CHAPTER XXVIII. 



July 2 July 8. 



THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 



Order Passeres Suborder Oscines 



Family Icteridae Genus Icterus 



Sub genus Yphantes Species Icterus galbula 



Length 7.00 to 8.15 ; wing, 3.50 to 3.90; tail, 2.85 to 3.35. 

 Migration North, April; south, August. 



"A flash of gold and black against the sky, 



A perch upon the orchard's topmost bough, 



A strain of such unmingled ecstacy, 



The lingering echoes thrill the silence now, 



A hanging nest so beautifully shaped, 



So softly lined, close woven, firm and strong, 



A bright eyed mate to brood above the eggs, 



And listen to that rhapsody of song." 



The genus Icterus, scientists tell us, contains nearly forty 

 species, all more or less brightly dressed, in orange, yellow 

 and black. None, however, is more beautiful than our Balti- 

 more oriole. The name oriole is from the French oriol and 

 that from the Latin aureolus, meaning a little bird of gold. The 

 Baltimore oriole gets its name from its colors which are black 

 and orange, being those of the arms of livery of Lord Balti- 

 more. There is a popular tradition as to how it got the name. 

 The story is, that when George Calvert, the first Lord Balti- 

 more was worn out with many hardships in his Newfoundland 

 colony, he journeyed into Virginia. There he was much im- 



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