264 LAND-BIRDS. 



continuous or rapid melody, but the same sounds occur again 

 and again, especially his loud " tu-wee, tit-wee." They are 

 much less often heard after the middle of June than before, 

 and finally cease some time before his departure in Septem- 

 ber. When engaged in combat (as frequently happens in 

 May) he twitters ; at other times he utters a querulous ank. 

 His ordinary note, however, is a harsh chatter, which becomes 

 vehement, whenever he is excited. 



B. SPUEIUS. Orchard Oriole. In Massachusetts, the 

 northern limit of this species, a rare summer resident.* 



a. About seven inches long. ^ , with the head, inter- 

 scapulars, wings, and tail, black ; a narrow wing-bar, white. 

 Otherwise chestnut, or chestnut red. 5 5 rather smaller ; 

 olive yellow or olivaceous above, brownish on the back, and 

 yellowish (or "greenish yellow") beneath. Wings, darker, 

 with two whitish bars. 



b. The nest differs from that of the Baltimore Oriole in 

 being less cylindrical and rarely or never more than five inches 

 deep ; in Massachusetts it is seldom finished before the second 

 week of June. Wilson, speaking of a specimen, says : " I 

 had the curiosity to detach one of the fibres, or stalks, of dried 

 grass from the nest, and found it to measure 18 inches in 

 length, and in that distance was thirty-four times hooked thro' 

 and returned, winding round and round the nest ! " 



The eggs are generally smaller, less elongated, and more 

 spotted than those of the Golden " Robin" ; averaging about 

 .80x.60of aninch. 



c. The Orchard Orioles do not reach Massachusetts until 

 after the middle of May, and leave it on the approach of au- 

 tumn. I have but seldom seen them, since they are rare so 

 far to the northward, though said to have occurred at Calais, 

 in Maine. As has been observed by various authors, they are 

 livelier than the Baltimore Orioles, and flirt their tails in a 

 much more marked manner. Audubon speaks of their socia- 



* A summer resident of southern but common in southern Connecticut 

 New England, rather rare and very — W. B. 

 local in most parts of Massachusetts, 



