The Scott Oriole 

 No. 16 



Scott's Oriole 



A. O. U. No. 504. Icterus parisorum Bonaparte. 



Description. — Adult male in breeding plumage: Head and neck all around, 

 breast, and back, jet black; remaining underparts (including axillars and under wing- 

 coverts), rump, tail-coverts, and basal three-fifths of tail (one-third only on central 

 pair), pure yellow (lemon-chrome) - , bend of wing and lesser and middle wing-coverts 

 yellow, the last-named tipped with lighter yellow; the greater coverts and tertials 

 tipped with white; rest of wing and tail black. Adult male in winter: "Similar to 

 summer male, but white markings on wing much broader, feathers of back more or less 

 margined with light gray, rump and upper tail coverts more strongly washed with 

 olive or gray, and flanks more or less tinged with olive' (Ridgway). Adult female in 

 breeding plumage: Somewhat similar to adult male in spring, but black pure only on 

 throat and chest, and there reduced in area; feathers on the borders of this area tipped 

 with yellow; remainder of head and neck mingled olive-yellow and black the former 

 in fine skirting; the back olive-gray with lighter skirtings and darker centers; rump and 

 upper tail-coverts yellowish (citrine or oil-yellow) ; the tail brownish olive centrally 

 and terminally, shading into oil-yellow basally and marginally; underparts yellow, pure 

 only centrally on wing-linings, elsewhere washed with olivaceous; lesser and middle 

 wing-coverts mingled with olive-yellow and black; the middle and greater coverts 

 broadly white-tipped ; remainder of wing grayish brown with lighter edgings. Im- 

 mature male (through the second year?): Like adult female, but progressively blacker, 

 anteriorly, especially below. Immature female: Like adult female but much duller; 

 more sordid or olive-gray below and without black — olive-gray instead (through second 

 year?) ; progressively brighter after first year (?), with gradual access of black anteriorly. 

 The unmarked phase of the female Scott Oriole has been described as adult (i. e., Ridg- 

 way, Bull. 50, U. S. N. M., pt. ii., p. 309), but the logic of development would seem to 

 favor the explanation given, and black-throated examples abound. Juvenals (first 

 plumage) differ from immature females, if at all, only in being more purely yellow on 

 the posterior underparts. Length of males about 211 (8.30). Av. of 16 specimens (after 

 Ridgway) . wing 104.4 (4- 10); tail 88.4 (3.48); bill 22.9 (.90); tarsus 23.9 (.94). Females 

 average smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Towhee size; foreparts entirely black, sharply contrasting 

 with yellow rump and underparts of male. In all plumages greenish yellow as con- 

 trasted with the reddish yellow of Icterus bullocki. 



Nesting. — Nest: a sturdy basket of twisted, interlaced, and broken grasses, 

 plucked green; lined with finer grasses, seed pappus, or other soft substances; lashed to, 

 or impaled upon, the narrow sword-like leaves of the yucca, and especially (in California) 

 of the tree yuccas ( Yucca arborescens and Y. mohavensis) Eggs: 3 or 4, rarely 5, white 

 or pale bluish white, marked sparingly with reddish brown or blackish. The markings 

 are rounded, zigzag, or various, but show no tendency to scrolling, although there are 

 occasional hints of coronal wreathing. The colors too are oftenest partially self-toned 

 by virtue of superimposed lime, and there are sometimes minute frecklings which 

 impart a dirty appearance to the egg. Av. size 23.8 x 17 (.94 x .67). Season: About 

 May 1st (on the Mohave desert); one (?) brood. 



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