THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE 



rags and paper are discovered in the nest, but it is almost 

 without exception a grayish bag as it appears from the 

 outside, and is lined principally with horsehairs and softer 

 materials, making a thick felted gourd-shaped structure." 

 One morning this past May when the heat was unseason- 

 able and overpowering, an oriole was observed fluttering 

 anxiously near the nest where his mate sat on her eggs. 

 The foliage had not developed sufficiently to shade her, 

 so he alighted on the nest, a claw on either side of the 

 cup-like opening. There he stood astride for the greater 

 part of the day and protected her devotedly, like a chival- 

 rous knight of old. 



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