522 LAND BIRDS 
within hearing, will fly at the intruder and effectually 
banish him from the vicinity. When newly hatched, the 
young orioles are naked, pink babies with little tufts of 
thin white down on head and back. For nearly a week 
after they are feathered the down waves rakishly on 
either side of the crown and about the shoulders, gradu- 
ally wearing off as they brush about through the bushes. 
Like all oriole babies, these demand the constant 
attention of both parents, crying loudly for more the 
moment their mouths are emptied of the last mouthful, 
not in the least trying to help themselves, but following 
the adults about for a week or two after leaving the nest. 
No wonder that, worn out by unremitting care of this 
first brood, the parents have neither the strength nor the 
time to undertake a second in the same season. I 
believe the families usually keep together until late in 
August, when the males join flocks of their own sex for 
the September migration southward. 
In “ The Condor ” for July, 1901, the following state- 
ment with regard to the food habits of this Oriole is 
worthy of special note: “The chief food of the Orioles 
consists of insects and injurious caterpillars. . . . They 
are particularly fond of a small green caterpillar that 
destroyed the foliage of the prune trees a few years ago. 
The Orioles are often seen in the berry patches, but they 
are usually in search of insects, as is proven by an ex- 
> 
amination of a great number of stomachs.” These facts 
regarding the food habits of our song birds are of great 
value to the bird-lover, but even more so to the farmer. 
Naturally he will protect any species which is proven 
beneficial to his crops. 
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