WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



Mademoiselle Oriole is not so showy as her gay 

 beau. Persuade the pair to keep quiet a moment, 

 and compare them. They are in size between a 

 bluebird and a robin, but rather more slender than 

 either. The plumage of the male is of a rich but 

 varying orange upon all the lower parts, under- 

 neath the wings, upon the lower part of the back, 

 and the outer edges of the tail; the throat, head, 

 neck, the part between the shoulders, wing quills, 

 and middle tail feathers are velvety black; the bill 

 and feet are bluish; there is a white ring around 

 the eye, and the lesser wing quills are edged with 

 white. In the female the pattern of color is the 

 same, but the tints are duller. The jet of the male's 

 head and neck is rusty in his mate, and each feath- 

 er is margined with olive. The orange part of the 

 plumage is more like yellow in the female, and 

 wing and tail quills are spotted and dirty. Three 

 years are required for the orioles to receive their 

 complete plumage, the gradual change of which 

 is beautifully represented in one of Audubon's 

 gigantic plates. "Sometimes the whole tail of 

 a [young] male individual in spring is yellow, some- 

 times only the two middle feathers are black, and 

 frequently the black on the back is skirted with 

 orange, and the tail tipped with the same color/' 



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