IOTEUID.E — THE ORIOLES. 211 



for food, is intermediate between the unttnral chuck of tlie Kedwing and the 

 metallic cltinl- of tlie Ifeedlnrd. 



" In the fall, when I'ood is most alaindant, they generally grow fat, and 

 furnish excclltMit enting. They are tender, like other small hirds, and do 

 not have tin; intlier unpleasant Havor that the Kedwing gains by feeding too 

 long upon the Zi'.niiiit. 



"These are sdciable as well as gregarious liirds, and allied sjjecies are 

 seen associating witii them. At Wilmington, Southern California, where I 

 found tliem extremely abundant in November, they were tlocking indiscrim- 

 inately witii the equally ]ilentiful .ii/ilnins triro/or." 



J)r. Ileermann found this Blaekliird very common in Xew Mexico and 

 Texas, thcaigh he was proljably in error in su])]iosing that all leave there be- 

 fore the period of incubation. During the fall they frecpient the catth;- 

 yards, where they olitain abundanci' of food. They were very familiar, 

 alighting on the house-toits, and ap])arently having no cause for fear of man. 

 Uidike all other writers, he si)eaks u\' its song as a soft, clear whistle. 

 When congregated in spring on the trees, they keep np a contiinial chatter- 

 ing for hours, as though revelling in an e.xiiberance of spirits. 



Under the common Si)anish name of J'njnro i^i'icto. Dr. iSerlandier refers 

 in MSS. to this specnes. Ft is said to inhabit the greater part of jMexico, and 

 es]iecially the F^astern States. It moves in flocks in com|iany Mitli the 

 other IJlackbirds. It is said to construct a well-made nest about the end of 

 April, of blades of grass, lining it with horse-hair. The eggs, three or four 

 in ninnber, are much smaller than tho.se of Qntscidiis iiuicrnrna, ol)tuse at 

 one end. and slightly ])ointod at the other. The ground-color is a i)ale gray, 

 with a bluisli tint, and although less streaked, bears a great resemblance to 

 those of the larger Ulackbird. 



Dr. Cooper states that these birds nest in low trees, often several in one 

 tree. He describes the nest as large, constructed externally of a rough fraiue 

 of twigs, with a thick layer of mud, lined with fine rootlets and grasses. 

 The eggs are laid from ^\pril 10 to May 20, are four or five in number, 

 have a dull greenish-white ground, with numerous streaks and small blotches 

 of dark brown. He gives their measurement at one inch by .72. They raise 

 two and i>rol)ably three broods in a season. 



Four eggs of this species, froui Monterey, collected by Dr. Canfield, have 

 an average measurement of 1.02 inches l)y .74. Their ground-color is a 

 pale white with a greenish tinge. Tlusy are marked with great irregular- 

 ity, with blotches of a light brown, with fewer blotches of a much darker 

 shade, and a few dots of the same. In one egg the spots are altogether 

 of the lighter shade, and are so numerous and confluent as to conceal the 

 ground-color. In the other they are more scattered, but the lines and 

 marbling of irregularly shaped and narrow zigzag marking are absent in 

 nearly all the eggs. 



Mr. Lord found this s]iecies a rare bird in I'.ritish Columbia. He .saw a 



