256 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS ' 
spotted than those of the Golden “Robin”; averaging about 
*80 X *60 of an inch. 
(c). The Orchard Orioles do not reach Massachusetts until 
after the middle of May, and leave it on the approach of au- 
tumn. I have but seldom seen them, since they are rare so far 
. to the northward, though said to have occurred at Calais, in 
Maine. As has been observed by various authors, they are 
livelier than the Baltimore Orioles, and flirt their tails in a 
much more marked manner. Audubon speaks of their socia- 
bility towards one another, observable in the South, where they 
are abundant. 
(ad). They whistle more rapidly than the Golden “ Robins,” 
but their notes are very generally considered inferior and less 
mellow. 
. VI. SCOLECOPHAGUS 
(A) FeRRuGINEUS. Rusty Blackbird. Rusty Grakle. 
(Not known to occur in Massachusetts except as a migrant.) 
(a). &, about nine inches long. In “high” plumage, black, 
with chiefly green reflections. Otherwise, black, interrupted by 
brown or ‘‘rusty.” 9, smaller and much browner than the 
male. : 
(b). Mr. Samuels, in speaking of several nests observed by 
him on the Magalloway River in Maine, says that they ‘‘ were 
all built in low alders overhanging the water: they were con- 
structed of, first, a layer of twigs and brier-stalks; on this 
was built the nest proper, which was composed of stalks and 
leaves of grass, which were mixed with mud, and moulded into 
a firm, circular structure, and lined with fine leaves of grass 
and a few hair-like roots. The whole formed a large structure, 
easily seen at the distance of a few rods through the foliage.” 
The eggs average about 1:00X°75 of an inch, and are bluish 
or greenish, much spotted with brown, but apparently rarely 
marked with scrawls or lines. These characteristic markings 
are also sometimes wanting in the eggs of the Crow Black- 
bird. 
(The irrelevancy of the following opening is due to the omis- 
