208 NATURE STUDY. 



for a building site. He further says they use the finest, 

 longest and toughest grass they can find, that the nest is 

 hemispherical, and is supported by the margin only and is 

 finished on all sides, as well as within, with long, slender 

 grass. Some of these go around the nest as if coarsely 

 woven together. Now this is the manner in which the or- 

 chard oriole (^Icterus spurius) constructs its nest in lyouis- 

 iana, but how does it construct its nest in Indiana? Can 

 you confirm Audubon's account ? Is it " supported by the 

 margin only ? ' ' Examine in details the nest of either one 

 of these orioles and trace the fibers or stalks of grass, meas- 

 ure them, and find how many times it is wound around the 

 nest and whether it is "knit, or sewed through and 

 through in a thousand directions, as if actually done with 

 a needle." "In the Middle Districts.it is usually lined 

 with warm material," says Audubon, and " inside of [or- 

 chard oriole's] nest is composed of wool or light, downy ap- 

 pendages of the seeds of the button-wood." Examine 

 how the outward work is extended to the adjoining twigs 

 around which it is twisted to give more stability to the 

 whole and prevent it from being overset by the wind. 

 Note that this great ornithologist says that in the colder 

 latitudes these birds build their nests with warmer and 

 softer inside lining. This is important in point of utility 

 and environment. Again, when they choose long, pen- 

 dant branches of trees instead of more rigid ones, is the 

 nest any deeper ? Why does the Baltimore oriole prefer 

 the elm to the oak in selecting a site? Two reasons; i, 

 On the oak the squirrel in quest of nuts would destroy the 

 contents of the nest ; 2, The branches of elm are more pli- 

 ant than those of the oak, a quality very important for the 

 safety of the nest. 



Is there any support to the assertion that the nest-build- 

 ing habits of birds have gradually changed in many par- 

 ticulars ? In their primitive habits the orioles and other 



