KTEIUD.E — TlIK oUloI.ES. 201 



a siii;,'lc trcf, AltlK)iij,'h constructed in ii iniiinicr iilnmst precisely similar ti» 

 tlidso 111 tlic ('(iiinnon ciistcrn sjn'cies, its iiost is less rrc([Ui'iitly ])cn(liil(ins, 

 being in nm.'v casiv! lixcd hctwTcn tiie uiirii;iil twij^s nciir tiic toji i-l' tlic tree. 

 It is, howfviT, i.Mil unrrt'iincntly susjicndoii, like tlial ol' tiu' lialtiiiKirc, tVnni 

 tli(! I'Nlreniity ol' a drodjiiu!,' lirancli, tluaiudi very rarely in so lieantiful 

 a niaiuier. Tlie tes of tliis ( h'iele, wliieli are similar tn those of llie 

 I'.allintore, are n;'. er so distinct, so mellow, nor so stron,u', and their etl'eet 

 is quite ditlerent i'roui that produeeil by the splendid midlow wliistling of 

 the eastern sjieeies ; and the mellow, rolling chatter so eharaeteristie of tlie 

 latter is not so full in the western species, and generally ends in a sharp 

 vliiiii\ much like the ciwious mewing of an Licrin. He regards I'.ulloek's 

 Oriole as altogether a less attractive species. 



Mr. Lord found this bird liy no means an abundant sjiecios in I'ritish 

 Columbia. Tliose that were .seen seemed to ])ref(!r the localities where the 

 scrub-oaks grew, to the pine regions. lie found their long, jiendulous nests 

 suspended irom jioints of oak bnxnehes, without any attempt at concealment. 

 He ne\er met with any of those birds nortii of Fraser's Itiver, and very 

 rarely east of the Cascades. A few stragglers visited his quarters at Colville, 

 arriving late in May and leaving early in September, the males usually jire- 

 ceding the females three or four days. 



On the Shasta Plains Mr. Lord noticed, in the nesting of this bird, a 

 singular instance of the readiness with which birds alter their habits under 

 ditliculties. A solitary oak stood by a little patch of water, both removed 

 by many miles from other oltjccts of the kind. E'-ery available branch and 

 spray of this tree had one of the woven nests of tb.is brilliant bird hanging 

 from it, though iiardly known to ctdonize elsewhere in this manner. 



J)r. Coues, in an interesting paper on the habits of this species in the 

 Naturalist for Novend)er, I.S71, states that its nests, though having a general 

 resemlilance in their style of architecture, differ greatly from one another, 

 u.sually for obvious reasons, such as their situation, the time taken for tlicir 

 construction, and even the taste and skill of the builders, lie describes one 

 nest, built in a ))ine-trcc, in which, in a very ingenious manner, these birds 

 bent down the long, straight, needle-like leaves of tlu! stilT, tenuinal l)ranch- 

 lets, and, tying their ends together, made them serve as the up|ier portion 

 of the nest, and a means of attachment. This ne.st was nine indies long 

 and four in diameter. 



Another nest, described by the same writer, was suspended from the forked 

 twig of an oak, and drajied with its leaves, almost to concealment. It had 

 an unusual jieculiarity of being arched over and roofed in at th.e top, with a 

 dome of the same material as the rest of the nest, and a small round hole on 

 one side, just large enough to admit the birds. 



The eggs of this Oriole are slightly larger than those of the r)altimore, and 

 their ground-color is more of a creamy-whiti-, yet occasionally with a dis- 

 tinctly bluish tinge. They are marbled and marked with irregular lines and 



vol,. II. Hi 



