bl'llock's okiole. 682 



six inches deep and four broad, hanging to several sprays of the 

 mistletoe, which were partly interwoven with the nest to form 

 a graceful drapery. The felting material was long, soft, vegeta- 

 ble fibre of a glistening silvery lustre, in artistic contrast with 

 the dark-hiied foliage. A few hairs were sewn through and 

 through, for greater security, and the pretty fabric was lined with 

 a matting of the softest possible plant-down, like that of a button- 

 wood or an Asclepias. 



The general shape and the material of the third nest were much 

 the same as those of the last ; it was, however, suspended from 

 the forked twig of an oak, and draped almost to concealment with 

 leaves. But it had a remarkable peculiarity, being arched over 

 and roofed in at tlie top with a dome of the same material as the 

 rest, and had a little round hole in one side just large enough to 

 let the birds pass in. Such a globular nest as this is probably ex- 

 ceptional ; but now it will not do to say that orioles always build 

 pensile pouches open at the top. 



The eggs of this species are four or five in number, and rather 

 elongated in form, being much pointed at the smaller end. They 

 measure on an average just an inch in length, by about two-thirds 

 as much in greatest diameter, which is much nearer the larger than 

 the smaller end. In color they are very pale bluish, or rather 

 whitish with a faint dull blue shade, and are everywhere irregu- 

 larly overrun with fine sharp hair lines of blackish brown, or black- 

 ish witli a slight tinge of purplish. These curious zigzig markings 

 are characteristic of the eggs of a majority of the birds of the 

 family (Icteridce). They have no definite style, but wander 

 at random over the surface, and in no two specimens are they 

 alike. Thus in one specimen the lines, fine as hairs, are wound 

 round and round the butt, with such regularity that they hardly 

 ever interfere ; in others, they are snarled up in different places ; 

 and sometimes, particularly- at a sharp turning-point, the lines 

 spread into little spots ; and there are often a few such isolated 

 markings in various places over the egg.* 



We need say nothing of the general habits and manners of Bul- 

 lock's Oriole, for it does not differ from the well-known Baltimore 

 bird in these respects. 



*The nests and eggs above described were collected in California and are now in 

 the Smithsonian Institution, where we have been generously allowed to ex amine them 



