Following the family _Corvidæ_, comes the family _Icteridæ_. The
commoner species of this family in this part of Kentucky are the
red-winged blackbird, the meadow lark, the Baltimore oriole and the
purple grackle. The orchard oriole and the rusty blackbird are also
found; but over two years of study and careful searching in our woods
and fields has failed to detect the bobolink and cowbird.
I purpose to devote this paper to the meadow lark and the Baltimore
oriole.
First come; first served. The meadow or field lark is a common resident
here and seems to collect in colonies. I know of two fields where I can
always find them, while in other, seemingly just as favored meadows, I
have failed to see them.
Early in the spring, I think, of '87, I shot at one of these birds and
came very near making a clear miss as only one shot struck him and that
cut off his leg. I picked him up and was going to kill him when the
thought came across my mind to make a pet of him. Accordingly, on
reaching home, I put him in a cage and fed him corn meal, which he ate
greedily. He also relished a few wheat grains which I let him have. He
grew very tame shortly, and on several occasions woke me up in the
morning by his clear, rich whistling; but one day I left a lot of meal
by the cage and he killed himself eating it. I would have supposed he
would have known when he had enough, but he didn't.
Mr. J. B. Richards, Sec'y. Y. O. A., writes me that he has known a wild
bobolink to kill itself by eating too much, and he lost a pet bobolink
in the same way.
The meadow lark is accused by some writers of murdering and devouring,
not only its own, but other birds' nestlings, and of being an
egg-sucker; but I have nothing to offer on that point myself.
The nest of the meadow lark is made of grass, etc., built on the ground,
often arched over, and sometimes at the foot of a bush or weed.
The eggs are four to six in number; crystal white, more or less marked
with reddish-brown dots; average size, 1.10x.80.
And now, having called the bird a "lark" all through the article, let me
say that it is not a lark at all, but a starling. The old name is,
however, too firmly established to permit of a change.
The Baltimore oriole is a summer resident and quite common. The males
arrive about the middle of April, and the females about ten days later.
In 1887, the males arrived on the 13th, the females on the 23d. On the
30th, I found a nest nearly finished; and May 7th it contained five
fresh eggs. Unfortunately the boy who tried to secure them broke the
whole set.
The oriole is one of our most brilliantly plumaged birds, and on that
account is much persecuted. I have heard that they stand captivity well,
but as yet I have had no opportunity to try.
But it is in the nest that the chief interest in the study of this
species centers. It is a closely woven pouch of various substances,
grass, wool, thread, string, hair, lace, ribbons, rags, paper,
leaves--all these and many more have been found in their nests. I have
one by me now which is composed entirely of horsehair, with the
exception of a white string around the rim to bind the hairs together;
and I was shown one in Fulton, Kentucky, made entirely of long blades of
grass.
I made a careful examination of the nest mentioned in the first part of
the sketch. The foundation was made entirely of white wrapping twine,
lined with dried grass; and as if to render it less conspicuous, it was
covered with green locust leaves--it was in a locust tree--and suspended
as it was, among a bunch of leaves, it was next to impossible to see it.
I discovered it by watching the bird. One string in the nest was over
five feet long. It was wrapped again and again around a limb, then to
the nest, woven down one side under the bottom and up the other side to
the rim where it was securely fastened.
The eggs are white, with blackish spots and scrawls irregularly
distributed over the surface, especially toward the larger end. The
average size is 1.00x.65, according to Coues; .92x.65 according to
Davie. I consider the latter more correct so far as it applies to eggs
taken here.
The bird is known by the various names of fire-bird, golden robin, hang
nest, etc., besides the one given above.