The New International Encyclopædia/Oriole

O'RIOLE (OF. oriol, from Lat. aureolus, golden). Any of several small birds whose plumage is yellow or orange and black. It was given first to the Old World family Oriolidæ, and was naturally transferred to the American hangnests by early English travelers and settlers on account of the similarity in colors. The American orioles belong to the family Icteridæ, and form the subfamily Icterinæ, in distinction from the blackbirds, bobolinks, and meadow larks, from which the orioles differ in the extremely acute, sometimes decurved bill, comparatively weak feet, and non-gregarious, arboreal habits. They are agreeable songsters, possess notably handsome plumage, and are renowned as architects. As their nests are usually pensile, the birds are often called ‘hangnests.’ They are especially characteristic of tropical America, where they go by the name of ‘caciques,’ or, in Jamaica, ‘banana-birds.’ The best-known species is the Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula), which ranges in summer as far north as the southern provinces of Canada, but winters in Central America. Its name was given to it by Linnæus, whose first specimen came from Maryland, in complimentary allusion to the fact that the colors of the male were those of the livery of Sir George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, then proprietor of that colony. The gay plumage has also caused it to be called ‘golden robin,’ ‘firebird,’ and ‘fire-hang-bird.’ The male is about eight inches long, brilliant fire-orange, with the whole head, neck, back, wings, and middle tail-feathers black, and with considerable white on the wings. The female is somewhat smaller, nmch paler, and with the black more or less obscured by olive. The young resemble the female, and do not assume their full plumage before the second year. The Baltimore oriole is one of the most conspicuous birds that the spring migrations bring into the Northern United States, not merely because of the splendor of his plumage, but because of his loud, musical whistle. The food consists chiefly of insects, although fruit and young peas and similar delicacies are eagerly accepted when in season, and ripening grapes are injured to a serious extent in the Hudson Valley and certain other localities. See Colored Plate of Song-Birds with Thrush.

The nest of the Baltimore oriole (see Plate with Nidification) is the bird's greatest claim to distinction. This admirable structure is woven into the tip of a branch, preferably the drooping limb of an elm or willow, from which it hangs at some distance from the ground; though other trees are frequently used, the elm is the favorite, as the long, drooping branches afford an ideal location for a hanging nest. The construction of the nest is mainly if not entirely the work of the female, the principal materials being grass, slender strips of bark, strings, hair, and vegetable fibres. These are all closely and very firmly interwoven into a pouch, four or five inches in depth. The eggs are four to six in number, not quite an inch long, white, spotted, scrawled in a curious manner with irregular lines of black or brownish.

Another oriole, which does not range quite so far north or west as the Baltimore, and which is much less conspicuous, though the male is very handsome, is the orchard oriole (Icterus spurius). A much quieter and more retiring bird than his showy cousin, the orchard oriole is not so often seen or heard, but his song is a more finished product and more melodious, The male is chestnut, with the head and fore parts of the body black, while the female is olive-green and dull yellow. The young resemble the female and the males do not assume full plumage until the third year. The nest is made of grasses, and is not so perfectly pendent as is the Baltimore oriole's. The eggs are similar to those of the latter, but are somewhat smaller and not so much scrawled. (See Plate of Eggs of Song Birds.) Of the remaining 35 or 40 species, prominent examples are the ‘troopial’ (Icterus icterus), a tropical species common in South America, about ten inches long, bright yellow and black; the black-headed oriole (Icterus melnanocephalus), another large, rich yellow and black species, occurring in Mexico, a variety of which, known as Audubon's oriole, is found in the lower Rio Grande Valley; and Bullock's oriole (Icterus Bullocki), a species very similar to the Baltimore bird, which replaces that species in the Far West. See also Cacique—a closely allied group. Consult Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, part ii. (Washington, 1902), and American ornithologies generally.

The orioles of the Old World are a small family of about 40 species, the Oriolidæ, related to the crows. They are characteristically Oriental and Australian, though several species occur in Africa, and one ranges throughout Europe. This is the ‘golden’ oriole (Oriolus oriolus), somewhat larger than the Baltimore oriole, and equally brilliant. The song is marvelously rich and flute-like, but very short. A very similar Oriental species is the familiar Oriolus Kundoo, or ‘mango-bird.’ The outward likeness between these Old World orioles and the American hangnests is increased by the fact that the former also build somewhat pensile nests. The ‘mimicry’ between them and certain honey-eaters (Meliphagidæ) is another very interesting circumstance, described at length by Wallace, Newton, and Salvadori. Consult Evans, Birds (London, 1900).