BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 279 



the full beauty of their plumage before the first winter after their birth, 

 having seen several individuals taken fi'om the nest and reared in avia- 

 ries acquire their full plumage by the end of September. They feed 

 kindly and breed vs^ell in a state of confinement, taking great care of 

 their young. 



In the wild state I have frequently seen these birds feed on those 

 beautiful green coleopterous insects called " May-bugs," but they sel- 

 dom eat them in confinement. I have seen one reared from the nest 

 so gentle as to follow and come to its owner, whenever he called to it. 

 They do not breed in the lower parts of South Carolina, but are found 

 not unfrequently breeding at the distance of a hundred miles from the 

 sea-coast of that State. It is not uncommon in Nova Scotia. 



It will be seen from the above that Wilson and all who have co- 

 pied him have erred in alleging, that the males of this species do not 

 acquire their full plumage until the third year. This opinion I also en- 

 tertained when I wrote my first volume. 



The eggs average seven and a half eighths in length, and five and 

 three-fourths in their greatest breadth. They are rather pointed at 

 the smaller end. 



In addition to the description of this species given in vol. i, at 

 p. 70, a few particulars may here be noted : — 



The bill agrees with those of Icterus spurius and /. Bnllochii, in its 

 general characters, being considerably shorter than the head, conical, 

 rather stout, but tapering to a very attenuated point. It is almost per- 

 fectly straight, being but very slightly decurved towards the end ; that 

 of /. Bullockii is similar in this respect, but is a little more decurved 

 and considerably longer ; while that of /. spurius is very perceptibly 

 deciu-ved. The nostrils are linear, oblong, operculate, exposed, in the 

 fore part of the rather short nasal groove. The form and proportions 

 of the wings and tail agree in all these species, with slight dififerences. 

 In the present bird the wing is longish, and rather pointed than rounded, 

 the first and second quills being equal and longest, the third scarcely a 

 twelfth of an inch shorter, the fourth shorter in the same proportion, 

 but the other primaries more rapidly diminished ; the secondaries broad- 

 ly rounded. Tail rather long, straight, rounded, the lateral feathers 

 being two-twelfths shorter than the longest, which exceed the middle 

 feathers by about half a twelfth. The claws are rather large, that of 

 the hind toe more curved and much stronger than that of the middle 



