ICTERID.E — THE ORIOLES. 907 



hmTicliCS, tlie gniss ])eing intwiiied around each twig, to support tlie struc- 

 ture. The eggs in that region were seMoni found to exceed three in nuniher. 



Mr. Dresser found tlie Long-tailed (Irakles very connnon at ]Matanioras, 

 wliere they fre(iuented the streets and yards with no signs of fear. Tliey 

 were breeding there in great (piantities, building a heavy nest of sticks, 

 lined with roots and grass. Tliey were fond of l)uilding in conii>any, and in 

 tlie yard of the hotel he counted seven nests in one tree. At P^agle Tass, 

 and as far east as the Xu jces liiver, he found them not unconinion, but 

 noticed none farther in the interior of Texas. Their usual note is a loud 

 and not unnielodicjus whistle. They have also a very j)eculiar guttural note, 

 which he compares to the sound caused by drawing a stick sharply across 

 the fpiills of a dried goose-wing. 



Ca})tain McCown states that he observed these Blackbirds building in 

 Luge communities at Fort IJrown, Texas. Upon a tree standing near the 

 centre of the pamde-ground at that fort, a pair of the birds had built their 

 nest. Just before the young were able to fly, one of them fell to the ground. 

 A boy about ten years old discovered and seized the bird, which resisted 

 stoutly, and uttered loud cries. These sooli brought to its rescue a legion of 

 old birds, which vigorously attacked the boy, till he was glad to drop the bird 

 and take to flight. Captain McCown then went and picked up the young 

 l»ird, when they turned their fury upon him, passing close to his head and 

 uttering their sharj) caw. He placed it upon a tree, and there left it, to the 

 evident satisfaction of his assailants. These birds, he adds, have a peculiar 

 ciy, something like tearing the dry husk from an ear of corn. From this 

 the soldiers called them corn-huskers. He often saw other and smaller birds 

 building in the same tree. They were very familiar, and would freq^uently 

 approach to within ten feet of a person. 



The eggs measure 1.32 inches in length by .92 of an inch in breadth, and 

 exhibit great variations both in gi-ound-color and in the style and character 

 of their marking. In some the (iround-color is of a lij^ht oravish-white with 

 a slight tinge of green or blue ; in others it is of a light drab, and again many 

 have a deep brownish-drab. The markings are principally of a dark brown, 

 hardly distinguishable from black, distributed in the shape of drops, or 

 broad irregular narrow plashes, or in waving zigzag lines and markings. In- 

 termingled with these deeper and bolder markings are suffused cloud-like 

 colorations of purplish-brown. 



