A NEW ORIOLE FROM MEXICO 



/)'// I I'd 1 1 1: M. ('Inipnimi 



AM().\(i the iiMist iiiicrestinj.'; results ;ii tcii-liiiL; the Miiscimrs cxpcdi- 

 lioii to Mexico lo secure inalerial tor a lial)ital yroiip of tropical 

 l)ir(ls, was the discoxcry of a new species of oriole. The hird is 

 iiKJSt nearly related to our orchai'd oriole, which pi'ior to thi> time has 

 heen distinuiiished hy the fact that it had no close relatixcs, its rich chest- 

 nut colors heiiiu' strikiiijily unlike the oraiure dress of tnost iiienihei- of tlie 

 genus Icterus. 



The new hird was discoxcred hy Mr Louis Aj;assiz l-'ucrtes, the ai'tist 

 of the e\pe litioii, and in \ lew of this fact, as well as in recounit ion of hi- 

 in\"alual)le serxiees to ornithology, it has heen named, in the .lannary i>snt 

 of the .1///,', the olfieial oruan of the American ( )rnitholoi;is1s' Inion, Icterus 

 fitcrfcsi. 'I'he coloi-ed ulate of the new hird, drawn hy Mr. I'liertes, is here 

 rcpi'oi!u"ed throuuh the coui'tesy of the Inion. 



The (hscoNcry of this \'ery distinct new s|)ecie.- in a rc;;ion the bird life 

 of which was sup])osc;l t) he well-known, illustrates how extremely restricted 

 is the raiiuc of man\' tropical hirds, and at the same time emphasizes oni 

 comi)arati\(' ijiiiorancc of the hird life of tropical .\merica. 



Four specimens of I"'uertes's oriole were secured. They were all takt'ii 

 on the hanks of tlie Taniesi River, .some tliirty-fi\'e miles in an air-line and 

 se\('nty-fi\(' hy water from Tampico on tlie (rulf coast of Mexico. 'Idle 

 niemher^ of the Museum expedition were here the ^i'uests of Mi'. Thomas 

 H. Silsl)!';-, on the sugar plantation of Pa.so del Ilaha, and the new hirds were 

 found only in the seruhhx' seeond-iirowtli whicli has appeared on the hanks 

 of the rixcr from which the forest had hevii cleared in e-tahlishing the 

 plantation. Whether they also inhahited the somewhat scanty growth 

 away from the \icinily of the rixcr, we diil not ascertain ■<iiicc the surpris- 

 ing ahundanc;- of hirds in the rix'cr-hirest clainud all oiii' alteiilion. 



.\t this time (A])ril '.\-\), 1910) the great yellow-headeil parrots i.\iii(rjiiin 

 (iriitrir) s) popular as cage-ljii'ds, together with somewhat smaller red- 

 headed pai'rots { Aiim ))i't rirrhf/eii'ilis) and two species of j)aro;piets were 

 heginnin.;- to iie-;t, and se\'eral pairs had .selected hollow limhs in the trees 

 ahoiit our camp. Tliere were also trogons < Trnfion (t:ithi(iiius], niotmots 

 { Moii/'ilns I ■s-s-ifiii), clia'hahicfas iOrlilis- refuhi iiircnUi) and nian\' other 

 hirds c!i:ir:i'-teristic of the troipics, mist of wiiich were at tlie northern 

 limit of their ran re. The r.'gion, tliere'ore, has an espc'-ial interest as the 

 nearest point to X-.v ^ ork ('ity at which a wcll-de\-elope;l troj)ical fauna 

 can he found. 



