ICTERIC^ — THE ORIOLES. 195 



.92 to .88 of an inch, and from .G8 to .65 of an inch in hreadth. They 

 have a clear white ground, marbled and blotched with large dashes, dots, and 

 irregular zigzag lines of purple, brown, and black, chiefly disposed around 

 the larger end. In those where the spots are more diffused they are blended 

 with obscure blotches of a faint lavender. 



Icterus baltimore, Daudin. 



BALTIMORE ORIOLE ; GOLDEN ROBIN ; HANG-NEST. 



Oriolus baltimore, Linn. Syst. Nat. \, 1766, 162. —Wilson, Am. Oni. \, 1808, 23, pi. i. 



— Ib. VL 1812, pi. liii. ''Icterus baltimore, Daud." — Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 66 ; 

 V, 1839, 278, pis. xii. and ccccxxiii. — Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 37, pi. ccxvii. — 

 Baikd, Birds N. Am. 1858, 548. — Sclater & Salvin, Ex. Orn. I, 69, 188 (diagnosis). 



— Samuels, 348. Yphantes baltimore, Vieillot, Gal. des Ois. I, 1824, 124, pi. 

 ixxxvii. Psarocolius baltimore, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1825, No. 26. Le Baltimore, 

 Buff. pi. enl. 506, f. 1. Hijphantes b., Cass. Pr. 1867, 62. 



Sp. Char. Tail nearly even. Head all round and to middle of back, scapulars, wings, 

 and upper surface of tail, black ; rest of under parts, rump, upper tail-coverts, and lesser 

 wing-coverts, with terminal portion of tail-feathers (except two innermost), orange-red. 

 Edges of wing-quills, with a band across the tips of the greater coverts, white. Length, 

 7.50 inches ; wing, 3.75. 



The female much less brilliant in color ; the black of the head and back generally 

 replaced by brownish-yellow, purer on the throat ; each feather with a black spot. 



Hab. From Atlantic coast to the high Central Plains, and in their borders ; south 

 to Panama. Xalapa (Scl. 1856, 365) ; Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 20) ; Cuba (Caban. J. 

 IV, 10); Costa Rica (Caban, J. 1861, 7; Lawr. IX, 104) ; Panama (Lawr. N. Y. Lye. 

 1861, 331) ; Veragua (Salv. 1867, 142) ; Mosquito Coast (Scl. & Salv. 1867, 279) ; 

 Vera Cruz (autumn, Sum. M. B. S. I, 553). 



A young bird is soft, dull orange beneath, palest on the throat, and tinged 

 along the sides with olive ; above olive, with an orange cast on the rump and 

 tail, the latter being without any black ; centres of dorsal feathers blackish ; 

 wings blackish, with two broad white bands across coverts, and broad edges 

 of white to the tertials. 



Specimens collected in Western Kansas, by Mr. J. A. Allen, have the 

 middle wing-coverts pure white instead of deep orange, and, according to 

 that naturalist, have more slender bills than Eastern birds. Mr. Allen thinks 

 they form a race peculiar to the plains ; but in examining the series of speci- 

 mens in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, we have failed to dis- 

 cover any constancy in this respect. A male (5,356, Farm Isl., May 30) from 

 Nebraska has the middle wing-coverts pure white, — the lesser, clear orange; 

 the black throat-stripe is almost separated from the black of the cheeks by 

 the extension forward of the orange on each side of it, only the tips of the 

 feathers being black. 



No. 61,192 S , Mount Carmel, 111. (August 12), has the throat-stripe even 

 more isolated, being connected anteriorly for only about a quarter of an inch 

 with the black of the jaw; there is also a distinct indication of an orange 



