282 ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



any time after April 10. Our garden offered especial attractions to these Orioles, for 

 the hedge of wild olive trees that bordered it on two sides was overrun with Cherokee 

 roses and trumpet-vines artiong which they found a congenial shelter. They were fond, 

 too, of sipping the honey from the trumpet-flowers, and it was no uncommon thing to 

 see half-a-dozen collected about a single cluster. In this occupation they were almost 

 invariably joined by numerous Hummingbirds; — and such a group, with a setting of 

 green leaves and scarlet and white blossoms, formed the prettiest picture imaginable.'* 



In south-western Missouri the first old males arrive by the 28th of April. As these 

 delightful and conspicuous songsters are very abundant, th^y can scarcely escape 

 observation. They are, however, very partial to certain favorite localities, and ate 

 often absent in places where we would with certainty expect them. The following is 

 from my journal : 



"Freistatt, Mo., April 28, 1885. Spring in all its glory is here at last. Every- 

 where the eye meets flowering trees and shrubs, and from all sides the sweet music of 

 birds falls on our ear. The air is remarkably clear and refreshing on this plateau of 

 the Ozark Mountains. Just now the southwind is blowing so strongly during day-time 

 that all the apple trees bend northward. By the middle of May this strong wind will 

 have ceased to blow. Now is the time when the most beautiful of our vocal summer 

 sojourners arrive. While sauntering through the woodlands and the adjoining orchard 

 this morning I was saluted by the loud rattling tamrrrr and the sprightly song of the 

 Orchard Oriole. While singing its gushing strain, it was perched in the upper slender 

 branchlets of an apple tree, almost hidden among the dense foliage, and its notes were 

 accompanied by fluttering and swinging motions. This is one of the characteristic traits 

 of all the Orioles, but especially of this species. The song always reminds me of the 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The notes are rapidly enunciated, and so hurried and gushing 

 that the ear can scarcely follow them, but they are extremely harmonious, loud, and 

 varied. I agree with Dr. T. M. Brewer, who describes the performance as consisting 'of 

 shrill and lively notes, uttered with an apparent air of great agitation, and that they 

 are quite distinct and agreeable, though neither so full nor so rich, as are those of the 

 more celebrated Golden Robin.' 



"The exquisite and varied strain of the Orchard Oriole, its loudness and rapidity, 

 its gushing liveliness and hilarity is a true picture of the now absolutely reigning spring. 

 The white erythronium', the common blue violet", as well as the arrow-leaved' and the 

 bird's-foot violet* are blooming abundantly in the fence corners and in the borders of 

 the woods. The prairies are covered with a carpet of shooting stars {Dodecatheoa 

 Meadia), varying in color from pure white to deep rosy. In the trellises covered by 

 Japan honey-suckles {Lonicera Halliana) the Catbird, just arrived from its winter home, 

 inspects its old nesting-quarters. Bluebirds are busily engaged in feeding their young 

 in the nesting-box fastened to a small oak. From the thickets of the adjoining wood- 

 lands the enchanting song of the Cardinal and the screaming of the very abundant 

 highway robbers, the Blue Jays, falls on the ear. Mockingbirds and Thrashers sing, and 

 Flickers and Red-headed Woodpeckers announce their presence by their incessant 

 drumming and loud call-notes. The air, which is characterized by its pureness, and 



> Erythronlum ulbidum. J Viola cuciillata. 3 V. sagittate, t V. pedata. 



