212 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



ORCHARD ORIOLE : Icterus spurius (Linnaeus) . 



State records, — The orchard oriole is an abundant and gen- 

 erally distributed summer resident. Migrants from the south 

 appear the first or second week in April, having been noted 

 at Greensboro, April 6 (1890), April 12 (1891), and April 9 

 (1893) ; at Montgomery, April 11 (1908), and at Leighton, 

 April 12. In the fall this species departs early, and is rarely 

 seen after the 15th or 20th of August. Nesting begins late 

 in May, fresh eggs having been taken at Leighton May 20 and 

 June 5; and at Barachias May 25 and June 6. 



General habits. — The orchard oriole is found about nearly 

 every village and town, frequenting orchards, dooryards, 

 hedges, and cultivated fields where there are suitable trees in 

 which it may nest. On account of its habit of fastening its 

 nest near the extremity of a slender limb, it is sometimes called 

 "swinger." The bird is of a sociable nature and often nests 

 in the same tree with the kingbird, robin, chipping sparrow, 

 or other species. It is a restless, impulsive creature, pouring 

 forth its rich song with great ardor, often as it flies from tree 

 to tree. The song has a peculiar metallic quality which distin- 

 guishes it at once from that of the Baltimore oriole. 



The nests are deeply cup-shaped, deftly woven of wiry 

 grasses picked while green, sometimes lined with plant down ; 

 placed in small trees or bushes from 6 to 40 feet from the 

 ground. In the South the nests are not infrequently built in 

 bunches of Spanish "moss." 



Food habits. — The food habits of this oriole show it to be 

 one of the most useful birds on the farm. Its diet is composed 

 principally of insects, including caterpillars, Mayflies, grass- 

 hoppers, beetles, rose bugs, cankerworms, cabbage worms, and 

 ants. It is a persistent hunter of boll weevils, and is one of 

 the few birds that has learned to seek out and destroy this pest 

 where it hides in the cotton squares. Nearly one-third of the 

 stomachs of this species taken in the Texas cotton fields con- 

 tained boll weevils ; the average number of weevils found in a 

 stomach was 2 and individuals birds had eaten as many as 

 13 weevils at a meal. With such a record, this bird should 

 receive all the protection possible. 



