256 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



spotted than those of the Golden "Robin" ; averaging about 

 80 X '60 of an inch. 



(c). The Orchard Orioles do not reach Massachusetts until 

 after the middle of May, and leave it on the approach of au- 

 tumn. I have but seldom seen them, since they are rare so far 

 to the northward, though said to have occurred at Calais, in 

 Maine. As has been observed by various authors, they are 

 livelier than the Baltimore Orioles, and flirt their tails in a 

 much more marked manner. Audubon speaks of their socia- 

 bility towards one another, observable in the South, where they 

 are abundant. 



(d). They whistle more rapidly than the Golden "Robins," 

 but their notes are very generally considered inferior and less 

 mellow. 



VI. SCOLECOPHAGUS 



(A) FERRUGINEUS. Rusty Blackbird. Rusty Grakle. 



(Not known to occur in Massachusetts except as a migrant.) 



(a). <$ , about nine inches long. In "high" plumage, black, 

 with chiefly green reflections. Otherwise, black, interrupted by 

 brown or "rusty." 9, smaller and much browner than the 

 male. * 



(b). Mr. Samuels, in speaking of several nests observed by 

 him on the Magalloway River in Maine, says that they " were 

 all built in low alders overhanging the water : they were con- 

 structed of, first, a layer of twigs and brier-stalks ; on this 

 was built the nest proper, which was composed of stalks and 

 leaves of grass, which were mixed with mud, and moulded into 

 a firm, circular structure, and lined with fine leaves of grass 

 and a few hair-like roots. The whole formed a large structure, 

 easily seen at the distance of a few rods through the foliage." 



The eggs average about l'OOX'75 of an inch, and are bluish 

 or greenish, much spotted with brown, but apparently rarely 

 marked with scrawls or lines. These characteristic markings 

 are also sometimes wanting in the eggs of the Crow Black- 

 bird. 



(The irrelevancy of the following opening is due to the omis- 



