AUDUBON'S ORIOLE. 469 



184. Icterus audubonii Gieaud. 



AUDUBON'S ORIOLE. 



Icterus audubonii Giraxtd, Sixteen Texas Birds, 1841, 3. 



(B 409, C 220, R 266, C 330, U 503.) 



Geographical range: Central and eastern Mexico, from Jaguila, Oaxaca, north 

 to southern Texas (Bexar County). 



Within the borders of the United States the breeding range of Audubon's 

 Oriole appears to be confined to the lower Rio Grande Valley, where it is not 

 uncommon in suitable localities and a resident throughout the year. Mr. H. P. 

 Attwater, in his List of Birds Observed in the Vicinity of San Antonio, Bexar 

 County, Texas, makes the following remarks : 



"This species may perhaps be most properly described as a rare winter 

 wanderer. I first observed it on March 27, 1890, when I secured a fine male 

 among the tall pecan timber on the San Antonio River, just south of the city. 

 I was attracted by the bird's note. I did not observe it again until 1891, when 

 I obtained three specimens out of a flock of about eight or ten, at the same 

 place, on February 13. The next day they were all gone, and I have never 

 come across any since. Mr. Toudouze describes some birds (to me) which were 

 new to him, and which, he noticed on the Medina River, about the same time, 

 which, from his description, were no doubt this species." ^ 



Dr. James C. Merrill, United States Army, in his List of Birds Observed in 

 the Vicinity of Fort Brown, Texas, writes as follows about this species: 



"This fine Oriole is found in moderate abundance, and is the only species 

 that is resident. During the summer months it is usually found in deep woods, 

 at some distance from houses, but during the winter it is less shy and retiring. 

 They are frequently captured and offered for sale by Mexicans in this vicinity, 

 but several I have kept would not sing at all in captivity. When free their 

 usual song is a prolonged and repeated whistle of extraordinary mellowness and 

 sweetness, each note varying in pitch from the preceding. If once heard, it can 

 never be forgotten." ^ 



This is one of the sixteen new species of birds described by Mr. J. P. Giraud 

 in the Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, in 1841, from spec- 

 imens collected in Texas in 1838. Some time afterwards Mr. John H. Clark, the 

 naturalist attached to the Mexican Boundary Survey, obtained several specimens 

 near Fort Ringgold, Texas. He reported it as not abundant, and its quiet man- 

 ners and secluded habits prevented it from being very conspicuous. It was 

 most frequently observed by him feeding on the fruit of the hackberry, but 

 whenever approached while thus feeding it always showed signs of uneasiness, 

 and soon after sought refuge in some place of greater concealment. Usually 

 pairs were to be seen keeping close together, apparently preferring the thick 



'The Auk, VoL IX, 1892, p. 238. 



^Proccedinga of the U. S. Xational Mu8eum, Vol. I, 1878, p. 134. 



