448 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
It is very desirable that someone should search for the Meadowlark 
in the western part of our Upper Peninsula, and if colonies can be found, 
should study them carefully and publish the results. At present we do 
not know that either species occurs in this territory, yet from the fact that 
the western form is not uncommon in northern Wisconsin it seems likely 
that it may frequently enter adjoining Michigan territory. : 
The nesting habits and eggs are entirely similar in the two species, 
but the eggs of the western form average slightly larger and rather more 
sparsely marked. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult male: Upper parts mainly dark brown, streaked, spotted and barred with 
grayish, thus giving a lighter and grayer tone to the plumage; tertiaries and middle tail- 
feathers distinctly barred with black and grayish, the latter color reaching the shaft, not 
merely indenting or scalloping the black as it does in the eastern Meadowlark; under parts 
similar to those of the eastern form, but the yellow somewhat paler, and that of the throat 
extending laterally more or less over the malar region; flanks and under tail-coverts nearly 
white—not buffy. The sexual and seasonal differences are parallel with those of the 
common form. 
Male: Wing 4.85 to 5.30 inches; culmen 1.20 to 1.36. Female: Wing 4.30 to 4.60 
inches; culmen 1.10 to 1.22. 
202. Orchard Oriole. Icterus spurius (Linn.). (506) 
Synonyms:—Brown Oriole, Basket-bird.—Oriolus spurius, Linn. 1766.—Oriolus mutatus, 
Wilson, 1808.—Pendulinus spurius, Cassin.—Icterus spurius of most authors. 
Adult male mostly deep black, the breast and belly rich chestnut brown; 
no pure white anywhere. Female yellowish olive above and olive-yellow 
below, with two white wing-bars. 
Distribution.—Kastern United States, north to the southern portions of 
New England, New York, Ontario, Michigan and North Dakota, west 
to the Plains, south in winter to northern Colombia. Breeds throughout 
its United States range. 
In Michigan the Orchard Oriole is a resident from May to September 
in most of the southern half of the state. It seems to be a fairly common 
bird in suitable localities as far north as Grand Rapids and Port Huron, 
or about to the parallel of 43°; farther north than this it is decidedly 
uncommon and probably the Saginaw-Grand Valley forms the northern 
limit of its distribution. Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay City records a single 
specimen from Kawkawlin, in Bay County about ten miles north of Bay 
City, the only record for the county. At Goodrich, in the southeastern 
part of Genesee county, Mr. Samuel Spicer reports it common and nesting. 
This oriole arrives from the south at about the time the apple blossoms 
open, the dates ranging from May 6 or 7 at Petersburg and Ann Arbor to May 
19 or 20 at Lansing and Grand Rapids. It is everywhere much less com- 
mon than the Baltimore Oriole, but shows decided preferences for some 
localities. Thus, about Lansing an entire season may pass without the 
record of a single Orchard Oriole and it is never common, while along the 
western shore of Lake St. Clair and St. Clair River, in Macomb and St. Clair 
counties, Swales and Taverner call it a fairly abundant summer resident, 
Its song, according to Bendire, is quick, hurried and impossible to de- 
scribe, but reminds one somewhat of the Warbling Vireo, but.is louder and 
clearer. In Michigan the song always seems to have a peculiar wiry, 
metallic twang which suggests the introductory notes of the Bobolink’s 
