73LACKBIRDS, ORIOLES 



(503) Icterus melanocephalus 

 auduboni Giraud 



(Lat., yelluw; black-headed). 



AUDUBON'S ORIOLE. Ads.— 

 Shown by the upper bird. Back 

 greenish-yellow; under parts bright 

 yellow, sharply contrasting with the 

 entirely black head and tail; wings 

 chiefly black, but tipped with yellow 

 and white as shown. L., g.50; W., 

 4.00; T., 4.50, rounded; B., i.oo. 



Range — Southern Tex. southward. 



(504) Icterus parisorum Bonap. 

 SCOTT'S ORIOLE. Ad. & — 



Plumage as shown; bright lemon- 

 yellow and black. 9 — Grayish- 

 olive above and dull j'ellowish below; 

 wings with two dull whitish bars. 

 L., 8.00; T., 3.50, rounded. 



Range — Western Tex., southern 

 N. Me.x., Ariz., and Cal. southward. 



and southern Canada, they are slightly migratory, but in 

 the southern half of our country they are resident. They 

 are one of the best of bird friends to the farmers, for they 

 eat comparatively little grain, while they do consume great 

 quantities of the noxious insects, their larvte, worms, grass- 

 hoppers, crickets, spiders, etc. 



As we cross fields, they often fly up in front of us, uttering 

 their sputtering alarm notes and plainly showing their 

 white outer tail feathers as they speed rapidly away with 

 their characteristic flight, accomplished by rapid beating of 

 the wings and occasional short sailings; they are often known 

 as "Marsh Quail" because of the similarity between their 

 flight and that of quail. Their song is short and with but 

 little variation; a clear, high-pitched, piping "tseu-tseeer, " 

 often written as "spring-o-the-year. " 



Meadowlarks build their nests in extensive fields, usually 

 where the grass is quite tall; they are made of grasses and 

 are arched over so that it is quite difficult to see the eggs 

 from above. 



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