The Orchard Oriole 45 



ijround, in search of other insects tlmt lurk there. Mr. William lirewster has also 

 noticed these birds in South Carolina hovering before trumpet 

 Food (lowers, sipjnng honey after the manner of Hummingbirds. In 



late summer, when the family grou])S go foraging about the coun- 

 try, berries of various kinds seem to constitute a large |)ortion of their food; 

 but, so far as I am aware, the\- never do serious damage to cultivated fruit. 



On this subject of food Major Bendire writes: " I'"ew birds do more good 

 and less harm than our Orchard Oriole, especially to the fruit grower. The 

 bulk of its food consists of small beetles, plant lice, Hies, hairless caterpillars, 

 cabbage worms, grasshoppers, rose-bugs, and larvic of all kinds, while the few 

 berries it nia\- help itself to during the short time they last are many times paid 

 tor in the greater number of noxious insects destroyed, and it certainly deserves 

 the fullest protection." 



The nest of the Orchard Oriole is usually su])p()rtc(l upon slender twigs 

 ill ihi' lop of uii api)lc tree. It is somewhat pensile, but much sliortcr and more 

 rigid than the long pt)ckct-like nest of the Baltimore; in fact, it is usually nearly 

 spherical, with the opening somew'hat constricted. It is made 

 Nest of fine, dry, greenish or yellow grass, elaborately interwoven 



and lined, especially on the bottom, with soft vegetable down 

 from lliisllc blooms, buttonwood seeds, etc. Wilson states that he carefully 

 unwound a single strand of grass from one of these nests and found it to l^e 

 thirteen inches long and to have been loo]>ed through the other 

 Eggs strands thirty-four times. The eggs are grayish white with lav- 



ender spots and blackish blotches and 'pen marks,' similar to 

 those of the Baltimore, but smaller and more coarsely marked. They are three to 

 five in number, and measure 80 x 55 hundredths of an inch. 



I have noticed that Orchard Orioles and Kingbirds often nest in the same 

 tree in the orchards of southern Pennsylvania, and was interested to find that 

 other observers have noticed the same thing in Maryland and South Carolina. 

 For some reason or other, the pugnacious Flycatcher, who usually drives all 

 other birds from the vicinity of his nest-tree, seems able to live on the best of 

 terms with the modest Orchard Oriole. 



Audubon, describing the habits of the Orchard Oriole in Louisiana, states 

 that the male has a habit of mounting on the wing during the mating season, 

 jerking his tail and body, flapping his wings and singing with remarkable im- 

 petuosity. . . . These gambols and carollings are performed frequently during 

 the day, the intervals being employed in ascending or descending along the 

 branches and twigs of different trees, in search of insects or larva\ In doing 

 this they rise on their legs, seldom without jetting the tail, stretch their neck, 

 seize the prey and emit a single note. At other times, it is seen bending its body 

 downward in a curved posture, with head greatly inclined upward, to peep at 

 the underparts of the leaves so as not to suffer any grub to escape its vigilance. 

 The plumage of the male Orchard Oriole is subject to striking changes as 



