278 ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE. 



of the yuccas are covered with dead leaves hanging downward, and this nest, which is 

 a cup-like structure, built of green grasses closely woven, is placed on the outside of 

 the dried leaves and is only attached to one of them. It is rather more than three 

 inches deep, and is attached to a single leaf for this distance. No leaves cover it or 

 conceal it, and the general appearance is that of a cup resting against the trunk of a 

 tree with no apparent attachment to it. 



"In the mesquite regions about Tucson the nests are frequently built in the mistletoe 

 that grows plentifully on that tree. These nests are generally symmetrical, shallow 

 cups in shape, and are almost alWays semi-pensile." 



During the last week of March, 1884, Mr. F. Stephens found nests of this Oriole 

 in the Colorado Desert in a palm {Wasbingtonia ffU&ra) grove, w^hich is situated in 

 a canon six miles south of Agua Caliente. "This grove of palms was tenanted mainly 

 by the California House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanas 6-ontalis). Among the masses of 

 dead palm leaves, clustered below the living ones, were many Oriole nests. I climbed 

 several trunks to inspect the nests, finding that they were composed exclusively of the 

 strong hemp-like palm fibres, making a beautiful warm nest. All seen, except one, 

 were attached to the under sides of the masses of dead leaves, among the wind-frayed 

 filaments composing the ends of the old leaves. The exception was one apparently 

 sewed on the under side of a large green leaf. I much wanted to get it, as it vvras a 

 very pretty nest, but it was impossible to climb past the mass of old leaves which 

 surrounded the trunk some thirty feet from the ground, and was eight or ten feet in 

 diameter and pressed almost solid by the storms of years. I fired several shots at the 

 leaf stem, trying to cut it off, but the tough fibres were too much for my small shot. 

 Nearly all w^ere the shallow, cup-like nests of the Hooded Oriole, but one was larger 

 and wider than this species is likely to make, and probably belonged to Scott's Oriole. 

 None were the more purse-like nests of Bullock's Oriole. Some nests taken were filled 

 with sound seeds of the palm, evidently placed there by a small species of mouse, of 

 which I saw one. No Orioles were seen in the canon, but the following day I saw 

 several Bullock's Orioles in the cotton-woods around Agua Caliente." 



That this beautiful Oriole has obtained a foothold in the fine gardens of southern 

 California is shown by the observations of Mr. Theo. D. Hurd, of Riverside, Cal., who 

 reports as follows: 



"As all the accounts of the nesting of the Arizona Hooded Oriole that I have seen 

 are the results of observations in uncultivated regions, or where native vegetation 

 abounds, I thought a few notes from this locality might be of interest. Therefore, in 

 this article I will give my experience with this bird in the settled district (under culti- 

 vation) of Riverside; extending as it does over an area of about twenty square miles, 

 and as this land twenty years ago was a dry plain, no stately sycamore nor live oak 

 stands to offer the usual favorite nesting place. The past season of 1889 was a most 

 favorable one for the study of this bird, as they were exceedingly abundant compared 

 with previous years, even outnumbering our common Bullock's Oriole, which before 

 has been by far the more common of the two. The Arizona Hooded Oriole arrives here 

 about the middle of March, and probably commences building the first week in April, 

 as my first nest found contained a full set on April 23, and I heard of others being found a 



