ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
95 
tint, with a few points of brown, and spots of dark purple, 
chiefly disposed at the greater end. The female sits about 
14 days, and the young continue in the nest 10 days before 
they become qualified to flit along with their parents; but 
they are generally seen abroad about the middle of June. 
Previously to their departure, the young, leaving the care of 
their parents, become gregarious, and assemble sometimes in 
flocks of separate se.xes, from 30 to 40 or upwards, in the 
South frequenting the savannahs, feeding much on crickets, 
grasshoppers, and spiders ; and at this season their flesh is much 
esteemed by the inhabitants. Wilson tound them easy to raise 
from the nest, but does not say on what they were fed, though 
they probably require the same treatment as the Baltimore 
Oriole. According to Audubon, they sing with great liveliness 
in cages, being fed on rice and dry fruits when fresh cannot be 
procured. Their ordinary diet, it appears, is caterpillars and 
insects, of which they destroy groat quantities. In the course 
of the season they likewise feed on various kinds of juicy fruits 
and berries ; but their depredations on the fruits of the orchard 
are very unimportant. 
This is a summer visitor throughout the Eastern States, though 
not common north of the Connecticut valley. It occurs regularly 
in Massachusetts and southern Ontario, and has been taken in 
Maine and New Brunswick. 
