Plate I. 
ICTERUS BA L TIMORE— Baltimore Oriole. 
The Baltimore Oriole arrives in Ohio between the middle of April and the first of May. A fort- 
night later the bird can be seen busily engaged in the construction of the nest. 
LOCALITY: 
The elm, with its tough, pendant branches and close foliage, is pre-eminently the fittest of all our 
forest trees to receive, support and conceal this model of bird architecture. Other trees, however, are 
often occupied, such as the maple, oak, hickory and poplar, but the majority of nests in Ohio are, ac- 
cording to our observation, built in elms. No condition of soil or surrounding timber seems to be 
preferred above another; the elm is the favorite tree, be it beside a village street, in a dense forest, or 
an open field. 
POSITION : 
The typical nest is truly pensile, and is suspended from the extreme branches of an overhanging 
limb, where, shaded from the sun by the leaves above, it rocks to the gentlest breeze. At other times 
it is fastened to a perpendicular limb of considerable size, where the smaller branches put forth. 
Between these two positions various others are common and constantly met with; no two nests being 
hung in exactly the same manner. The distance from the ground varies from four to seventy feet. 
MATERIALS : 
During the period of nidification, any substance combining the proper length, thickness and strength 
is in demand; consequently the materials of construction are almost without number, and depend to a 
great extent upon locality. 
In the woods, long grasses, strips of bark and vegetable fibres of different kinds make up the struc- 
ture; but in cities and villages, or in the country, near houses, yarn, wrapping-twine, horse and cow 
hairs, rags, paper and such other substances as are ready prepared and accessible, are largely used. 
The lining is generally of hairs, vegetable down, and fibres. 
The cavity varies in depth from two and three-fourths to six inches; inside diameter at the mouth, 
from two and three-fourths to three and three-fourths inches, increasing slightly near the bottom. 
EGGS: 
The complement of eggs is from four to six. They measure 1.05 x. 70 to ,80x.50; average, about 
.92x.60. When blown, the ground is white, with the brightness dimmed by the faintest bluish or pink- 
ish tint, and marked with dots, lines, scrawls and blotches of dark brown or black, usually distributed 
irregularly over the surface; but often thickest about the crown, forming a wreath. 
The deep shell markings look as if most of the coloring matter had been washed off, and the re- 
maining had soaked in, making the outline indistinct. 
41 
