138 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS 



" was wound round each limb of the fork, then passed 

 round the nest beneath, fixed to the other limb, and 

 again brought round the nest to the opposite side ; there 

 were four or five of these supports on either side." The 

 nest was so securely fixed that it could not have been 

 removed till the supporting bands had been cut or had 

 rotted away. Here then is an example of workman- 

 ship which the modern jerry-builder might well 

 emulate. 



I have made repeated attempts to see orioles at 

 work on the supports of the nest, but so far have only 

 managed to observe them lining it. Upon one occasion 

 I came upon a nest some fifteen feet from the ground 

 from which hung two strips of fibre about sixteen inches 

 long that had been wound round one branch. I waited 

 for some time, hoping the birds would return and allow 

 me to see them finish the adjustment of these fibres ; 

 but unfortunately there was no cover available, and the 

 oriole is an exceedingly shy bird ; it will not do any- 

 thing to the nest if it knows it is being watched. 



The completed nursery, viewed from below, looks like 

 a ball of dried grass wedged into the fork of a branch, 

 and may easily be mistaken for that of a king-crow, but 

 this last is, of course, not bound to the branches like 

 that of the oriole. 



A very curious thing that I have noticed about the 

 Indian oriole's nest is that it is always situated either 

 in the same tree as a king-crow's nest or in an adjacent 

 tree. I have seen some thirteen or fourteen orioles' 

 nests since I first noticed this phenomenon, and have, 

 in every case, found a king-crow's nest within ten yards. 



