A MIDSUMMER PRINCE. 235 



r 



maged male also sits upon the eggs. Mother Necessity has 

 prompted the marvellous invention. 



Nuttall thought both 59x68 equally expert at nest-build- 

 ing, although the labor principally devolved upon the fe- 

 male. The latter clause in particular Mr. Gentry has con- 

 firmed, and tells us that the male occupies himself only in 

 collecting materials for his mate. They labor very steadily, 

 but a week's work is necessary for the completion of their 

 home. It seems strange that domiciles constructed with so 

 much pains should not be occupied successive seasons, but 

 this seems never to be the case. It sometimes happens, 

 however, that orioles will pick to pieces an old nest to get 

 materials for a new one, just as the Indians of Peru often 

 construct their huts of the cut-stone blocks of the ancient 

 palaces of the Incas. These birds are very knowing in 

 gathering stuff for the framework of their homes, and per- 

 ceive the adaptability to their needs of the housewife's yarn 

 and laces, hung out to dry, much sooner than they perceive 

 the immorality of stealing them. White cotton strings 

 are rarely absent 'from their nests, which are sometimes al- 

 most entirely composed of them. Some curious anecdotes 

 have been related of this economical propensity and its re- 

 sults ; Nuttall tells the following : 



"A female (oriole), which I observed attentively, carried 



