 seemed satisfied, but she did not enter the house. 

 When the window was closed again, she kept 

 flying against it, never accomplishing anything 

 except to slide to the bottom. 



The Bullock Oriole replaces the Baltimore 



