116 WAKE-ROBIN 



pause, I had the good luck to see, through an open- 

 ing in the leaves, the bird return to her nest, 

 which appeared like a mere wart or excrescence on 

 a small branch. The hummingbird, unlike all 

 others, does not alight upon the nest, but flies into 

 it. She enters it as quick as a flash, but as light as 

 any feather. Two eggs are the complement. They 

 are perfectly white, and so frail that only a woman's 

 fingers may touch them. Incubation lasts about 

 ten days. In a week the young have flown. 



The only nest like the hummingbird's, and com- 

 parable to it in neatness and symmetry, is that of 

 the blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is often saddled 

 upon the limb in the same manner, though it is 

 generally more or less pendent; it is deep and soft, 

 composed mostly of some vegetable down covered 

 all over with delicate tree-lichens, and, except that 

 it is much larger, appears almost identical with the 

 nest of the hummingbird. 



But the nest of nests, the ideal nest, after we 

 have left the deep woods, is unquestionably that of 

 the Baltimore oriole. It is the only perfectly pen- 

 sile nest we have. The nest of the orchard oriole 

 is indeed mainly so, but this bird generally builds 

 lower and shallower, more after the manner of the 

 vireos. 



The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to 

 the swaying branches of the tallest elms, making no 

 attempt at concealment, but satisfied if the position 

 be high and the branch pendent. This nest would 

 seem to cost more time and skill than any othei 



