few days before. The nesting extends through May and June, the latest date being 

 July 1. The nest is almost always instantly distinguished from that of Bullock's 

 Oriole by its light color— a peculiarity which is noticed in other localities, I believe— 

 and it is invariably composed of fresh fibres of the fan palm, which has been planted 

 here to a large extent. I have never seen the bulk of a nest made of anything else. 

 Many nests contain no lining whatever, and none are very elaborately finished. The 

 majority merely have a small amount of a cottony substance (also obtained from the 

 palm), and a few will contain two or three feathers, or a long horse hair. For the 

 rearing of the first brood the nests are usually suspended in overhanging branches of 

 the blue gum {Eucalyptus globulus), but it is a noticeable fact that the second nests 

 are more commonly attached to the leaves of the palm tree. Why this is I do not 

 know, unless they want to begin laying as soon as possible, and therefore build where 

 material is most easily obtained. When in the palms the nests are fastened directly to 

 the under side of a large leaf, leaving a small opening on one, or more often on either 

 side, for the bird to enter. A nest composed of fresh, pale yellowish material, thus 

 suspended is a beautiful contrast against the green leaf, and is the handsomest of 

 anything in the way of nests that I have seen, especially when four nests are in one 

 small palm not over fifteen feet high. While the eucalyptus and palm are the two great 

 favorite trees for nests, yet occasionally they build in others, chiefly the cotton-wood, 

 poplar, willow, and English walnut, and in one instance a nest was suspended in a 

 climbing vine on a porch, but these are exceptional cases. As a rule they do not built 

 high, the highest being not over twenty or twenty-five feet from the ground, while from 

 six to fifteen feet is the usual height. In size and shape the nests vary considerably, but 

 probably no more than those of other birds, and not so much as some. The general 

 shape is cup-like, the greatest diameter being at the top. Purse-shaped nests are very 

 rare. When placed in palms, the tendency is to spread out more, often assuming the 

 appearance of a hammock, and on several occasions I have known them so shallow 

 that the eggs have rolled out during a strong breeze. A typical nest will measure about 

 2.75X3.25 inches, inside and outside diametet, and 3.00 X 3.50 inches in depth." 



Prof. W. B. Evermann found it nesting quite numerously in Ventura County, Cal. 

 The nests were usually suspended in sycamores, often in live-oaks, ranging from five to 

 fifteen feet above the ground. They were composed of grass picked while green, so 

 that the structure usually showed a bright straw^-color. 



Mr. Hurd describes fifteen nests, of which seven w^ere built in palms. The eggs 

 have a beautiful white ground, sometimes w^ith a bluish tint, marbled, blotched, and 

 dotted with large dashes and irregular zigzag lines of purple, brown, and black, chiefly 

 at the larger end. 



This Oriole is distributed over south-western New Mexico and southern Arizona, 

 west to Santa Barbara, Cal., and south to Mazatlan and Cape St. Lucas. 



NAMES: Arizona Hooded Oriole. 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: ICTERUS CUCULLATUS NELSONI Ridgway. 



DESCRIPTION: Like the Hooded Oriole, "with breast, etc., saflFron-yellow, varying to gamboge (never 

 orange)." (Ridgway.) 



