Baltimore Bird

Baltimore Bird, Baltimore Oriole (Hyphantes baltimore), an American finch-like bird, ranging from the Atlantic coasts to the high central plains, and southward to Panama. The male is about seven inches long with sharp conical bill; head all round and to middle of back, scapulars, wings, and upper surface of tail, black; rest of under parts, rump, upper-tail coverts, and lesser wing coverts, with ends of tail-feathers (except the two innermost), orange-red; edges of wing quills, with a band across the tips of the greater coverts, white. The colours are much less brilliant in the female, and each of her feathers has a black spot. The males come north about the beginning of May, and are soon followed by the females. They are gregarious birds, building fearlessly in gardens near houses, and compensating the farmer for the tax they levy on his fruit by the swarms of insects they devour. The song of the male is loud and sweet, and the female has a softer note, which she utters incessantly while building. The nest is a cylindrical pendulous structure, formed by interweaving the filaments of flax-like plants, and usually contains five white eggs marked with purple. The epithet "Baltimore" refers to the resemblance of the plumage to the colours of Lord Baltimore's livery; the popular name "hang-nest" to the mode of nidification. In New England these birds are called Golden Robins.