THE HOODED ORIOLE. 



(^Icterus cucullatus. ) 



Only a very limited portion of the 

 United States is beautified by the pres- 

 ence of the bright colored Hooded Oriole. 

 The North has the richly plumaged Bal- 

 timore oriole for a short time each year, 

 but only the far southeastern part of 

 Texas is enlivenel by this graceful, active 

 bird of our illustration, which is "so full 

 of song that the woods are filled with 

 music all the day." Both of these birds 

 seem hardly to belong to the North, 

 where somber colors seem more in har- 

 mony with a severer climate. The Hood- 

 ed Oriole does not attempt the journey 

 and when we see the Baltimore, 



"A winged flame that darts and burns, 

 Dazzling where'er his bright wing turns," 



in our northern woods we cannot but ask, 

 ■with the poet, 



"How falls it, Oriole, thou hast come to fly 

 In tropic splendor through our northern sky? 

 At some glad moment was it Nature's choice 

 To dower a scrap of sunset with a voice?" 



The Hooded Oriole has a very narrow 

 range, reaching from Texas southward 

 through eastern Mexico to Honduras, 

 and during our northern winters it has 

 the Baltimore as an associate. It is a 

 social bird and frequents the home of 

 man. One writer relating his experience 

 with this Oriole says : ''They were con- 

 tinually appearing about the thatched roof 

 of our houses and the arbors adjoining 

 for insects ; they were more familiar than 

 any of the other Orioles about the ranch." 



It not only delights man by its song 

 and beautiful coloring, but its presence is 

 also beneficial, for it destroys countless 

 adult insects and their larvae. 



The Hooded Oriole seldom builds its 

 nest higher than from six to twelve feet 

 above the ground, though in a few in- 



stances it has been found as high as thir- 

 ty feet. Dr. James C. Merrill, in his 

 Notes on the Ornithology of Texas, says, 

 "The nests of this bird found here are 

 perfectly characteristic, and cannot be 

 confounded with those of any allied spe- 

 cies. They are usually found in one of 

 the two following situations : The first 

 and most frequent is in a bunch of hang- 

 ing moss, usually at no great height from 

 the ground ; when so placed the nests 

 are formed almost entirely by hollowing 

 out and matting the moss, with a few 

 filaments of a dark, hairlike moss as a 

 lining. The second situation is in a bush 

 growing to a height of about six feet, a 

 nearly bare stem, throwing out two or 

 three irregular masses of leaves at the 

 top. These bunches of dark green leaves 

 conceal the nest admirably. It is con- 

 structed of filaments of the hair-like mass 

 just referred to, with a little Spanish 

 moss, wool, or a few feathers for the lin- 

 ing. They are rather wide and shallow 

 for orioles' nests, and though strong they 

 appear thin and delicate." Not infre- 

 quently the Hooded Oriole builds its nest 

 in plants called the Spanish bayonet or 

 yucca. In such a situation the walls are 

 constructed almost entirely of the fibers 

 of the plant torn from dried leaves. 

 These fibers are tough and the nest walls 

 are much more durable than when made 

 with moss. Wool or vegetable down 

 may be used as a lining, but it is not un- 

 common to find no lining. The Hooded 

 Oriole is not free from the intrusion of 

 feathered rascals. Major Bendire says 

 that it "is considerably imposed upon by 

 both the red-eyed and the dwarf cow- 

 birds, and in a few instances parasitic 

 eggs of both species are found in the 

 same nest." 



