FRIENDS IN FEATHERS 



on account of the accident. One of the pair had dropped from 

 above a piece of cord and heavy sewing cotton, intertwined. It 

 had lodged on the point of a stiff dead twig, then been pushed 

 back by the wind until it caught on tiny rough projections where 

 a leaf had fallen. In w r orking to free it, to use as a lashing to 

 fasten his nest, the male had slipped a loop over his head, so when 

 he pulled, it had proved to be a veritable slip noose, which drew 

 tighter with his struggles, until he was choked. This is also proof 

 that the male assists in nest building. 



The young were hatched before I heard about the nest, but 

 if I had known in time, I would not have tried to picture the eggs, 

 as it cannot be done in so deep a nest without removing them, 

 which is too dangerous. Once I took a peep into one of these low 

 nests, which was a great treat. The eggs appear as if they had 

 been imprinted with the lines of the nest in which they lie, being 

 lined, traced and dabbled like brush work, but the colour is deli- 

 cate purple and brown. They are even more beautiful than the 

 egg of the Kingbird. 



The three sturdy young of this nest I began handling that 

 first day, so by the time they were ready to fly they would sit 

 for their pictures and return to the nest with never a protest. 

 They took wing the day after this picture of them was taken, 

 then I cut down their cradle for a trophy. 



I had one later experience raising a young Oriole, too heavily 

 bedraggled with mud and crude oil to move, that I found in a 

 swamp. He was scarcely old enough to fly, so I fed him for a 

 week until he could fend for himself before I gave him freedom. 

 He loved water, splashing vigorously each morning, then making 

 his toilet, then taking his breakfast from the point of a toothpick. 

 I could have made exactly as endearing a pet of him as of my 

 first Oriole, but I do not now believe in caged birds; while I had not 

 the time to spare, so when he was self-supporting I released him. 



52 



