THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE, OR HANG-NEST. 
41 
confinement. I have seen one reared from the nest so gentle as to follow 
and come to its owner, whenever he called to it. They do not breed in the 
lower parts of South Carolina, but are found not unfrequently breeding at 
the distance of a hundred miles from the sea-coast of that State. It is not 
uncommon in Nova Scotia. 
It will be seen from the above that Wilson and all who have copied him 
have erred in alleging, that the males of this species do not acquire their 
full plumage until the third year. 
The eggs average seven and a half eighths in length, and five and three- 
fourths in their greatest breadth. They are rather pointed at the smaller end. 
Baltimore Oriole, Oriolus Baltimore , Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. i. p. 23. 
Icterus Baltimore, Bonap. Syn., p. 51. 
Baltimore Oriole or Golden Robin, Icterus Baltimore, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 152. 
Baltimore Oriole, Icterus Baltimore, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 66; vol. v. p. 278. 
Second and third quills longest, fourth longer than first ; tail slightly 
rounded. Male with the head, throat, sides, and hind part of the neck, with 
the fore part of the back, black ; lower parts, rump, upper tail-coverts, and 
smaller wing-coverts rich orange, passing into orange-red on the breast ; 
wings black, the secondary coverts largly tipped, and the quills margined 
with white ; tail black, all the feathers tipped with rich yellow, the outer 
for half their length, the middle on a very small space. Female consider- 
ably smaller, with the upper part of the head, hind neck, sides of the neck 
at the middle, and anterior half of the back, brownish-black, the feathers 
edged with dull yellowish-green ; hind part of the back light brownish- 
yellow, purer on the rump ; tail yellowish-brown, the middle feathers 
darker ; wing-coverts blackish-brown, quills dark brown, all margined with 
whitish ; first row of small coverts and secondary coverts largely tipped 
with white ; loral space, a band over the eye, and another beneath it, dull 
yellow ; below the latter the cheeks spotted with dusky ; lower parts 
yellowish-orange, duller than in the male, paler behind ; some dusky streaks 
on the throat. Young similar to the female, but with the upper parts 
brownish-yellow, the head and back faintly spotted with dusky. 
Male, 7§, 12. Female, 7, 11. 
In summer dispersed over the United States, to Nova Scotia. Columbia 
river. Texas. Abundant. Migratory. 
A male preserved in spirits presents the following characters. The palate 
ascends anteriorly, and has two prominent soft ridges, at the anterior ex- 
tremity of which is a slight protuberance, analogous to that of the Bunt- 
ings, but only rudimentary or less developed ; beyond it is a median broad 
ridge gradually tapering to the point. The posterior aperture of the 
Yol. IY. 6 
