OKOHARD ORIOLE 189 



It is a common error in central New England to imagine 

 that a dull-colored oriole seen in an orchard is the Orchard 

 Oriole ; the latter occurs commonly only in southern New 

 England and in the lower Hudson Valley. (See following 

 species.) 



Orchard Oriole. Icterus spurius 

 7.32 



Ad. $ . — Head, throat, and upper back black ; lower hack, hreast, 

 and belly chestnut; wings dark brown, tail almost black. Tm. $ 

 in second year. — Upper parts greenish-yellow, brightest on the 

 rump ; tail brown, tinged with greenish-yellow ; throat black ; 

 under parts yellow. Ad. 9. — Similar to Im. $, but throat yel- 

 low; back browner. 



Nest, a deep cup made of long green grass-blades, hung gen- 

 erally in apple-trees ten to fifteen feet up. Eggs, bluish white, 

 spotted and scrawled with black or brown. 



The Orchard Oriole is a common summer resident of 

 southern Connecticut and the lower Hudson Valley ; in 

 eastern Massachusetts it is a rare summer resident as far 

 north as Ipswich. It is not uncommon in the valleys of the 

 Connecticut and Housatonic, as far north as Springfield and 

 Pittsfield, though it is far less common everywhere in Mas- 

 sachusetts than the Baltimore Oriole. In northern New 

 England the Orchard Oriole does not occur. It arrives early 

 in May, and leaves in August. The Orchard Oriole, as its 

 name suggests, frequents apple orchards, but it is often 

 found in low shade-trees. 



The song is very different from that of the Baltimore 

 Oriole ; it is not made up of separate whistled phrases, hut 

 is a definite outburst of musical notes. It recalls the rich- 

 ness of the Fox Sparrow and the energy of the Purple 

 Finch. The call-note of the Orchard Oriole suggests the 

 chuck of a Blackbird ; it has also a chatter resembling that 

 of the Cowbird. 



A bird in the adult plumage of chestnut and black is 



