Conspicuously Yellow and Orange 
The Germans call this little bird roth Stert (red tail), but, like 
so many popular names, this is a misnomer, as, strictly speaking, 
the redstart is never red, though its salmon-orange markings 
often border on to orange-flame. 
In a fork of some tall bush or tree, placed ten or fifteen feet 
from the ground, a carefully constructed little nest is made of 
moss, horsehair, and strippings from the bark, against which 
the nest is built, the better to conceal its location. Four or five 
whitish eggs, thickly sprinkled with pale brown and lilac, like the 
other warblers’, are too jealously guarded by the little mother-bird 
to be very often seen. 
Baltimore Oriole 
(Icterus galbula) Oriole and Blackbird family 
Called also: GOLDEN ORIOLE; FIREBIRD; GOLDEN ROBIN; 
HANG-NEST; ENGLISH ROBIN 
Length—7 to 8 inches. About one-fifth smaller than the robin. 
Male—Head, throat, upper part of back glossy black. Wings 
black, with white spots and edgings. Tail-quills black, with 
yellow markings on the tips. Everywhere else orange, 
shading into flame. 
Female—Yellowish olive. Wings dark brown, and quills mar- 
gined with white. Tail yellowish brown, with obscure, 
dusky bars. 
Range—The whole United States. Most numerous in Eastern 
States below 55° north latitude. 
Migrations—Early May. Middle of September. Common sum- 
mer resident. 
A flash of fire through the air; a rich, high, whistled song 
floating in the wake of the feathered meteor: the Baltimore oriole 
cannot be mistaken. When the orchards are in blossom he 
arrives in full plumage and song, and awaits the coming of the 
female birds, that travel northward more leisurely in flocks. He 
is decidedly in evidence. No foliage is dense enough to hide his 
brilliancy; his temper, quite as fiery as his feathers, leads him 
into noisy quarrels, and his insistent song with its martial, inter- 
rogative notes becomes almost tiresome until he is happily mated 
and family cares check his enthusiasm. 
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