474 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



From two to four eggs ai-e laid (usually three), and probably two broods are 

 raised in the more southern parts of their range in a season. They are ovate and 

 elongate ovate in shape. The shell is thin, rather close grained, and without 

 luster. 



The grovmd color is pale blue, which fades considerably in the course of 

 time, and tins is blotched, streaked, and spotted, principally about the larger 

 end of the egg, with different shades of black, mouse, and j^earl gray in some 

 specimens, and with fine claret brown, russet, ferruginous, and lavender dots and 

 specks in others. 



The average measurement of twenty-five specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection is 23.86 by 16.98 millimetres, or about 0.94 by 

 0.67 inch. The largest egg in this series measures 26.67 by 17.27 millimetres, 

 or 1.05 by 0.68 inches; the smallest, 23.11 by 15.49 millimetres, or 0.91 by 

 0.61 inch. 



Of the tj^^e specimens. No. 20228 (PI. 6, Fig. 28), from a set of tlu-ee 

 eggs, Bendire collection, was taken by the writer, as already stated; and No. 

 25225 (PI. 6. Fig. 29), also from a set of three, was taken by Mr. G. P. Wilcox, 

 near Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on June 28, 1892. 



i86. Icterus cucullatus Swainson. 



HOODED ORIOLE. 



Icterus cucullatus Swainson, Philosophical Magazine, I, 1837, 436. 



(B 413, C 218, R 269, C 328, U 505.) 



Geographical range: Southern and eastern Mexico, north to the lower Rio 

 Grande Valley, in Texas ; south to Honduras, Central America. 



The breeding range of the Hooded Oriole witliin the United States is rather 

 a restricted one, being confined to the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Avhere 

 it is an abundant summer resident. 



Dr. James C. Merrill, United States Army, in his Notes on the Ornithology 

 of Texas, published in the Proceedings of the United States National Museum 

 (Vol. I, 1878, pp. 134, 135), says: '^Icterus cucullatus is usually found in woods. 

 The nests of this l)ird found here are perfectly characteristic, and can not be 

 confounded with those of any allied species. They are usually found in one of 

 the two following situations: The first and most frequent is in a bunch of hanging 

 moss, usually at no great height from the ground ; when so placed, the nests 

 are formed almost entirely liy hollowing out and matting the moss, with a 

 few filaments of a dark, hair-like moss as lining; the second situation is in a 

 bush (the name of which I do not know) growing to a height of about 6 feet, 

 a nearly bare stem, throwing out two or three irregular masses of leaves at the 

 top. These bunches of dark-green leaves conceal the nest admirably. It is 

 constructed of filaments of the hair-like moss just referred to, with a little Spanish 

 moss, wool, or a few feathers for tlie lining. They are rather wide and shallow 



