About the House. 51 



The Orchard Oriole is a bright chestnut colored bird, with black begin- 

 ning at the region just between the shoulders and extending over the entire 

 head and throat. The wings and tail are almost black, the 

 Orchard Oriole, j^^ feathers having light* edges, often dull white. There 



Icterus spunus (Linn.). ^ .*!> o & ' ^i v- 



is a broad chestnut bar on the wing, and the lower back. 



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belly, sides, and breast are chestnut. Such is the adult male, very unlike his 

 brighter cousin the Baltimore, but the female and young males are nearer 

 oriole color, being greenish yellow above and brighter lemon yellow below, 

 Avith wings of obscure brownish color, showing two whitish bars. The tail is 

 bright yellowish green. The young males have the back browner and in the 

 second year acquire a black throat patch. Many individuals in this phase of 

 plumage have traces of the ultimate chestnut body color mixed to a varying 

 extent with the yellow and olive green feathers. In the third year the full 

 plumage is generally attained ; still, some individuals show yellow mixed with 

 the chestnut of the body and black of the head and upper back. 



They build pensile or semi-pensile nests of fresh green grasses very 

 beautifully and skilfully woven, sewn and bound to the surrounding twigs 

 and leaves. These nests are at first so near the color of their leaf environ- 

 ment as to be inconspicuous, but later turn yellow or dry grass color. They 

 are among the most beautiful and elaborate structures of our native birds, 

 and are situated in an apple, pear, or maple, — in fact, in almost any of the 

 smaller trees about houses, — from three to twenty feet from the ground. The 

 nests contain from three to five eggs, bluish white in color, spotted, and 

 marked in zigzag lines with dark brown and black. They are about four fifths 

 of an inch loner and less than two thirds of an inch in their other diameter. 



o 



The birds inhabit Eastern North America in the breeding season, from 

 the Gulf States to Southern New England, Michigan, and Ontario. They 

 winter in Central America. This is one of our finest song birds, a foe to in- 

 sects, and not confined to orchards, but often seen about the garden and 

 grounds close to our door. 



Bullock's Oriole is a Western species ranging over the United States, 



from the Rocky Mountains westward. It goes as far north as Manitoba and 



British Columbia, and winters from Mexico southward. 



i?""f,'^'t^/'°'^" There is a single record of its capture at Bangor, Maine. 



Icterus bullocki (Swains.). ^ . 



Its general color is deep orange, which prevails on the 

 forehead and sides of the head, extending down on the neck, dividing the 



