260 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



Goldfinches are late home builders, seldom starting before July. 

 The nest is placed in a tree or bush, the bird showing a preference 

 for maples. It is a cup-shaped structure, largely made of thistle 

 down. The eggs are very pale blue or nearly white. 



Bluebird. Sialia sialis sialis (Linn.) 



The male of this beautiful bird, which is a little smaller than the 

 Robin, is brilliant blue on the upper parts and reddish brown on the 

 throat and breast, shading to white beneath. The female is duller, 

 grayer blue, and lighter reddish brown on the breast. Young birds 

 are gray, with a glint of blue in the wings, the upper parts streaked 

 with whitish and the breast spotted with brown. 



The Bluebird is quite common in the more open portions of the 

 Park, about farm lands, orchards, shade trees and buildings. It 

 may be observed sitting on wires, posts or open perches along the 

 roads, when the curious manner in which it hunches its shoulders, 

 as it watches the ground, will identify it as readily as its plumage. 



The voice of the Bluebird is soft, low-pitched and sweet. The 

 common call note, which has been written "surely " or " truly " but 

 is perhaps more accurately " ooahloo," is as sweet as the song. The 

 latter is a longer, more varied performance, sung mainly in early 

 spring and only occasionally in the early summer months. ." Eeo-ah 

 loo-ee," with a sweet, upward inflection on the last note, will repre- 

 sent one of the commonest phrases. 



The nest of the Bluebird is placed in a hole in a tree, stump or 

 fencepost, or in a bird box provided for it. It is a bird that could 

 be easily attracted about the farms or the more open camp sites of 

 the Park by the erection of such boxes or suitable nesting holes. 

 The nest is made of grasses and hair, and the four to six eggs are 

 very light blue, without marks. 



Baltimore Oriole. Icterus galbula (Linn.) 



This beautiful bird, a little larger than the English Sparrow, is 

 colored a brilliant orange and black. The head,. neck, throat, upper 

 back, wings and tail are black. The breast, under parts, lower back 

 and shoulders are orange. The wing is marked with white bars. 

 The female is duller, brownish or olive and dull orange replacing 

 the male's more brilliant colors. 



This bird is well distributed in shade trees and along stream 

 borders in the Park. It is particularly partial to the elm tree, when 

 nesting, but may also be found nesting in other kinds of trees. It 

 lives mainly in tree tops and is seldom seen low down in the trees or 

 on the ground. 



The song is a loud, rich whistle. A single note, " whewtle " or 

 " whewlee," the first wlith a fall in pitch, the second with a rise. 

 is often uttered. The longer song consists of these two notes, and 

 some others, repeated and put together in a variety of combinations. 



The nest is a deep, pouch-like structure, hung from the low outer 

 branches of an elm or other shade tree. The nest is woven of strings 

 or plant fibers, those stripped from last year's stalks of Joe-Pye weed 



