The Scott Oriole 



while watching the birds, I would detect a female singing the same 

 glad song, only more softly. At the earliest daybreak and all day long, 

 even when the sun is at its highest, and during the great heat of the 

 afternoon, its very musical whistle is one of the few bird songs that are 

 ever present." 



Unfortunately, the singers are very shy, and the pursuit of their 

 ravishing notes all too rarely yields a view of the handsome singer, with 

 his blackest of heads and his most intensely yellow under-plumage. Even 

 the females, who are much duller in appearance, will slyly forsake their 

 nests upon the distant approach of the stranger, and will oftenest remain 

 concealed, or absent themselves, while the nest is being examined. 



Typically, the birds nest in the tree yuccas, whether in the Joshua 

 tree {Yucca arborescens) of the eastern desert ranges and the Walker's 

 Pass region, or in the Mohave Yucca ( Y .mohavensis Sargent) of the Antelope 

 Valley and the northern slopes of the San Bernardino range. Further 

 south yuccas of the sword-bayonet type ( Y. baccata and related forms) 

 furnish shelter, and the palms {Washingtonia filifera) of Palm Canyon and 

 other valleys, are accepted as substitutes. In default of these, Scott's 

 Oriole has been known to nest in pinyons or live oaks or even sycamores. 

 When in the yuccas, nests are, of necessity, placed at moderate heights, 

 four to ten feet. The edges of descending leaves of the plant are frayed or 

 notched, to serve for the attachment of the threads which support the 

 nest. A deep cup is woven out of yucca fibers or grasses, occasionally 

 supplemented by horsehair, and the linings boast either cotton waste 

 or finely shredded hemp. 



From its semi-desert association, the food of Scott's Oriole must 

 consist chiefly of insects, supplemented, possibly, by nectar. Mrs. Kate 

 Stephens once saw an Oriole drink deeply from the tubular orange flowers 

 of the aloe, and thinks that they find nourishment also in the blossoms 

 of tree tobacco. 1 Bendire notes 2 their eating the ripe fruit of the giant 

 cactus; and Dr. Grinnell 3 took specimens at Fairmont which were gorged 

 with apricots. 



We have, evidently, much to learn yet of the comings and goings 

 of Scott's Oriole. Most recorded appearances fall within the dates 

 April 1st and September 15th; but Stephens has seen them at San 

 Diego as early as Feb. 26 (1916) 4 ; and W. B. Judson took a specimen in 

 the San Fernando Valley, Nov. 2, 1903. 5 The vicinity of San Diego has 

 been favored with many recent appearances, and it is quite possible that 



'Condor, Vol. VIII., p. 130. 



2 "Life Histories," Vol. I., p. 473. 



3 Condor, Vol. XII.. p. 46. 



'Condor, Vol. XVIII. May, 1916. p. 130. 

 5 Condor, Vol. VI., p. 25. 



9 6 



