Thk Hawkkyk Oi.'Nitiiolohikt 



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57 



comes the family Icteridce. The coui- 

 nioner species of this family in this 

 part of Kentucky are the red-winged 

 blackbird, the meadow lark, the Bal- 

 timore oriole and the purple grackle. 

 The orchard oriole and the rusty 

 blackbird are also found; but over 

 two years of study and careful search- 

 ing in our woods and fields has failed 

 to detect the bobolink and eowbird. 



I purpose to devote this paper to 

 the meadow lark and the Baltimore 

 oriole. 



First come; first served. The 

 meadow or field lark is a common 

 resident here and seems to collect in 

 colonies. I know of two fields where 

 I can always find them, while in 

 other, seemingly just as favored 

 meadows, I have failed to see them. 



Early in the spring, I think, of '87, 

 I shot at one of these birds and came 

 very near making a clear miss as only 

 one shot struck him and that cut off 

 his leg. I picked him up and was 

 going to kill him when the thought 

 came across my mind to make a pet 

 of him. Accordingly, on reaching 

 home, I put him in a cage and fed 

 him corn meal, which he ate greedily. 

 He also relished a few wheat grains 

 which I let him have. He grew very- 

 tame shortly, and on several occa- 

 sions woke me up in the morning by 

 his clear, rich whistling; but one day 

 I left a lot of meal by the cage and 

 he killed himself eating it. I would 

 have supposed he would have known 

 when he had enough, but he didn't. 



Mr. J. B. Richards, Sec'y. Y. O. A., 

 writes me that he has known a wild 

 bobolink to kill itself by eating too 

 much, and he lost a pet bobolink in 

 the same way. 



The meadow lark is accused by 

 some writers of murdering and de- 

 vouring, not only its own, but other 

 birds" nestlings, and of being an egg- 

 sucker; but I have nothing to offer 

 on that point myself. 



The nest of the jiieadow lark is 



made of grass, etc., built on the 

 ground, often arched over, and some- 

 times at the foot of a bush or weed. 



The eggs are four to six in number; 

 crystal white, more or less marked 

 with reddish-brown dots; average 

 size, 1.10x80. 



And now, having called the bird a 

 "lark" all through the article, let me 

 say that it is not a lark at all, but a- 

 starling. The old name is, however, 

 too firmly established to permit of a 

 change. 



The Baltimore oriole is a summer 

 resident and quite common. The 

 males arrive about the middle of 

 April, and the females about ten 

 days later. In 1887; the males arrived 

 on the 13th, the females on the 23d. 

 On the 30th, I found a nest nearly fin- 

 ished; and May 7th it contained five 

 fresh eggs. Unfortunately the boy 

 who tried to secure them broke the 

 whole set. 



The oriole is one of oui most brill- 

 iantly plumaged birds, and on that 

 account is much persecuted. I have 

 heard that they stand captivity well, 

 but as yet 1 have had no opportunity 

 to try. 



But it is in the nest that the chief 

 interest in tile study of this species 

 centers. It is a closely woven pouch 

 of various substances, grass, wool, 

 thread, string, hair, iace, ribbons, 

 rags, paper, leaves— all these and 

 many more have been found in their 

 nests. I have one by me now which 

 is composed entiiely of horsehair, 

 with the exception of a white string- 

 around the rim to bind the hairs to- 

 gether; and 1 was shewn one in Ful- 

 ton, Kentucky, made entirely of long 

 blades of grass. 



I made a careful examination of 

 the nest mentioned in the first part 

 of the sketch. The foundation was 

 made entirely of white wrapping 

 twine, lined with dried grass; and as 

 if to render it less conspicuous, it was 

 covered with green locust leaves — it 



