THE GULAK ORIOLE. 467 



is true fjalaris as to proportions, and represents the maximum bi"iglitness." 

 There is a single specimen (a very liighly colored male) in the collection of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, taken on March 21, 1891, at Hidalgo, 

 Tamaulipas, which, as far as I know, marks the northern limits of its range in 

 Mexico. 



The following notes on this species were orignially published by me in the 

 article above quoted: 



" Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny recently sent me for identification a skin of a hand- 

 some Oriole, which proves to be this subspecies, and which he kindly presented 

 to the collection of the United States National IVIuseum here. He shot the bird 

 on June 3, 1893, on Avery's Island, New Iberia Parish, Louisiana, from a flock 

 of four; and he writes that, although these birds were quite tame, he only 

 shot the one, in the hope that the remaining ones would bring others there. 

 His attention was first called to them by their unfamiliar whistle, which is a 

 a soft, flute-like note, expressed by the word 'whae' about as well as anything; 

 this is repeated from time to time as the birds move from limb to limb in 

 search of food. On dissecting the s})ecimen he found a number of small green 

 caterpillars and several spiders, but their principal food seemed to consist of 

 the small purple figs, which were just ripe. While in search of food they 

 move about exactly as the Baltimore Oriole does, swinging from slender twigs 

 head downward, looking- under lindjs for insects. He ol)served the remaining 

 three birds again on June 5 in some fig trees in the plantation garden. 



"Although- this beautiful Oriole may be an irregular, it appears to be some- 

 times a common summer visitor along the Gulf coast of Louisiana, and let*! 

 frequently perhaps of Mississippi as well, as the following notes will show; and 

 it seems even probable that it occasionally breeds within our borders. Mr. 

 Mcllhemiy had ah-eady obtained a specimen of this Oriole two years previously, 

 and sent me the following extracts, relating to its occurrence, copied from liis 

 handbook: 



"' Jfrt^ 17, 1891. — John Gofftaey brought me to-day a beautiful bird that he 

 killed in the swamp back of the sugarhouse. It is undoubtedly an Oriole, but 

 one I have never seen before. Owing to the poor condition of the plumage, I 

 did not make a skin of it. The markings are: Head, breast, under and upper 

 tail coverts, orange; wings, black, with orange markings at their base; back, 

 black from base of neck to upper tail coverts. It is a male, and much larger 

 than the Baltimore Oriole. On dissection the only food found was a few insects 

 and three small caterpillars. 



'■'■^August 3, 1892. — To-day I went out to Mr. Herter's rice field to try and 

 get some of the birds I hear feed there. I met J. Mason and induced hiin to go 

 with me. We an-ived there quite early and saw a flock of about twenty of the 

 birds I was after; they were feeding on the rice in company with Bobolinks and 

 Red-winged Blackbirds. We found them very wild, and it was impossible to 

 get a shot. The men who mind the rice told me they sometimes killed a few, 

 and they saw some every year in these fields. I went to the house of a negro 

 who had killed some the day before to see if I could get any, but found they 



