380 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



is more than likely that in districts far removed 

 from the busy haunts of man, owing to the lack 

 o^the usual materials, the birds are constrained 

 to use the hairs of the domestic as well as those 

 of wild animals in the structure of their domiciles. 

 In times very remote, before the. introduction of 

 civilized man into the country, there is no doubt 

 that the above was the only style of architecture 

 known to the species. It is evident that in 

 days of primitive gloom, and even at the present 

 time in thickly-wooded sections, a very dense nest 

 is not at all desirable, since the birds obtain the 

 required protection from the w r eather in the beauti- 

 ful covering which nature throws over them. Now, 

 in sections where the forests have disappeared by 

 the strokes of the pioneer's axe, such shelter 

 would not afford the comfort and security which 

 the inmates demand. Birds not being slow to 

 discern what best comports with their security, 

 certainly this oriole which displays so much good 

 taste and ingenuity, would readily perceive that a 

 more compact and denser structure would be more 

 desirable. History shows that the highest and 

 most elaborate styles of architecture which man is 

 now capable of achieving, are but the outgrowths 

 of the simpler and less complicated forms that pre- 

 ceded them. Reasoning therefore from analogy, the 

 highest style which the Baltimore Oriole has been 

 able to accomplish, the typical nest, is but an out- 

 growth of the one which we have last described. 

 From the plausible remarks advanced, the in- 



