_Icterus spurius. Case 7, Figs. 10-12_
Adult males are unmistakable, but females and
young males in their first fall wear a
non-committal costume and must be looked at
sharply. In their first nesting season, young
males resemble the female but have a black throat.
This is a smaller, more slender bird than the
Baltimore Oriole, and the female is less orange.
L. 7-1/4.
_Range._ Eastern United States, nesting from the
Gulf States to Massachusetts and Minnesota;
winters in the tropics.
Washington, common S.R., Apl. 20-Aug. 22.
Ossining, common S.R., May 2-Aug. 6. Cambridge,
S.R., sometimes rather common, May 15-July. N.
Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 28-Sept. 5. Glen Ellyn,
not common S.R., Apl. 38. SE. Minn., uncommon
S.R., May 10-Aug. 26.
In the northern part of its range, the Orchard Oriole is somewhat less
common, and more local than the Baltimore Oriole, while its duller
colors and more retiring habits make it more difficult to see. The voice
is richer, more cultured--if one may use the term--than that of its
brilliant orange-plumed cousin; indeed, in my opinion, this species
deserves a place in the first rank of our songsters. The nest of finely
woven grasses is not so deep as that of the Baltimore. Three to five
bluish white eggs, spotted and scrawled with black, are laid the latter
part of May.