HAB. Valley of Lower Rio Grande, southward; Tucson, Arizona (DR. PALMER); Lower California, Cordova (SCL. 1856, 300); Guatemala? (SCL. Ibis I, 20); Cuba? (LAWR. Ann. VII, 1860, 267); San Bernardino, California (COOPER, P. Cal., etc. 1861, 122); Vera Cruz hot region (SUM. M. B. S. I, 553); Mazatlan. The orange varies greatly in tint and intensity with the individual; sometimes it is deep orange-red; often clear dull yellow, but more frequently of an oily orange. This species is closely allied to the _I. aurocapillus_ of South America, but differs in having black, not yellow, shoulders, and in the white markings on the wings. HABITS. The Hooded Oriole is essentially a Mexican species, though it also extends northward into Texas at the Rio Grande, and into Southern California and Arizona. It was not noticed by Dr. Coues in Arizona, but Lieutenant Charles Bendire found it breeding near Tucson in the summer of 1872. It is abundant at Cape St. Lucas. Dr. Cooper found that this species arrived at San Diego about April 22, where they were not rare for a fortnight afterwards, and all then retired into the warmer interior valleys, where he has seen them as far to the north as Los Angeles. While migrating, they were generally silent. Captain McCown found it quite common on the Rio Grande, where it rears its young. When met with in the woods and far away from the abodes of men, it seemed shy and disposed to conceal itself. Yet a pair of these birds were his constant visitors, morning and evening. They came to the vicinity of his quarters—an unfinished building—at Ringgold Barracks, and at last became so tame and familiar that they would pass from some ebony-trees, that stood near by, to the porch, clinging to the shingles and rafters, frequently in an inverted position, prying into the holes and crevices, apparently in search of spiders and such insects as could be found there. From this occupation they would occasionally desist, to watch his movements. He never could induce them to partake of the food he offered them. Lieutenant Couch found this species common in the states of Tamaulipas and New Leon. He found their nests generally on or under the tops of the palm known as the Spanish bayonet. This species is given by Mr. Sumichrast as one of the birds of Vera Cruz, where it is exclusively an inhabitant of the hot region, and where it is rarely found above an elevation of eighteen hundred feet.