THE ORCHARD ORIOLE. 245 



THE ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



Very similar in form and marking, but of a different 

 color and smaller, is the Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). 

 Some seven inches long, and having nearly the same parts 

 black as the Baltimore, except that the tail is entirely black, 

 the male has those parts corresponding to the orange in the 

 latter — chestnut, or chestnut-red. The female is olivaceous 

 above, with dusky wings, and greenish-yellow beneath. 

 The young male is like her the first year, the second year he 

 acquires a black throat, the third year is variously spotted, 

 and afterwards acquires the dark colors of maturity. Resid- 

 ing in Orleans County, N. Y., I am a little too far north for 

 this bird, but in Northern Ohio, where I formerly studied 

 him, he is very common, being found in every orchard. 

 Arriving there about the middle of May, his song is a loud 

 and delightful warble, bearing a striking resemblance to 

 that of the Robin or Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The female 

 is so shy as seldom to be seen. The nest, hung by the 

 upper edge to a limb in the orchard, is nearly hemispherical, 

 built of tough grasses thoroughly interwoven. Wilson says: 

 " I had the curiosity to detach one of the fibers, or stalks of 

 dried grass, from the nest, and found it to measure thirteen 

 inches in length, and in that distance was thirty- four times 

 hooked through and returned, winding round and round 

 the nest." He says, also: "An old lady of my acquaint- 

 ance, to whom I was one day showing this curious fabrica- 

 tion, after admiring its texture for some time asked me, in a 

 tone between joke and earnest, whether I did not think it 

 possible to teach these birds to darn stockings." This nest, 

 being built of grasses so recently dried as still to retain 

 their green color, about like that of new-mown hay, has a 

 peculiarly fresh and clean appearance. 



The Orioles proper are altogether birds of the Old 



