ICTERUS SPURIUS : ORCHARD ORIOLE. 303 



p-isture and stubble, and become favorite game birds 

 with the rising generation of sportsmen, as they lie 

 well in the grass and whir up quickly enough to make 

 good objects for the practice of shooting on the wing. 



ORCHARD ORIOLE. 

 Icterus spurius {L.) Bp. 



Chars. Male : Black, with the lower back, rump, and under parts 

 from the throat, chestnut ; a whitish wing-bar ; bill and feet 

 blue-black. Length, 6.50-7.00 ; extent, 10.25 '■> wing, 3.25 ; tail, 

 3.00. Female : Yellowish-olive above ; yellowish below ; wings 

 dusky ; tips of wing-coverts and edges of inner quills whitish. 

 Smaller than the male. The young male, at first like the female, 

 afterwards confuses the characters of both sexes. 



Although belonging to a family of birds most of the 

 members of which are far from noted for architectural 

 ability, the Orioles are distinguished for the dexterity 

 and assiduity which they display in weaving the most 

 elaborate pensile nests of grasses and other textile ma- 

 terials. The nest of the Orchard Oriole is one of the 

 most perfect specimens of these woven purses, being 

 generally more homogeneous in material if not more 

 compact and substantial than that of the Baltimore. 

 It is sometimes composed entirely of blades of grass, 

 which may long retain their greenness, and so tend to 

 the concealment of the structure in the foliage. The 

 nest is smaller, and not so deep in proportion to its 

 diameter as that of the Baltimore, and is apt to be 

 less perfectl}'- pendent from small twigs. The eggs 

 are distinguishable from those of the Baltimore by 

 their smaller size, averaging scarcely 0.85x0.60, and 

 being rather spotted than limned or scrawled. 



