ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



506. Icterus spurius- 7% inches. 



Male chestnut and black; female dull yellowish and 

 gray; young male, second year, like female but with 

 black face and throat. These Orioles are usually 

 found in open country and, as their name suggests, 

 have a preference for orchards. They are also found 

 abundantly in shrubbery along streams and roadsides. 

 They feed chiefly upon worms, caterpillars, beetles, 

 grasshoppers, etc., and are one of the most beneficial 

 birds that we have. 



Song. A rich, loud and rapid warble, cheery and 

 pleasing but impossible to describe; a chattering note 

 of alarm. 



Nest. A beautiful basket of grasses woven into a 

 deeply cupped ball, and situated in forks of trees or 

 bushes; often they are made of green grasses. Four 

 to six white eggs, specked, scrawled and spotted with 

 black and brown (.80x.55). 



Range. U. S. east of the Plains breeding from the 

 Gulf to Mass, and Michigan; winters in Central 

 America. 



