190 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



down from an old cactus. Another was made in a bunch of hops, sus- 

 pended from a cactus. A third was placed in a bunch of weeds growing 

 out from a crevice in a perpendicular rock. Another, found May 29, was 

 built in a small dead tree, overhung with vines. This nest was about five 

 feet from the ground. A nest containing four young birds was found placed 

 in a bunch of moss, hanging out of a crevice in a rock. These instances 

 serve to show the general character of the position of their nests. Without 

 being pensile they are usually resting upon pendent branches, and are not 

 placed at great elevations. 



The eggs measure .90 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth. Their shape 

 is an oblong-oval, and they are obtuse at either end. Their ground-color is 

 a dull white, with a purplish or a bluish tint. They are variously marked, 

 in different eggs, with small blotches and finer dottings of a light purple, 

 purplish-brown, darker purple, and even black. 



Icterus spurius, Bon. 



ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



Oriolus spurius, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 162. — Gm. I,. 1788, 389 (very inaccurate de- 

 scription ; only identified by tlie references). Icterus spurius, Bon. Obs. on Nom. 

 Wils. 1825, No. 44. — AuD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 221 ; V, 485, pi. xlii. — Ib. Birds 

 Am. IV, 1842, 46, pi. ccxix. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 547. —Samuels, 346. 

 Oriolus varius, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 390. Turdus ater, Gm. Syst. 1788, I ; 

 1788, 83. Oriolus castaneus, Latham, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 181 (same citations as 

 0. varius, Gm.). Turdus jugularis, Latham, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 361 (same citations 

 as Turdus ater, Gm.). Yplianlcs solitaria, Vieillot ^. " Pendulinus nigricollis, 

 ViEiLL. o. — viridis, Ib." Oriolus mutatus, Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 64, pi. iv, 

 f. 1-4. Xanthornus affi,nis, Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lye. N. H. V, May, 1851, 113 

 (small race from Texas). Pendulinus s., Cass. Pr. 1867, 61. Pendulinus affinis, Cass. 

 Pr. 1867, 61. 



Sp. Char. Bill slender, attenuated, considerably deourved ; tail moderately graduated. 

 Male, three years. Head and neck all round, wings, and interscapular region of back, with 

 tail-feathers, black. Rest of under parts, lower part of back to tail, and lesser upper 

 wing-coverts, with the lower one, brownish-chestnut. A narrow line across the wing, 

 and the extreme outer edges of quills, white. Female. Uniform greenish-yellow beneath, 

 olivaceous above, and browner in the middle of the back ; two white bands on the wings. 

 Young male of two years like the female, but with a broad black patch from the bill to 

 the upper part of the breast, this color extending along the base of the bill so as to 

 involve the eye and all anterior to it to the base of the bill, somewhat as in 7. cucullatus. 

 Length of Pennsylvania male specimens, 7.25 ; wing, 3.25. 



Has. United States from the Atlantic to the high Central Plains, probably through- 

 out Texas; south to Guatemala. Xalapa (Scl. 1859, 365); Cordova (Scl. 1856, 301); 

 Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 20 ; Lawr. N. Y. Lye. IX, 104) ; Rio Atrato (Cass. P. A. N. S., 

 I860, 140) ; Costa Rica (Caban. J. 1861, 8) ; Panama (Lawr. N. Y. Lye. 1861, 331) ; 

 Cuba (Guxdlach) ; Veragua (Salvin, 1867, 142) ; Vera Cruz, winter (Sum. M. B. S. I,) ; 

 Mazatlan. 



This species varies greatly in size with its geographical distribution. 



