CROW RELATIVES 



farmer showed me a nest late in August which a day 

 or two before I saw it had contained two unsound 

 eggs and two young birds nearly grown. When I 

 came, one of these had traveled off in the grass on hi-^ 

 stout long legs, and somehow an egg had disappeared , 

 but I photographed what was left, glad enough of the 

 chance. 



The Western form of this species, called the Western 

 Meadowlark, is a beautiful singer and is perhaps the 

 most beloved of birds to the settler upon the vast 

 prairie. And I, too, on my expeditions, have enjoyed 

 them and their fine music. 



Next come our Orioles, and not everyone knows that 

 we have two kinds. The brilliant Baltimore Oriole 

 that builds its remarkable hanging nest from the tips 

 of the elm boughs along our shaded town or village 

 streets is the one that is so widely known. Very 

 promptly each spring on the fourth to sixth of May, 

 Ned and I hear its clear notes again, after its long trip 

 to South or Central America and back since we last 

 saw it. As with many birds, the males arrive some 

 time before the females. But before long they are all 

 here and mated, and then begins the making of their 

 very remarkable suspended pouch nests. Everyone 

 knows of the wonderful skill with which they weave 

 into these structures all sorts of material in ways that 

 would defy our ingenuity. When I was a boy my 

 mother hung out some nice lace work from the window 

 of our home, in the suburbs of Boston, to bleach and 



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