THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE 93 



As we sat at dinner a few moments later, I saw 

 the eager bird flying up toward her nest with 

 one of these brilliant yarns streaming behind 

 her. They had caught her eye at once, and she 

 fell to work upon them with a will ; not a bit 

 daunted by their brilliant color, she soon had a 

 crimson spot there amid the green leaves. She 

 afforded us rare amusement all the afternoon and 

 the next morning. How she seemed to congrat- 

 ulate herself over her rare find ! How vigorously 

 she knotted those strings to her branch and 

 gathered the ends in and sewed them through 

 and through the structure, jerking them spite- 

 fully like a housewife burdened with many cares ! 

 How savagely she would fly at her neighbor, an 

 oriole that had a nest just over the fence a few 

 yards away, when she invaded her territory ! The 

 male looked on approvingly, but did not offer to 

 lend a hand. There is something in the manner 

 of the female on such occasions, something so 

 decisive and emphatic, that one entirely approves 

 of the course of the male in not meddling or offer- 

 ing any suggestions. It is the wife's enterprise, 

 and she evidently knows her own mind so well 

 that the husband keeps aloof, or plays the part 

 of an approving spectator. 



The woolen yarn was ill-suited to the Ken- 

 tucky climate. This fact the bird seemed to ap- 



