268 BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



feet up. Eggs, four to six, white, singularly scrawled with fine, distinct or 

 obscure blacli or fuscous lines, and with a few spots or blotches, -M x 'es. 



Sometimes Nature, as if to remind us of the richness of her stores, 

 sends from the tropics a gayly attired bird who seems quite out of 

 place among the more soberly clad inhabitants of northern climes. 

 The genus Icterus contains nearly forty species, all more or less 

 brightly dressed in orange, yellow, and black, but not one is more 

 beautiful than our Baltimore Oriole. 



There is reason to believe that he is not unaware of his own 

 charms ; indeed, we may almost suspect him of intentionally display- 

 ing them. His splendor is not to be lost in the forest, and, whistling 

 loudly, he flashes through our fruit and shade trees. 



He generally leaves to the female the task of constructing their 

 wonderfully made nest, but he seems quite as deeply interested in the 

 performance as if he were a skilled weaver himself ; indeed, he would 

 probably assist if he were permitted. 



Young Orioles have been well named by Mrs. Olive Thome Miller 

 the cry-babies of the bird world. Their ceaseless call for food is 

 almost as much a midsummer voice as the song of cicadas. Long 

 after they have left the nest we may find them in the different trees 

 about our lawn calling out monotonously and persistently dee-dee- 

 dee-dee, until one of the parents arrives and momentarily stops their 

 mouths. 



Bullock's Oriole {508. Icterus hullocki), a species of our Western States, 

 has been taken at Bangor, Maine. 



509. Scolecophagus caroUnus [Miill.). Busty Blackbird. Ad. 

 S , breeding plumage. — Entire plumage uniform glossy bluish black ; tail- 

 feathers of nearly equal length. Ad. i in fall and winter plumage. — Simi- 

 lar, but the upper parts widely tipped with rufous or rusty, the under parts 

 similarly tipped with ochraccous- or cream-bufE'; a huffy line over the eye. 

 Ad. 9 in breeding plumage. — Slate-color, glossy above, duller below ; wings 

 and tail darker and more glossy. Ad. 9 in fall and winter. — Similar, but 

 somewhat lighter, the upper parts widely tipped with rufous or rusty, the 

 under parts similarly tipped with ochraceous- or cream-huff. L., 9-55 ; W., 

 4-61 ; T., 3-52 ; B., -80. 



Range. — Breeds from New Brunswick and Manitoba northward to Labra- 

 dor and Alaska; winters from Virginia southward. 



"Washington, common W". V., Oct. 25 to Apl. 25. Sing Sing, common T. 

 v., Mch. 26 to May 8 ; Sept. 28 to Nov. 27. Cambridge, very common T. V., 

 Mch. to May 5 ; Sept. and Oct. 



Nest, of twigs and coarse grasses lined with finer grasses, in coniferous 

 trees or on the ground. Eggs, four to seven, grayish green to pale green, 

 thickly blotched with light and dark brown and purple, 1-00, x -76 (Cham- 

 berlaiu). 



