A MIDSUMMER EXCURSION 261 



" Rains beat ! Winds blow ! 

 Safe the nest in the ehn tree. 



Days come ! Niglits go ! 



Birds at rest in the elm tree. 

 To-and-fro, to-a-n-d-fro, 

 Safe are we from every foe — 



Orioles in the elm tree. 

 Cats come ! Cats go ! 

 Lullaby in the elm tree ! 



" Meanwhile B. Oriole does a great deal of work, 

 for he is a tireless member of the guilds of Tree Trap- 

 pers and Ground Gleaners, eating hosts of caterpillars, 

 wireworms, and beetles. When he is very thirsty he 

 does, now and then, take a sip of the fruit he has helped 

 to save, and once in a while he may eat a few green peas. 

 But would any one refuse a mess of peas to a neighbor 

 in the next house ? Then why should you begrudge a 

 few to neighbor B. Oriole ? He doubtless paid you for 

 them before he took them, or will do so before long. 



'' B. Oriole comes north before his mate to be, and 

 spends a few days in fretting until she arrives. Then 

 he sings a gladsome song, to tell her of his pleasure, 

 and she answers, I am sorry to say, in rather a com- 

 plaining tone ; but the match is soon made. Though 

 they are not the sweetest-tempered birds possible, they 

 are as quick to aid as to quarrel with their neighbors. 



" Their bright colors seem rather out of place in the 

 family which contains also our sombre Blackbirds, but 

 before the leaves have fallen both kinds of Orioles and 

 their families start for Mexico and Central America, 

 where such tropical hues seem more in keeping, and 

 where many members of the family are quite as brill- 

 iant as those we see here." 



