ORIOLES 353 



of the limbs of a maple tree. Nests in elms vary in elevation 

 from the ground from about twenty to fifty feet. Nest build- 

 ing requires about fifteen days, the male being present and 

 closely inspecting the work as it goes on and occasionally 

 contributing a little material. The eggs are laid one each 

 day until the complement of three to seven, usually four or 

 five are laid. These are pale grayish white, lined chiefly about 

 the larger end with streaks and blotches and pen lines of black, 

 brown, lavender and gray. Incubation lasts about fifteen days, 

 the female sitting very closely and rarely leaving the nest, 

 being tended and fed frequently by her mate. The young 

 leave the nest in about fifteen to eighteen days. 



The food consists of beetles, caterpillars, soft fleshy larvae 

 of various sorts, moths and similar insects gleaned from the 

 foliage of the trees. They take dozens of tent caterpillars 

 and Vanessa antiojM larvae daily, also canker worm larvae 

 and occasionally I have seen them feeding on the soft slug- 

 like larvae of the Colorado potato beetle which they were 

 gleaning from the potato plants. Cherries and other small 

 fruits are eaten to a lesser extent, but no great harm is done 

 along this line. 



508. Icterus bidlocki (Swains.). Bullock's Oriole. 



Plumage of adult male : forehead, line over eyes, ear coverts, sides, malar 

 regions, under parts, rump and upper tail coverts orange yellow; pileum, 

 hind neck, back, scapulars, lores, and middle of throat black ; wing coverts 

 partly black and partly orange ; primaries and secondaries black, edged with 

 white ; tail orange with the middle feathers and tips of the others black. 

 Plumage of adult female : yellowish olive on pileum, hind neck and tail ; 

 otherwise above olive grayish ; sides of head, neck and chest yellowish ; 

 other under parts bui!ish white ; wings dusky, the middle coverts white tip- 

 ped, making a distinct band. Wing 4.00 ; culmen 0.75 ; tarsus 0.98. 



Geog. Dist.— Western North America from western Texas and Lower 

 California to British Columbia and Alberta, east to the Plains ; accidental in 

 Maine. 



County Records. — Hancock ; a specimen taken at Sorrento, some years ago, 

 is now in the collection of Manly Hardy of Brewer, this being erroneously 

 recorded by Mr. Brewster as from Bangor, (Brewster, Auk, 7, p. 92). 



