ICTKRID.E — THE ORIOLES. 211 



for food, is intoriiu'diate between the unttural chuck of the liedwing and the 

 metallic chink of the Ifeedhird. 



" In the fall, when food i.^ most ahundant, they j^enerally urow fat, and 

 furnish exrdU'nt eating. They are tender, like other small l»irds, and do 

 not have tlie rather unpleasant Huvor that the IJedwing gains by feeding too 

 long upon the Zf'jiaia. 



"These are sociable as well as gregarious ])irds, and allied s])ecies are 

 seen associating with them. At Wilmington, Southern Califcjrnia, where I 

 found them extremely abundant in Xovcmber, they were tlocking indiscrim- 

 inately witii the equally j)lentiful Ai/</>n'iis tr'uvlor" 



])r. Ileermann found this iilackbird very c<mnnon in Xew Mexico and 

 Texas, though he was piobably in error in su])])osing that all leave there be- 

 fore the perittd of incul)ation. During the fall they fre(|uent the cattle- 

 yards, where they obtain abundance of food. They were very familiar, 

 alighting on the house-tops, and ap})arently having no cause for fear of man. 

 Unlike all other writers, he speaks of its song as a soft, clear whistle. 

 When congregated in spring on the trees, they keep up a continual chatter- 

 ing for hours, as though revelling in an e.xiiberance of si)irits. 



Under the connnon Sjianish name of Pujaro pricto, Dr. l>erlandier refers 

 in MSS. t(j this species. It is said to inhabit the greater part of Mexico, and 

 especially the P^astern States. It moves in tlocks in comjtany with the 

 other lilackbirds. It is said to construct a well-made nest about the end of 

 April, of blades of grass, lining it with horse-hair. The eggs, three or four 

 in number, are much smaller than those of Qciscahiji laacruru.^, obtuse at 

 one end, and slightly pointed at the other. The ground-color is a pale gray, 

 with a bluish tint, and although less streaked, bears a great resemblance to 

 those of the larger Blackbird. 



Dr. Cooper states that these birds nest in low^ trees, often several in one 

 tree. He describes the nest as lari^je, constructed externally of a roujjjh frame 

 of twigs, with a thick layer of mud, lined with fine rootlets and grasses. 

 The eggs are laid from April 10 to May 20, are four or five in number, 

 have a dull greenish-white ground, with numerous streaks and small blotches 

 of dark brown. He gives their measurement at one inch by .72. They raise 

 two and probably three broods in a season. 



Four eggs of this species, from Monterey, collected by Dr. Canfield, have 

 an average measurement of 1.02 inches by .74. Their ground-color is a 

 pale white with a greenish tinge. They are marked with great irregular- 

 ity, with blotches of a light brown, with fewer blotches of a much darker 

 shade, and a few dots of the same. In one egg the spots are altogether 

 of the lighter shade, and are so numerous and contiuenc as to conceal the 

 ground-color. In the other they are more .scattered, but the lines and 

 marbling of irregularly shaj>ed and narrow zigzag marking are absent in 

 nearlv all the e^j^s. 



]\Ir. Lord found this species a rare bird in British Columbia. He saw^ a 



