AUDUBON'S OEIOLE. 471 



certain styles of Brewer's Blackbirds' eggs, while an occasional set is profusely 

 blotched with coarse, heavy markings of cinnamon rufous and numerous finer 

 spots of the same tint, these almost completely hiding the ground color. The 

 markings are generally heaviest about the larger end of the egg. 



The average measurement of twenty-eight specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection is 25.15 by 17.98 millimetres, or 0.99 by 0.71 inch. 

 The largest egg of the series measures 26.42 by 18.80 millimetres, or 1.04 by 

 0.74 inches; the smallest, 23.62 by 17.78 millimetres, or 0.93 by 0.70 inch. 



The type specimens are all from the Ralph collection. No. 25536 (PI. 6, 

 Fig. 25), from a set of two eggs taken in Cameron County, Texas, May 7, 1892, 

 represents one of the lighter-marked styles of eggs; No. 25538 (PL 6, Fig. 26), 

 from a set of tlu-ee taken.on the same date and in the same locality as the former, 

 containing also an egg of the Red-eyed Cowbird, represents one of the more com- 

 mon types; and No. 26349 (PI. 6, Fig. 27), from a set of six eggs (three eggs 

 of the owner and three of the Red-eyed Cowbird) taken on May 8, 1893 (same 

 place as above), represents one of the heavier-marked eggs of this species. 



185. Icterus parisorum Bonaparte 



SCOTT'S ORIOLE. 



Icterus parisorum Bonaparte, Proceedings Zoological Society, 1837, 109. 



(B 411, C 219, E 268, 329, U 604.) 



Geographical range: Tablelands of Mexico, from Puebla and Vera Cruz north 

 through western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California to southern Nevada 

 and southwestern Utah to about latitude 38° ; Lower California. 



The range of Scott's or the Mountain Oriole in the United States has been 

 very materially increased within the last few years. It has been found by Mr. 

 E. W. Nelson in central New Mexico, in the vicinity of Santa Fe, in July, 1890, 

 and by different members of Dr. C. Hart Merriam's exploring parties of the 

 Death Valley Expedition, in southeastern California and southern Nevada, in 

 the spring and summer of 1891, while Dr. Merriam himself found it in the 

 Beaverdam Mountains, in southwestern Utah, and it appears to be generally 

 distributed throughout these regions, being fairly common in. suitable localities. 



The breeding range in the United States is coincident. with its geographical 

 distribution. 



In Texas it does not appear to be found in the lower Rio- Grande Valley, 

 but seems to be restricted to the extreme western parts of the State only. Dr. 

 A. K. Fisher, who is familiar with this species, tells me that he saw an adult 

 male of Scott's Oriole among the yuccas at Eagle Flat, 15 miles east of Sierra 

 Blanca, El Paso County, on May 8, 1894, this being the only positive Texas 

 record I know of. 



The skin in the United States National Museum collection on which the older 

 Texas record is based was taken by one of the Pacific Railroad surveying parties 



