116 ORIOLE. 



some downy matter in threads, formed not unlike a purse, fastened 

 to the extreme forks of the tulip, plane, or hiccorytree; there are 

 four white eggs, marked with rufous spots ; called by the common 

 people Fire Birds, and justly, as they appear in their quick movements 

 from tree to tree, like a flash of fire. It is generally three years 

 before the plumage is complete ; sometimes the whole tail of the 

 male, in the spring, is yellow ; at others the two middle feathers are 

 black, and frequently the back skirted with orange, and the tail 

 tipped with the same ; feeds chiefly on caterpillars, beetles, &c. ; has 

 a clear mellow whistle, but it can scarcely be termed a song. 



A.— Oriolus spurius, Ind.Orn.i. 180. Lin. Syst.'i. 162. Gm.Lin.i. 3S9. Bartr. 

 Trav. 288. Shaw's Zool. vii. 426. 

 Icterus minor spurius, Bris.u. 111. t. 10. f.3. Id. Svo.i. 186. 

 Turdus minor gutture nigro, Klein. Av. 68. 14. 

 Le Baltimore bastard, Buf. iii . 233. PL enl. 506. 2. 

 Bastard Baltimore, Gen. Syn.n. 433. Arct. Zool. ii. 143. Cates.Car.i. pi. 49. 



This is a trifle less than the other. Forehead and cheeks black, 

 mixed with yellow ; hindhead and nape olive grey, with a few spots 

 of black ; upper part of the back the same, but more dull ; lower 

 part of the back, rump, fore part of the neck, to the vent, and 

 under the wings, orange ; wing coverts and quills deep brown, the 

 greater tipped with dirty yellowish white ; the two middle tail feathers 

 are olive, then blackish, with a longitudinal yellowish spot at the 

 end ; the next on each side olive and black, irregularly mixed ; the 

 four outer ones yellowish olive ; legs bluish. 



This is, we believe, on all hands now acknowledged, as the 

 female Baltimore, or, at least, the male, in imperfect plumage, in 

 which state they differ greatly. We have seen several Varieties ; in 

 one, the parts above were olive brown ; on the wings two bars of 

 white, from the tips of the coverts ; quills with pale edges ; and the 

 tail dusky ; the under parts of the body olive yellow. Another was 



