3G0 Proceedings of Iiidiava Academy of Science. 



Carroll Vounlij: Ai»i'il 2.S, 188::. lirsl iiotod today, in the Delphi school 

 yard ; May 12, first females noted. Aiiril 24, 1884, heard one in morning 

 near my house in Camden. April 21, 1885, saw four or five, all males, in an 

 orchard, near my house, the first of the season. June 25-July 1, 1905, one 

 pair nesting in a maple tree in yard at old home. 



This is one of the beautiful birds with which I have been familiar since 

 my earliest recollection. Its brilliant colors and its confiding domesticity, 

 coming as it does about the house and fields, make it a bird quite sure to 

 attract the attention of any one. About the middle of April the males arrive 

 from the south. A few days later the females arrive, and soon nest-build- 

 ing begins. The favorite trees selected in which to hang their beautiful 

 pensile nests are maples, elms, poplars {Lireoilendron tuUpifera), and cot- 

 tonwoods {Populiis). A small poplar tree stood in the barn lot close to the 

 house on the old home farm. In it a pair of orioles were quite sure to nest 

 each year. It was a very safe place. The first limbs were 30 feet from the 

 ground. The nest was usually hung well out toward the end of a slender 

 limb, and always on the north side of the tree, where no cat could get at 

 it and so near the house that no hawk or other marauder would dare molest 

 it. In all the years I do not recall a single failure to raise a brood each 

 year. I do not think a second brood is raised unless the first meets with 

 accident. A new nest was built each year, and sometimes one or even two, 

 old nests might be seen alongside the new ; but usually the nest was not 

 able to stand the winds and storms of winter so that, by the new home- 

 building time, the tree would be free of old nests. In 1901, this old poplar 

 tree blew down in a severe storm. Another tree in which the Baltimores 

 were quite sure to build was a hard maple that stood in the law^n near 

 the house, — a beautiful shade-tree, full-branched and symmetrical, in which 

 the nests were usually placed w^ell toward the top on the north side where, 

 on account of the dense foliage, they were not easily seen. I think the 

 Baltimore Orioles are now less abundant in this county than they were 20 

 or 30 years ago. 



Monroe Cotmty: Probably more common here than in Carroll County. 

 In 1882 to 1886, the first arrivals from the south were noted April 20, 21, 20, 

 21, 23. On April 23, 1886, several were seen in the University campus. 



A few years ago a lady sat under a tree in her yard in Bloomington one 

 afternoon unravelling an old stocking. She was called away for some 

 reason, leaving the yarn lying in the yard. Next morning when she came to 

 get the yarn it could not be found. The next fall, after the leaves had 

 fallen and the trees were bare, an oriole's nest was seen in one of the trees. 

 It was gotten down and was found to have been made largely of yarn which 

 the lady readily recognized as the long-lost stocking ravellings. 



Vigo County: Very common summer resident, even nesting in the shade 

 trees on the city streets. April 24, 1888, a male seen ; April 24, 1889, and 

 April 28, 1891, noted at Terre Haute. 



125. EuPHAGUS CAROLiNus (Miiller). rusty blackbird. (509) 



Usually a rather rare spring and fall migrant. I have not seen it very 

 often. Although I am sure I have seen it in Carroll County, especially 

 when I was a boy, I have no actual definite record. In Monroe County, it 



