SUMMER BIRDS OF SHAw's GARDEN. 55 



which is at its height about the first of May, males and females 

 are both very conspicuous and noisy, the latter with a loud 

 peculiar note which is often uttered while on wing. After the 

 nests are built and incubation has begun, the female becomes 

 more and more retiring, but the male keeps up its concuree 

 while watching over the environs of his nest. Trespassers are 

 met with loud, screaming notes of alarm and, when incuba- 

 tion is advanced or young ones in the nest, he becomes bolder 

 and circles above the head of the intruder in a menacing way. 

 If no accident happens to the nest, in which case a second 

 attempt will be made, the young of an old pair can be on the 

 wing before the end of June, but the offspring of young pairs, 

 which go to housekeeping several weeks later than the old 

 folks, may not be able to leave the nest before the end of July. 

 A family of Redwings was still present in the Garden in early 

 August, but as soon as the young are able to fly well and have 

 learned to find their own food, all say good-by to the Garden 

 and do not frequent their breeding haunts again till the fol- 

 lowing spring. 



ORCHARD ORIOLE. IctcrUS SpuHuS. 



For vivacity of song and sprightliness of manners the Or- 

 chard Oriole takes the palm and although only one pair graced 

 the Garden with its presence in the summer of 1908, the east- 

 ern part of the Synopsis was resounding with the far-reaching 

 peculiar song from early in I\Iay till the first of July, when de- 

 mands of the clamoring young took up all the time of both 

 parents, leaving none for song. Unfortunately the stay of 

 Orchard Orioles on their breeding grounds is a very short one, 

 as they desert them as soon as the young are fully grown and 

 able to follow their parents, roaming through the country in 

 search of their favorite wild cherries, wild grapes and similar 

 delicacies which make up their chief diet before their depar- 

 ture in August. Orchard Orioles which we hear singing in 

 July are usually males of the second year, i. e. not more than 

 one year old, easily distinguished, because wearing an entirely 

 different dress from the black and chestnut livery prescribed 

 for the older gentlemen. A black patch reaching from bill 



