Some Utah Birds, IV: Bullock’s Oriole

SOME UTAH BIRDS. BY CLAUDE T. BARNES, M. S. P. R., MEMBER NATIONAL ASSOCI- ATION AUDUBON SOCIETY. IV— BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. (Icterus Bullocki.) Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these? Do you ne'er think who made them, and who taught The dialect they speak, where melodies Alone are the interpreters of thought? Whose household words are songs in many keys Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught! Whose habitations in the tree tops even Are half-way houses on the road to heaven. — Longfellow : Birds of Killingworth. One day in early summer, as I was riding down a Utah lane, which was lined on one side with a row of tall trees, and on the other with creek willows, a bit of moving yellow in a locust attracted my eye. My companion, who knew for what I had been seeking and who was fully as enthusiastic as I, gave vent to her gladness by quoting in anxious tones the lines of Lowell : Hush ! 'tis he, My Oriole, my glance of summer fire Is come at last. I had noticed some strong, gray nests hanging on slender limbs of the trees along the way; so, upon closer inspection, I recognized the bit of yellow to be that charming little architect, Bullock's Oriole, the Western representative of another member of thfr oriole family, the Baltimore. How glad we were, for, though found throughout Utah, our bird is none too plentiful. Though not quite so striking in color and handsome in general appearanceas his eastern brother, he was nevertheless a winsome visitor among the kingbirds, mourning doves, meadow larks and crimson:

SOME UTAH BIRDS. 921 fronted finches, which found homes in the same row of locust trees. Though many are familiar with the pensile nest of the Bullock Oriole, his attractive habits necessitate such description of him that identification will be easy and certain. "Oriole," from the Latin aureolus, means literally "golden;" so we may expect on the start to find in the oriole some of the yellow coloration of the meadow lark, which is a member of the same family. Bullock's Oriole. Bullock's Oriole is smaller than a meadow lark, its measurements being as follows: length, 7.00 inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.60; bill, .72, and tarsus, .85. The general appearance of the bird, above, is black and yellow; and below, yellow orange. The bill is long and pointed like that of the meadow lark.

922 IMPROVEMENT ERA. The lesser wing coverts (those on the front of the wing) are lemon-yellow, spotted toward the back with black; the middle wing coverts are white; the greater coverts are white on nearly all of their outer webs, and black elsewhere. That part of the greater coverts over the bases of the primaries (the largest wing quills) is, however, black. The primaries and secondaries (the middle wing quills) are black, and, excepting the first primary, are margined with white on both sides. On the first primary there is white only on the inner web. The shoulders and upper back are black, while the lower back, rump, and upper tail coverts are yellow. The eleven tail feathers are, generally, black and yellow above, the outer three having black at the tips; the fourth having black at the tip, half way up the inner web and yellow elsewhere; the fifth yellow only at the base and the little middle feather having only one spot of yellow, and that near the end. The whole tail is slightly forked. The back of the neck and the top of the head are peculiarly mottled with yellow and black. A patch of orange runs across the forehead, while the bill is black above, horn-blue below. With the exception of the sides of the neck and the throat, which are orange, nearly the whole under surface of the oriole is yellow. The under wing, however, is light slate; and there is a black spot on the chin and throat. Altogether, in appearance, Bullock's Oriole is a comely bird and easily discovered in places where the hot summer sun has not bleached the leaves into a harmonious and protective coloration. Its distribution is extensive, it being found throughout that portion of the United States that lies west of the central plains. In Utah it arrives early in May, builds its pendulous nest in the scrub oaks, locusts and pine trees of the fertile valleys, and departs for Mexico about the first of September. Really, one of the most interesting peculiarities about the Bullock's Oriole, and the one that fully exemplifies the practical application of the instruction: "By their works ye shall know them," is its nest. This neat little cradle — it rocks to and fro with the wind — hangs from a fork near the tip of a long, slender, tough, limb, usually more than twenty feet above ground. The height discourages devastation by boys; and the willowy, thin limb forfends the incursions of cats. When built

SOME UTAH BIRDS. 923 near the habitation of man, the nest has a spacious opening at the top; but in the wild places, where height and slender limbs could not possibly prevent encroachment on the part of bird-eating hawks, the neck of the nest is long and the entrance so small that only the parent birds can squeeze in to the squealing fledglings. The nest is in shape like a water pitcher; and is about four The above represents the Eastern variety, Baltimore Orioles (upper figure, male; lower figure, female). The color markin'gs are different from those of Bullock's ; but the nest is the same. and a half inches long by three wide. It is woven of fibrous grasses, twine, vegetable fibres, horsehair, bits of worsted and of rags, wool and string. Nearly all of these may be found in one nest; and, again, the whole structure may consist only of one, as for instance, horsehair. Gay colors are usually avoided, the completed nest being generally of a light putty shade. Being chief weaver, the female is extremely clever in the use of her beak,

924 IMPB 0 VEMENT ERA . wings and claws; and the male bird, like a good husband, generally provides the material with which his little wife weaves. The eggs, three to six in number, slightly larger than those of the Baltimore oriole, are bluishwhite, marbled on the larger end with thin irregular lines of black and reddish brown. Except when the parent bird is sitting on them, the young are always squealing; and so loud is their vociferation that even a high wind cannot make it inaudible. One bright morning in June, when dew yet sparkled in the grass and the sun was shooting its first rays across the valley, 1 strolled into a lucern field, which was surrounded by mammoth locust trees. In the tip of the tallest tree, where the morning rays gave warmth and refulgence, sat a handsome Bullock's Oriole chanting, spiritoso, a bravura so winsome and sweet that I immediately placed him and his kind among the most charming singers of the early morn. Later in the day, when heat waves quivered in the roadway, I visited the same spot only to find my songster busily engaged in his tree and giving vent only to an occasional mellow, rolling chatter. The song of Bullock's Oriole is loud and varied, practically the only difference between it and that of the Baltimore, being that the latter is more mellow, strong and clear. In fact it must be admitted that the Eastern variety is altogether a finer bird. Matthews gives two songs of the Baltimore oriole thus : Moderato. Vivace. fl n Tf rf-i— h— * rf+- — | — s-^^.rf:p«f-il

SOME UTAH BIRDS. 925 Like other members of the family Iderdice (oriole) — the redwinged blackbird, the bobolink, and the meadow lark — Bullock's Oriole is most commendable in his eating habits; in fact, so certain are we of his usefulness that only the agriculturist that is blind to his own welfare, can have the heart to shoot the bird down. About three-fourths of its food consists of insects, among which we may name tent caterpillars, spiny caterpillars, wasps, canker worms, grasshoppers, Venessa butterflies, bugs, beetles, leaf chafers (anomala binotata), ants, spiders, and click beetles. The larvae of click beetles are ruinous to plant life . According to a report made by the Biological Survey it is conclusively established that Bullock's Oriole feeds on scale insects and bark lice — a fact which was long questioned even by the observing. In Utah the oriole, with the Louisiana tanager and the black headed grosbeck, occasionally eats the buds of greaswood; and though the oriole likes honey it cannot be said to do appreciable injury in this respect. Wilson Flagg tells of an oriole's destroying seventeen caterpillars in one minute, eating only part of the inside; and there is no doubt that it kills many catalpa sphinx larvae which defoliate our catalpa trees. Altogether Bullock's Oriole is a prepossessing little creature; but although his nest is so inaccessible that every brood ought to fly forth in safety, unfortunately the bird is by no means common in Utah's valleys. We should do all in our power to let the charming builder sing in peace : "How falls it, oriole, thou hast come to fly In tropic splendor through our Northern sky? At some glad moment was it Nature's choice To dower a scrap of sunset with a voice? Or did an oraiige tulip flaked with black, In some forgotten garden, ages back, Yearning toward heaven until its wish was heard, Desire unspeakably to be a bird?" Salt Lake City, Utah.