HAXGXKfSTS. 



■29 



coverts and flights with, pale grey inargiiifi, the median 

 and greater coverts tipped wdtli wliite; tiiil yellowisli- 

 olivo; cheeks, sides of throat, and chest yellowish ; chin 

 and throat with an ill-define<l dusky central streak ; 

 fides, flanlvs, and under tail-coverts greyish, the latter 

 washed with yellowish ; middle of breast ajid abdomen 

 whitish. Hab., Southern and Central Mexico. 



I have come across no notes on the wild life of tliiw 

 l)ird ; it was represented in the London Zoological Gar- 

 dens in 1870. 



Orchard H.vngjjk.st (Iilcrus sjjuiiu-i). 

 Above black ; leseer wino;-coverts and rump and upper 

 tail-coverts chestnut ; median wing-coverts and flights 

 with narrow whitish edges; outer tail-feathers with nar- 

 row white tips; ne:;k and throat black; remainder ot 

 under-surface chestnut; bill black, with basal half of 

 lower mandible bluish-white ; feet greyisli-black; iridee 

 brown. Female ,veUowish-olive above, paler and more 

 vellow on upper tail-coverts and tail ; back duller with 

 slightly darker centres to the feathers ; middle and 

 greater wing-cuverts with ibroad whitish tips ; under- 

 surface dull yellow, washed on sides and flanks with 

 olivaceous ; vent bright ochre-yellow ; wings dusky with 

 greenish-grey or whiti&h edf^es ; bill shorter, but broader 

 at base. Hab., "Eastern North America (in .summer), 

 and southward thruuirh Mexico and Central America to 

 Panama " (P. L. Sclater). 



Captain Bcndire says (" Life Hietoa-ies," Vol II., pp. 

 479-4ti2) : •• It is a Vcstlees. impulsive, but well-dis- 

 positioned bird, on good terms with its neighbours, and 

 though not particidarly shy, it is nevertheless difficult to 

 ol>serve closely, ag it generally conceals itself in the 

 den.sest foliage while at rest, or else flits quickly about 

 from twig to tsvig in search of insects, on which it lives 

 almost exclusively throughout the summer months. 



" Its favourite haunts, as its name implies, are 

 orchards, and when the apple and i>ear trees are lu 

 bloom and the trees have commenced to leaf one may 

 look for the Orchard Oriole. It is generally found in 

 rather open counti-y, interspersed here and there with 

 small groves ; also among the shady trees along country 

 rtxid.'!, and in the prairie States among the treee and 

 shrubbery along etreams, prefeiTing such localities to 

 heavier-timbered sections and forest regions. 



" Its song, most often heard in the earlier spring, is 

 uttered in a quick, hurried manner. Its loud, clear 

 strains, indicating its impulsive nature, are poui-ed forth 

 with such rapidity as to be difficult to describe, and 1 

 .shall not attempt it ; but they remind me somewhat 

 of those of the Warbling Vireo, only sounding louder 

 and clearer. A chattering, querulous note, when dis- 

 turbed or alarmed from any cause, is also uttered. 



■• Few birds do more good and less harm than our 

 Orchard Oriole, e.^pecially to the fruit-grower. The bulk 

 of its food consists of small beetles, i>lant lice, flies, 

 hairless caterpillars, cabbage worms, gi-asshoppers. rose 

 bugs, and larvoe of all kinds, while the few berries it 

 may help itself to during the short time thev lastai-e 

 many times paid for by the great number of noxious 

 insects destroyed, and it certainly deserves the fullest 

 protection." 



" B,->th sexes assist in nest-building, and generally 

 finish one in from three to four days. The neste are 

 placed in trees or bushes from 6ft. to 40ft. from the 

 ground, usually from 12ft. to 20ft.. in a great 

 . variety of trees! less often in conifers than in deciduous 

 kinds." "In the (South the Orchard Oriole neste occa- 

 sionally in the gi-ev moss {Tillandsia usneokles) so com- 

 monlvfound haniring from many of the trees there." 



"The location and maimer of attaching its ingeniously 

 woven, basket-like nests vary greatly. Some are set in 



a crotch formed by several small twigs ; the bottom of 

 the nest occasionally i«sts on and is supported by these, 

 and again in similar locations it is unsupported, but 

 the sides are securely fastened to several of the twigs 

 among which it is placed; then, again, some are built in 

 a fork of a horizontal limb, like the nest of an Acadian 

 Flycatcher or a Vireo, both sides of the nest being 

 fastened to the fork in which it is placed; again, it 

 may be fastened to some suitable twigs by the rim only, 

 in the miumer of a hammock. Comparatively few, 

 exccptmg those of the last style and those built in moss, 

 can really be caUed pensile or even semipensile nests. 

 They also vary gi-eatly in bulk and depth." 



From what Captain Bendire says the nests seem' to 

 be most frequently composed of green fni-y gi-ass and 

 lined with plant-down, and he says that the green colour 

 is often retained for years. 



" From four to six eggs are usually laid to a set 

 (mostly five), aiid one is deposited daily. Incubation lasts 

 about twelve days, and I am of the opinion that this duty 

 is exclusively performed by the female. I have never 

 seen the male on the nest, but have seen him feed his 

 mate while incubating. I believe, as a rule, only one 

 brood is raised in a season." 



"The eggs are mostly ovate in shape, but occasionally 

 a set is found which is decidedly elongate-ovate. Tue 

 shell is moderately stix>ng, close-grained, and without 

 gloss. The ground' colour is usually pale bluish-white, 

 and this is sometimes faintly overlaid with pale pearl- 

 grey or gi-eyish-white. The markings, wliich are nearly 

 always heaviest about the larger end of the egg, consist 

 of blotches, spots, scrawls, and tracmgs of several shades 

 of bi'own, purple, lavender, and pearl-gi'ey, varying in 

 amount and intensity in dift'erent specimens. In the 

 majority of the eggs before me the darker markings 

 predominate, but the lighter-coloured and more neutral 

 tints are nearly always present to a greater or less 

 extent." 



Russ speaks of this Hangnest as a bird eagerly pur- 

 I'hased in Gei-many, and usually obtainable, occasionally 

 imported by Eeiche and Ruhe in a considerable mmiber, 

 but the female more rarely ; its price is comparatively 

 low — 5 to 10 marks apiece, and at most 12 to 15 marks. 

 Yet in England I have never seen a living example ; it 

 has, however, been exhibited in our London Gardens. 



Chestxtjt-shouldered H-\NGNESX 

 [Icterus pijrrhopterus). 



.Black; upper lesser wing- coverts ch&stnut ; bill black; 

 feet dark brown. Female much smaller and doubtless 

 with a shorter bill. Hab., South Brazil, Paraiguay, 

 .\rgentina, and Bolivia. 



Hudson savs ("Argentine Ornithologv," Vol. I., pp. 

 107, 108) : " This interesting bird, the only Icterus found 

 in the Argentine Republic^ ranges south to Buenos 

 Ayres, where it is migratoiy, and appears in small 

 flocks of six or eight individuals in September; but 

 soon after arriving these little companies break uo, and 

 the birds are subsequently found singly or in pairs in 

 the woods along the Plata River." 



" It is a loquacious bird, most of its tones being low 

 and pleasing ; exceedingly restless in disposition, inces- 

 santly passnig from tree to tree, jerking its long tail 

 and clinging to the branches in various attitudes, while 

 searching for insects in the decayed bark. While thus 

 engaged it utters a great vai-iety of chirping and guttural 

 sounds, intersi>ersed wnth short agreeable notes. It also 

 has a song of considerable merit, low and varied in tone, 

 with a peculiar ventriloquism in many of the notes 

 which produce a confusing idea on the listener tliat the 

 bird approaches and recedes alternately whilst uttering 



