188 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



shades of brown, with lighter shell markings. Four to 

 six eggs form a complement, and they average .92 by .62 

 of an inch. 



The female oriole i.s commendable for the determination 

 with which she remains in her nest in time of danger, her 

 pertinacity often involving her in the ruin of her home. 

 The only nest of the oriole I ever took was about twenty 

 feet from the ground, hanging from the extremity of a 

 branch in a large maple. I climbed the tree soon after 

 sunrise, and around tiie branch supporting the nest I tied 

 a stout rope as far as 1 could reach out from the axis of 

 the tree, fastening the rope to a branch above. I then 

 sawed through the lower branch, which dropped as far as 

 the rope gave it freedom. The nest swung within a few 

 feet of the ground, where my father was waiting to secure 

 the nest for me. On placing his hand into the nest he 

 found the female still sitting, and she allowed herself to 

 be removed from the cavity with no demonstrations of 

 ularm or concern, having remained upon her two eggs 

 during the confusion in the tree and tiio subsequent fall 

 of her home. 



The birds which arrive com})aratively late from their 

 Southern winter quarters depart correspondingly early, 

 after they have reared their broods in our localities. The 

 Baltimore orioles are especially early in turning their 

 steps toward their winter homes in the tropics. I believe 

 that second broods are rare exceptions in this latitude. 

 Most young birds have left the nest by the last of June, 

 though, of course, by reason of various disasters, many 

 families are found whose nidification and incubation are 

 delayed. Resident orioles forsake our highways and 

 door-yards early in July, their absence being easily 

 noticed by the silence which reigns in their accustomed 

 haunts, for till the time of their departure their melody 

 never fails to be heard daily and hourly. About the first 

 of August the trees are again melodious with the welcome 

 notes of migrants from higher latitudes, which, having 

 reached their destination later in the spring, were propor- 

 tionately later in concluding the nesting season, and are 

 also later in passing our latitude on their return, ^y the 

 fifteenth of August this second wave of migration has 



