144 ICTERUS SPUR1US. 



harmonious strains have caused them to become general favorites and, as they are seldom 

 molested, they have acquired confidence in humanity, frequenting the gardens and shrub- 

 bery about dwellings. Thus they find protection from many enemies under the guardianship 

 of man, but they amply repay him for his kindness by destroying multitudes of insects. 

 They not only eat greedily of that detested pest, the canker worm, but are among the few 

 species of birds that will eat the tent caterpillar. They will alight on the nest of this des- 

 tructive insect, tear it to pieces, and devour the larvae. Later in summer they will take a 

 few berries and they are immoderately fond of green peas. This latter named trait is their 

 only fault, yet we may well pardon them for this when we find that they also eat the po- 

 tato beetle. An Oriole that I shot in the act of helping himself to peas had four or five of 

 the above named insects in his stomach. 



As a nest builder this Oriole excels, not only is the structure durable but it is ex- 

 tremely light and admirably formed to occupy the position usually chosen for it, the 

 extremity of a swaying bough. That this habit of suspending the nest in such inaccessible 

 places, where no animal large enough to injure the eggs or young can reach it without the 

 aid of wings, is an ancestral trait acquired in the Tropics, where such a precaution is much 

 more a matter of necessity than here, can scarcely be doubted. At present, however, it is 

 exceedingly conducive to the increase of the species that this cautionary trait was perpet- 

 uated, as practically it can make but little difference to the Orioles whether their eggs are 

 stolen by monkeys who would eat them, or by some urchin who is ambitious to have the 

 egg a "Golden Robin" in his collection. 



The eggs of these Orioles are deposited by the first of June and the singular notes of 

 the young may be heard early in July. As they leave the nest by the middle of the 

 month they become fully fledged by the first of August and undergo their first moult when 

 the adults acquire their autumnal dress. By September they are all in perfect plumage 

 and shortly after migrate in straggling flocks. I have a specimen which was taken in 

 Massachusetts as late as November 13, but this is extremely exceptional for they seldom 

 remain after the middle of September. They linger for a time in Pennsylvania, but de- 

 part for the South before October. 



ICTERUS SPURIUS. 

 Orchard Oriole. 



Icterus spurius BON., Ohs. on Nom. Wils.; 1825, No. 44. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, slender. Size, small. Feet, not large. Tongue, as in the preceding species. Sternum, not stout. 

 Bill, slender and considerably curved. 



COLOR. Adult male in summer. Head, all around neck coming down into a triangle on the breast, back, and tail, 

 Mack. The latter, slightly tipped with white. Wings, also black, with a bar of white and chestnut, and all theoutcr edges 

 of outer webs, margined with either chestnut or greenish white. Remainder of body, including lesser and under wing cov- 

 erts, chestnut. Bill, black, blue at base of lower mandible. Feet, blue. 



Adult female in summer. Yellowish-green throughout, darker on the back. Wings, brown, with white markings as in 

 tin- male., but willi no chestnut. Bill, brown, lighter at, base of lower mandible. . 



Youny male. Similar to the adult female but there is a patch of black extending over the throat, lower neck, and lores. 

 There are also black feathers in the back, and portions of the tail are frequently of the same color, while there are traces 

 of chestnut on the sides and middle of the breast. Bill and feet as in the adult. 



