520 LAND BIRDS 



neck yellowish olive, becoming brighter yellow on forehead and super- 

 ciliary region ; wings with white bands ; under parts lemon-yellow, 

 fading to gray on belly ; throat usually with more or less of black. 



Young : Similar to female, but colors duller ; no black on throat, and 

 yellow sometimes almost wanting. 



Geographical Distribution: Western North America, north to British 

 Columbia, east to and including the Rocky Mountains; south in 

 winter to Mexico. 



California Breeding Range : Chiefly in the upper Sonoran zone through- 

 out the State. 



Breeding Season : May and June. 



Nest: Fastened at sides and rim to branches of the birch, alder, cotton- 

 wood, poplar, and often to bunches of mistletoe growing on cotton- 

 wood trees ; placed from 6 to 40 feet from the ground ; made of 

 vegetable fibres, horsehair, and inner bark woven together ; lined 

 with horsehair, down, and wool. 



Eggs : 3 to 6 ; grayish or bluish white, or pale bulFy, marked with irreg- 

 ular fine hair lines. Size 0.89 X 0.64. 



The handsome Bullock Oriole fills the same niche in 

 the country west of the Rocky Mountains that the 

 equally handsome Baltimore oriole occupies in the 

 Eastern States. Like the other two species found in Cali- 

 fornia, it is only a summer visitant, arriving in March and 

 going back to its winter haunts in late September. Like 

 the Baltimore oriole, it loves the open country of the 

 interior valleys, and the margins of streams fringed with 

 alder ; it is never found in the deep forests or the higher 

 altitudes, and seldom or never strays across the Coast 

 Range into the humid coast region. 



Its call-notes and song resemble those of the Baltimore, 

 but have less sweetness and variety. Where the latter 

 whistles half a dozen variations on his original theme of 

 five notes, the Bullock is content to repeat the same 

 phrase with few modifications. Nor have I ever heard 

 him give the love song that is poured out by the Balti- 



