BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC.: SCOTT ORIOLE 649 
his shoulders till his epaulettes “blaze with scarlet color” 1 ; their color 
flaming in contrast to his jet black coat, or whether, fancy free, he is 
swinging on a tule, when, as the poets have it, he “flutes his O-ka-lee” 
When seen in flocks after the nesting season, the Red-wings may 
excite admiration or dismay according to the particular objects of their 
attention or the especial interests of the neighborhood. In Farming- 
ton, in the fall of 1908, Mr. Birdseye found large numbers alighting in 
the village streets, where they were quite tame and were doubtless 
looked upon with interest by the community; but outside they were 
said to join with the Brewer Blackbirds in attacking the grain, when, 
quite naturally, they would be abhorred by the farmer. In October and 
November, flocks were noted at Fruitland, Liberty, and Shiprock. 
At La Plata, in December, 1893, flocks of thousands were seen by Mr. 
Loring “feeding in the weeds and underbrush along the river banks 
and in the meadows. They were always in company with the Brewer 
Blackbirds and nine-tenths of them were males.” 
From Mesilla Park, Professor Merrill wrote of the Nevada Agelaius— 
“This Red-wing is resident here but many absented themselves for a 
while the winter of 1912-13 during exceptional cold. Nearly always 
the Red-wing is found associated with the Yellow-heads, whether 
breeding or flocking, but it also breeds in any small bit of reedy place 
that is too small to suit the Yellow-heads. For this reason it is more 
commonly distributed over the valley in summer. By the first of 
August, after the family is well reared, the flocking begins. The food 
and feeding habits are practically the same as those of the Yellow¬ 
headed Blackbird and they are similarly accused. The stomachs of 
some taken this summer near wheat fields showed some wheat but 
mainly grasshoppers and seeds of weeds. One great benefit from 
them is that they descend in large flocks upon the sunflower patches 
and eat quantities of the seed; as they eat they sit on the pedicel 
steadying the heads with their feet” (MS). 
Additional Literature.—Herrick, F. H., Home-Life of Wild Birds, 20-21, 
112, 1901.— Pearson, T. G., Educational Leaflet 25, Nat. Assoc. Audubon Soc. 
SCOTT ORIOLE: Icterus paris6rum Bonaparte 
Plate 69 
Description. — Male: Length about 7.7-S.5 inches, wing 3.9-4.2, tail 3.3-3.9, 
bill .9-1, tarsus .9. (Female averaging smaller than male.) Bill long, slender, 
acute, feet fitted only for perching. Adult male in spring and summer: Black , 
except for bright lemon-yellow of scapulars , posterior parts of back, basal part of tail, 
upper and under tail and wing coverts, and white of median underparts and markings 
on wings and tail. Bill black with bluish gray base above. Adult male in winter: 
Similar to summer male but white markings on wings broader, feathers of back 
more or less edged with gray; rump and upper tail coverts more strongly washed 
1 Townsend, C. W r . f Courtship in Birds; Auk, XXXVII, 380-393, 1920. 
