196 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



biers, which nest exclusively in such situations. The nest contained 

 four eggs, well along in incubation. Guided by this discovery, I soon 

 found other nests similarly concealed in Spanish 'moss.' I now con- 

 clude that at least 50 percent of the oriole nests in this central Gulf 

 Coast region are so situated, while the remainder are in the normally 

 exposed locations on terminal twigs. 



"The earliest nest I have ever known contained a full set of eggs 

 on April 29, 1929, but the average for complete sets is the latter half 

 of May. Late nests, probably second or even third attempts by birds 

 that failed the first time, have been seen as late as the latter half of 

 June and even in July. The latest nest I have ever known still con- 

 tained well-grown young birds on July 14, 1937." 



In Duval County, northern Florida, S. A. Grimes (1931) finds this 

 oriole nesting in the Spanish "moss" very commonly, but also in 

 pecans, other orchard trees, longleaf pines, black gums, oaks, button- 

 wood saplings, live oaks, sweet gums, hickories, and chinaberry trees, 

 at heights ranging from 4 to 50 feet above the ground. Arthur T. 

 Wayne (1910) has found the nest as high as 70 feet, in South Carolina. 



H. H. Kopman (1915) regards the orchard oriole as "the most con- 

 spicuous summer visitor in the fertile alluvial section of southeastern 

 Louisiana. * * * Its abundance as a breeder in the southeastern 

 portion of the State, however, can scarcely be comprehended by those 

 whose acquaintance with it is confined to its appearance in more 

 northern localities. In one live oak in a plantation yard where there 

 were many more trees of this kind I once counted nearly twenty nests 

 of this species." 



Near Brownsville, Tex., George B. Sennett (1878) says "it likes to 

 build in mezquite, wesatche, and willow trees." Farther north, near 

 Austin, Tex., George F. Simmons (1925) lists the following nesting 

 trees: Hackberry, mesquite, cedar elm, winged elm, peach, pear, 

 huisache, retama horse-bean, honey locust, eastern live oak, black 

 willow and pecan trees. Probably many other trees are selected in 

 other parts of its range, for the orchard oriole does not seem to be at all 

 particular in its choice of a nesting tree ; weeping willows seem to offer 

 favorite sites. 



The nest is beautifully and compactly woven in the shape of a semi- 

 globular cup with a contracted rim. Wilson (1832) says: "I had the 

 curiosity to detach one of the fibres, or stalks of dried grass, from the 

 nest, and found it to measure thirteen inches in length, and in that 

 distance was 34 times hooked through and returned, winding round 

 and round the nest!" The materials used in the construction of the 

 nest vary but little in character; R. C. Tate (1926) says that, in 

 Oklahoma, these consist of "fresh blades of Mesquite grass and 

 gramma grass, yucca fibres, fibers from tree cactus and prickly pear." 



