ORCHARD ORIOLE, 



of Vermont sang a song so strange to me that at first I 

 did not recognize it; again the birds of Nantucket sang 

 a different song; and now, after a disinterested con- 

 sideration of the whole matter, I have come to consider 

 the song of the birds in New Jersey but one of many 

 forms each of which is distinguished by some local 

 characteristic. But in every case there is one thing we 

 can rely upon as unchanging, that is the descending 

 " slur." Mr. W. E. D. Scott particularly emphasizes the 

 provincialism of the bird, and then adds: "Should you 

 hear the song of the Meadowlark, say in Denver, or in 

 New York, or at any point in Florida, I feel sure you 

 would never recognize it as the song of the same bird." 

 But there his discrimination ceases he reckons with form 

 but fails to reckon with character. I have never seen 

 the bird in the Pemigewasset Valley. 



Orchard Compared with its relative, the Balti- 



Oriole more Oriole) this Oriole cannot be called 



Icterus T , . , 



rpurius common. Its normal range does not ex- 



L. 7.30 inches tend farther north than Massachusetts, 

 May isth and even in that State it is local. In colors 



the Orchard Oriole does not compare with the gorgeous 

 Baltimore. The breast and under parts are chestnut, 

 a tone of burnt sienna ; head, neck, and upper back 

 black ; lower back chestnut ; throat black ; \dngs 

 rusty black with chestnut shoulders, the tips of black 

 wing and tail feathers a trifle whitish. The female is 

 grayish olive green above and very dull lemon yellow 

 beneath; wings dusky brown with two whitish bars. 

 Nest pendent, or nearly so, woven of grasses and similar 

 to that of the Baltimore in materials; usually in an 

 apple-tree, or any small tree near a house, and situated 

 at the extremity of a limb, not more than twenty feet 

 above the ground. Egg, spotted and scrawled with 

 brown or black. The range of the bird is from the Gulf 

 States north to southern New England, Michigan, and 

 Ontario. Although he generally frequents the orchard, 

 he is often seen in the garden and among the shade 

 trees of the lawn, 

 The Orchard Oriole is an exceptionally good songster, 



63 



