ICTEUID.E — THE ORIOLES. 195 



.02 tii .F!8 n!" an incli, and from .08 to .05 of an inch in breadth. They 

 have a clear white j^round niarljlcd and blotclied with largo dashe.s, dots, and 

 irregular zigzag lines of purple, brown, and black, chiefly disposed around 

 the larger end. In those where the spots are more difl'used they are blended 

 with obscure blotche.5 of a iiiint lavender. 



Icterus baltimore, Daudix. 



BALTIMORE OBIOLE ; GOLDEN ROBIK ; HANG-NEST. 



Oriohis b'tllihiore, Lixs. Syst. Nut. 1, UtiG, 1C2. — Wilson, Am. Oni. T, ISnS, 2."?, pi. i. 

 - In. VI, 1812, [il. liii. " Icfcnis ball.imoir, nwi) " — Am. Orn. Biog. I, lS:il, 66 ; 

 V, is:i9, 278, pis. .\ii. ami occe.vxiii. — In. Hinls Am. IV, 1842, 37, pi. cc.wii. — 

 I'.Aii!!), IJinlsN. Am. 1858, .''.48. — Sci.Arr.it k S.m.vin, E.v. Oiii. I, 69, 188 (diagnosis). 

 — Samuels, 348. Vpluinlcs baltimvrc, Vikii.i.ot, (ial. dcs Oi.s. I, 1824, 124, pi. 

 l.x.x.wii. P.inrncoUus bnllimore, Waglrk, Syst. Av. 1825, No. 26. Lc Ilallimorc, 

 Buff. jd. fiil. 506, f. 1. llyphnnks h., Ca.ss. Pr. 1867, 62^ 



Sp. Char. Tail nearly oven. Head all round and to middle of hank, scapnlar.s, wing.s, 

 and upper surface of tail, black ; rest of under parts, rump, upper taii-covert.s, and le.sscr 

 wing-covert!., witli terminal portion of tail-fealliers (except two innermost), orango-red. 

 Edges of wing-quills, with a band acro.ss tlio tips of the greater covert.*!, white. Length, 

 7.50 inches ; wing, 3.75. 



The female much les.-< brilliant in color; the black of the liead and back generally 

 replaced by browni.«h-yellow, purer on the throat ; each feather with a black spot. 



Hah. From Atlantic coast to the high Central Plains, and in their borders; .south 

 to Panama. Xalapa (Scu 18.")G, 3C5) ; Guatemala (Scl. Ibi.s, 1,20); Cuba (Caban. J. 

 IV. 10); Ccsta Rica (Cahan, J. 18C1, 7; Lawr. IX, 104); Panama (Lawr. N. Y. Lye. 

 18G1, :!:51); Veragua (Sai.v. 1807, 142); Mosquito Coast (Sul. & Salv. 18(17, 279); 

 Vera Cruz (autunni, Su.m. M. U. S. I, 553). 



A young bird is soft, dull orange beneath, palest on the throat, and tinged 

 along the sides with olive ; above olive, with an orange cast on the rump and 

 tail, the latter being without any black; centres of dorsal feathers blackisli ; 

 wings blackish, with two broad white bands across coverts, and broad edges 

 of white to the tertials. 



Specimens collected in Western Kansas, by Mr. J. A. Allen, have the 

 middle wing-coverts pure white instead of deep orange, and, according to 

 that naturalist, have more slender bills than Eastern birds. Mr. Allen thinks 

 they form a rac(! pecidiar to the plains ; but in examining the series of speci- 

 mens in the mu.seum of the Smithsonian In,stitiirion, we have failed to dis- 

 cover any constancy in this respect. A male (5,350, Fai-m Isl., May 30) froiu 

 Nebraska has the middle wing-coverts pure white, — the lesser, clear orange; 

 the black throat-stripe is almost separated from the black of the cheeks by 

 the extension forward of the orange on each side of it, only the tips of the 

 feathers being black. 



No. 01,192 $ , ]Mount Carmel, 111. (Angust 12),'^has the thrftat-strijie even 

 more isolated, being connected anteriorly for only about a (piarter of an inch 

 with tlu> black of the Jaw; there is also a distinct indication of an orange 



