NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 347 



Mr. R. B. Herron found this bird breeding at San Gorgonia Pass, California, in the 

 months of May and June, 1883 ; the nests were placed in sycamores, ranging from ten 

 to twenty feet above the ground. In Southern Arizona it was found breeding 

 abundantly by Mr. W. E. D. Scott, in' May, June and July, rearing two, not infre- 

 quently three broods in a season; a new home is built for each brood. The nests 

 were built in Cottonwood, ash and sycamores, from twelve to forty-five feet above 

 the ground; they were also built in the mistletoe that grows plentifully on the 

 mesquite trees in the region about Tucson. The nests were exceedingly variable in 

 their appearance, composition and manner of attachment to the trees — some were 

 truly pensile, like those of the Baltimore Oriole, others were more like those of the 

 Orchard Oriole, and one rested on a stout twig and could hardly be regarded as a 

 hanging nest at all. The external materials were coarse dry or green grasses and 

 yucca fibres; the linings were the same, but finer, and in some instances horse-hairs 

 and cotton-waste. In these nests Mr. Scott found three or four eggs. The eggs 

 vary somewhat In shape, some being obtuse and more spherical, others more pointed 

 and oblong. They have a beautiful white ground, sometimes tiniged with bluish, 

 marbled, blotched and dotted with large dashes and irregular zigzag lines of purple, 

 brown and black, chiefly at the larger end. A complement of four typical eggs, 

 collected by Professor Evermann near Santa Paula, California, April 13, 1881, meas- 

 ure as follows: .94x.66, .94x.64, .92x.63, .89x.63. Four sets of fbur eggs each, col- 

 lected by Mr. Herron, are before me. A set taken June 10, 1883, exhibit the following 

 dimensions: .79x.63, .78x.63, .80x.62, .84x.62. A common size is .84x.64, and the 

 average of sixteen specimens is .88x.62. 



506. OBCHAB:!) OBIOLE. Icterus spurius (Linn.) Geog. Dist. — Eastern 

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



An abundant species in Eastern United States during the breeding 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 re- 

 sorts, 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 dilficult to detect in the foliage. Double 

 nests of the Orchard Oriole are occasionally met with. A specimen is in my collec- 

 tion, 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. BALTIMORE ORIOLE. Icterus galWla (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Eastern 

 North America, north to New England, Ontario and the Saskatchewr/j: 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 



