Nest of the Orchard Oriole 47 



or the light downy appendages attached to the seeds of the 

 Platamis occidentalism or button wood, which forms a very 

 soft and commodious bed. Here and there the outward 

 work is extended to an adjoining twig, round which it is 

 strongly twisted, to give more stability to the whole, and 

 prevent it from being overset by the wind." 



"When they choose the long, pendent branches of the 

 weeping willow to build in, as they frequently do, the nest, 

 though formed of the same materials, is made much deeper, 

 and of slighter texture. The circumference is marked out 

 by a number of these pensile twigs that descend on each 

 side like ribs, supporting the whole; their thick foliage at 

 the same time, completely concealing the nest from view. 

 The depth in this case is increased to four or five inches, 

 and the whole is made much slighter." 



Wilson then follows this, as far as it goes, accurate 

 description with a very interesting dissertation upon the 

 reasons why the Orchard Oriole builds so differently in dif- 

 ferent trees, and under diverse conditions. 



The remarkable feature of all these early descriptions 

 is, that so few trees are mentioned wherein this Oriole is 

 known to build; that the nest is always fastened by the brim; 

 and that the materials of which it is composed are so uni- 

 form. It very much inclines me to believe that the 

 bird has, in the matter of its nest building, very materially 

 changed its habits during the past half century or more. 

 Surely it must have been a very abundant bird during 

 Wilson's time, and he was not only a very intelligent but a 

 very close and reliable observer. 



Now when built among stiff twigs, the nest is by no 

 means akoays fastened by its edges or brim alone; on the 

 contrary the bird often sews it all the way down the body of 

 the nest to a supporting twig. A fine example of the 

 structure when thus built is shown in the accompanying 

 photograph, it being a nest I collected near Washington, D. 

 C.,in the summer of 1897. It was in a three-quarter grown 

 sycamore and was almost entirely devoid of a lining, the 



