158 DENTIROSTRES. 



shaped, and generally placed in the fork of a bough, 

 t(^ l)oth branches of which it is firmly attached ; but 

 in some species is long, purse-shaped, and pendu- 

 lous, hanging from the high branches of trees : 

 it is constructed of sheep^s wool and long slender 

 stalks of grass. The eggs are usually four or five 

 in number. 



The Golden Oriole {Oriolus galhula) is a shy and suspi- 

 cious l^ird, haunting lonely groves, and thickets on the 

 skirts of woods, excepting m the fruit season, when it 

 always frequents orchards, to the no small loss of their 

 owners. It is difficult to get near these birds, though 

 they are sometimes approached by the sportsman, under 

 the deception of his imitative Avhistle ; but it requires 

 great accuracy both of lips and ear to perform this fraud, 

 for the least mistake or one false note will send the bird 

 off at once. Tlie food of the Golden Oriole consists of 

 insects and their larvae, berries, and fruits, among which 

 figs, grapes, and cherries are favourites. Its whistle is 

 load and flute-like. Bechstein expresses the sound by 

 the word jmhlo. 



When about to construct its nest, the Golden Oriole 

 selects the forked extremity of the lower branch of some 

 high tree, and wreathing the two forks round with straws, 

 grasses, and other vegetable fibres proper for the purpose, 

 at length connects the two ends ; and then, continuing 

 the straws from one side to the other, and crossing and 

 interweaving them, forms a kind of basket, which is 

 afterwards thickened with the stems of the finer grasses, 

 intermixed with mosses and lichens, and lined with 

 feathers and still softer materials. Almost the whole 

 genus of Orioles build pensile nests. The Baltimore 

 Oriole is so solicitous to procure the best materials for 

 this purpose, that in the season for building, the women 

 in the country are under the necessity of narrowly 

 watching their thread that may be out bleaching, and the 

 farmer of protecting his young grafts ; as the " Baltimore," 

 finding the former, and the strings which enwrajj the 

 latter, so well adapted to the construction of its nest, fre- 

 (piently carries oft* both, or, should the one be too heavy, 

 or the other too securely tied, he will tug at them for a 

 considerable time before he gives up the attempt. Skeins 



