70 BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 



Icterus Baltimohe, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 51. 

 Oriolus Baltimore, Linn. Syst. Nat p. 162 — Gmel. Syst. vol. i. p. ^^9.— Lath. 



Ind. Omith. vol. i. p. 180. 

 Baitimohe Oriole, Oriolus Baltimore, Wilson, Amer. Omith. vol. i. p. 23. 



PI. i. fig. 3. Male ; and vol. vi. p. 83. PI. S3, fig. 4. Female. 

 Baltimore Bird, Lath. Synops. vol, ii. p. 432. 



Adult Male, three years old, in spring. Plate XII. Fig. 1. 



Bill conical, slender, longish, compressed, a little curved, very acute, 

 with inflected acute margins ; upper mandible obtuse above, lower broad- 

 ly obtuse beneath. Nostrils oval, covered by a membrane, basal. Head 

 and neck of ordinary size. Body rather slender. Feet of ordinary length ; 

 tarsus a little longer than the middle toe ; inner toe little shorter than the 

 outer ; claws arched, compressed, acute, that of the hind toe twice the 

 size of the others. 



Plumage blended, glossy. Wings longish, somewhat rounded, the first 

 quill being almost as long as the second and third, which are the longest. 

 Tail longish, rounded, and slightly forked, the feathers rather narrow, 

 and acuminate. 



Bill and feet light blue. Iris orange. Head, throat, back part of the 

 neck, fore part of the back, quills and larger secondaries, black; as are the 

 two middle tail-feathers, and the base of all the rest. The whole under 

 parts, the lesser wing-coverts, and the posterior part of the back, bright 

 orange, deeply tinged with vermiUon on the breast and neck. The tips 

 of the two middle tail-feathers, and the terminal ends of the others, of a 

 duller orange. Quills, excepting the first, margined with white. 



Length 7| inches, extent of wings 12 ; bill | along the ridge, \^ along 

 the gap ; tarsus |, toe 1. 



Male, two years old, in spring. Plate XII. Fig. 2. 



The distribution of the colours is the same as in the adult male, but 

 the yellow is less vivid, the upper mandible is brownish-black above, and 

 the iris is light-brown. 



Young Male, one year old, in spring. Plate XII. Fig. 1. 



The bin is dark brown above, pale blue beneath. Iris brown. Feet 

 light blue. The general colour is dull brownish-yellow, tinged with oUve 

 on the head and back. The wings are blackish-brown, the quills and 



