ORCHARD ORIOLE, 
ef Vermont sang a song so strange to me that at first I 
did not recognize it; again the birds of Nantucket sang 
a different song; and now, after a disinterested con- 
sideration of the whole matter, I have come to consider 
the song of the birds in New Jersey but one of many 
forms each of which is distinguished by some local 
characteristic. But in every case there is one thing we 
can rely upon as unchanging, that is the descending 
“‘slur.” Mr. W. E. D. Scott particularly emphasizes the 
provincialism of the bird, and then adds: ‘‘Should you 
hear the song of the Meadowlark, say in Denver, or in 
New York, or at any point in Florida, I feel sure you 
would never recognize it as the song of the same bird.” 
But there his discrimination ceases—he reckons with form 
but fails to reckon with character. I have never seen 
the bird in the Pemigewasset Valley. 
Orchard Compared with its relative, the Balti- 
sh Ne more Oriole, this Oriole cannot be called 
mu 
Spins common. Its normal range does not ex- 
L. 7.30 inches tend farther north than Massachusetts, 
May 15th and even in that State it is local. Incolors 
the Orchard Oriole does not compare with the gorgeous 
Baltimore. The breast and under parts are chestnut, 
a tone of burnt sienna; head, neck, and upper back 
black; lower back chestnut; throat black; wings 
rusty black with chestnut shoulders, the tips of black 
wing and tail feathers a trifle whitish. The female is 
grayish olive green above and very dull lemon yellow 
beneath; wings dusky brown with two whitish bars. 
Nest pendent, or nearly so, woven of grasses and similar 
to that of the Baltimore in materials; usually in an 
apple-tree, or any small tree near a house, and situated 
at the extremity of a limb, not more than twenty feet 
above the ground. Egg, spotted and scrawled with 
brown or black. The range of the bird is from the Gulf 
States north to southern New England, Michigan, and 
Ontario. Although he generally frequents the orchard, 
he is often seen in the garden and among the shade 
trees of the lawn. 
The Orchard Oriole is an exceptionally good songster, 
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