BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 



ICTEBUS BALTIMOBE. 



OF the Baltimore oriole, every whit American, it is 

 difficult to speak without seeming extravagance. 

 He is the most beautiful of our spring visitors, has a 

 rich and powerful voice, the rarest skill in nest-building, 

 and is among the happiest, most jubilant of birds. The 

 male generally arrives here a few days in advance of the 

 female — the first week in May; though last spring 

 (1884) I did not see the oriole till early on the morning 

 of the 15th. He had just arrived, and determined to 

 make up for lost time, he set the whole neighborhood 

 ringing : — 



Hardly a songster, the oriole is rather a tuneful caller, 

 a musical shouter ; nevertheless, as will appear, he some- 



