Western Meadow-Lark 311 
The nest is placed on the ground and is usually well 
concealed by a tuft of grass; it is sometimes approached 
by a covered way through tangled weeds and grasses. 
It is constructed of dried weeds and grasses woven 
together, and lined with finer material of the same kind. 
The eggs, usually five in number, are laid in Colorado 
during the latter half of May: Dille (03) gives May 15th 
for the Denver neighbourhood. Aiken records nests 
in El Paso co. on May 15th and June 4th; in the latter 
instance the nest contained four Meadow-Lark eggs and 
two Cowbird eggs. At Bedrock, 5,100 feet, in south-west 
Colorado, Warren found a nest as early as April 23rd. 
Both sexes assist in incubation. The eggs are white, 
sometimes with a faint pink or greenish suffusion, spotted 
and blotched with various shades of brown; they 
measure 1:12 x ‘81. 
Genus ICTERUS. 
Small birds—wing under 4-5 in Colorado species—with a slender, 
somewhat acute bill, rather less than the length of the head; culmen 
straight or slightly decurved ; nostrils large with a conspicuous oper- 
culum; wing moderate, the ninth (outer primary) always shorter 
than the eighth ; generally between the fifth and sixth; tail at least 
2 the length of wing, more or less rounded; feet weak; tarsus equal 
to or exceeding the middle toe and claw; sexes usually distinct, 
plumage black and orange, or black and chestnut. 
This is a large genus, containing the birds generally known in America 
as Orioles (not to be confused with the true Orioles of the Old World). 
More than fifty species and subspecies are recognized, ranging over the 
whole of temperate and tropical America. Only one species is at all 
abundant in Colorado, but two of the commoner eastern forms have 
occasionally been met with. 
Key or THE SPECIES. 
A. Chestnut below ; bill distinctly decurved. I. spurius, ¢ p. 312. 
B. Orange or yellow below; culmen nearly straight. 
w. Head and neck black all round. I. galbula, ¢ p. 312. 
b. Crown and throat black, sides of the head orange. 
I. bullocki, ¢ p, 313 
