26o 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



following interesting observations: "It is as- 

 serted that Orioles will weave gayly colored 

 worsteds into their nests. This I very much 

 doubt ; or, if they do, I believe it is for lack of 

 something more suitable. I have repeatedly 

 hung vari-colored bunches of soft twine, carpet- 

 tliread, flosses, and the like, on the bark of trees 



Photo by A. A. Allen 



A PAIR OF BALTIMORE ORIOLES 

 At their nest on the tip of an elm branch 



frequented by Orioles and, with one exception, 

 the more somber tints were selected. In the ex- 

 ceptional case a long thread of scarlet linen-floss 

 wa"' taken and woven into the nest for about 

 half its length, the remainder hanging down; 

 but, resuming my watch the next day, I found 

 the weaver had left the half-finished task and 

 crossed the lawn to another tree. \\'hether it 

 was owing to the presence of red squirrels close 



b_\-, or that the red thread had been a subject for 

 domestic criticism and dissension, I do not 

 know." On the same subject Mr. John Bur- 

 roughs writes (in Riverby) : "One day we 

 saw one weave into her nest unusual material. 

 As we sat upon the lawn in front of the cottage, 

 we had noticed the bird just beginning her struc- 

 ture, suspending it from a long, low branch of 

 the Kentucky cofTee-tree that grew but a few 

 feet away. 1 suggested to my host that if he 

 would take some brilliant yarn and scatter it 

 about upon the shrubbery, the fence, and the 

 walks, the bird would probably avail herself of 

 it, and weave a novel nest. I had heard of it 

 being done, but had never tried it myself. The 

 suggestion was at once acted upon and in a few 

 moments a handful of zephyr yarn, crimson, 

 orange, green, yellow, and blue, was distributed 

 about the grounds. As we sat at dinner a few- 

 moments later I saw the eager bird flying up to- 

 wards her nest with one of these brilliant yarns 

 streaming behind her. They had caught her eye 

 at once, and she fell to work upon them with a 

 will ; not a bit daunted by their brilliant color, 

 she soon had a crimson spot there amid the green 

 leaves. She afforded us rare amusement all the 

 afternoon and the next morning. How she 

 seemed to congratulate herself over her rare 

 find ! . . . The woolen yarn was ill-suited to the 

 Kentucky climate. This fact the bird seemed to 

 appreciate, for she used it only in the upper part 

 of her nest, attaching it to the branch and in 

 binding and compacting the rim, making the 

 sides and bottom of hemp, leaving it thin and 

 airy, much more so than are the same nests with 

 us. No other bird would, perhaps, have used 

 such brilliant material : their instincts of con- 

 cealment would have revolted, but the Oriole 

 aims more to make its nest inaccessible than to 

 hide it. Its position and depth insure its safety." 



It is interesting to note also that the Oriole's 

 homing instinct is apparently very strongly de- 

 veloped. Probably a pair never use the same 

 nest twice, but there is evidence that the females 

 may build their nests in the same tree for several 

 successive years. 



How the Oriole got his popular specific name 

 has often been told, but ought not to be omitted 

 from any sketch of him. It seems that when 

 Cecil Calvert, second Baron of Baltimore, came 

 to live with a company of English colonists in 

 what is now Maryland, the settlement was named 

 Baltimore in his honor. By way of giving the 

 people at home some idea of the natural curiosi- 

 ties of the New World, certain of the colonists 



