280 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



.78X.63, .80X.62, .84X.62. A common size is .84X.64, and the aver- 

 age of sixteen specimens is .88X.62. 



506. Icterus spurius (Linn.) [270.] 



Orchard Oriole. 



Hab, Eastern United States, west to the Great Plains, south in winter to Panama. 



An abundant species in Eastern United States during the breed- 

 ing season, which is in May and June. The male is of a chocolate and 

 black color ; the female is smaller than the male, and of a yellowish- 

 olive. Orchards and groves are its favorite resorts, and two broods are 

 frequently reared in a season. The nest is rarely found in a large tree 

 or in dense woods, and the distance from the ground is from five to 

 twenty feet, usually about ten. It is a handsome, substantial basket 

 or purse-like structure, woven of fresh blades of grass and lined 

 with feathers. The grasses soon become bleached, and long retain 

 their pea-green color, giving to the nest a beautiful appearance. Its 

 greenness often makes it difficult to detect in the toliage. Double nests 

 of the Orchard Oriole are occasionally met with. A specimen is in 

 my collection, sent me from Texas by Mr. Singley. 



The eggs range from four to six, usually five. They have a 

 bluish ground; the markings consist of spots, specks, a few large 

 blotches, irregular and zigzag lines of various shades of brown, chiefly 

 about the crown ; there are also deep shell-marks of a purplish. In a 

 large series of eggs the variation in size is considerable, measuring as 

 they do from .70 to .86 long by .50 to .62 broad. 



507. Icterus galbula (Linn.) [271.] 



Bc^ltimore Oriole. 



Hab. Eastern North America, north to New England, Ontario and the Saskatchewan country, west 

 nearly to the Rocky Mountains, south through Eastern Mexico and Central America to Panama. 



Known as the Golden Robin, Firebird and Hangnest. A common 

 species in Eastern United States where, on account of its handsome 

 dress, the peculiarity of its nest and its loud and rather melancholy 

 whistle, it is well known. Its nest is a masterpiece of workmanship, 

 which, with its bill, it weaves and suspends like a hammock from the 

 drooping bough of an elm or sycamore, in dense foliage. The nest 

 is pensile and nearly a cylindrical pouch, suspended from the extrem- 

 ity of a branch. The distance from the ground varies from four to 

 seventy feet. Any substance combining the proper length, thickness 

 and strength is used in the construction of its nest, consequently the 

 materials depend to a great extent upon the locality — long grasses, 

 strips of bark, vegetable fibres, yarns, wrapping twine, horse and cow 

 hairs, rags, paper and other substances that are readily accessible. 



