NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



•503 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE ORIOLE AND HAWK. 



Interesting Friendship between a Baltimore Oriole 

 (Fire Hanging Bird, Golden Robin., Icteous Bal- 

 timore) and a large Hawk. 



BY DR. CHARLES SIEDIIOF. 



In looking over the materials collected for the 

 preparation of a popular hook on the Birds of New 

 England, I find the following curious fact noticed 

 in my papers : 



In the summer of the year 18-19, one of my pu- 

 pils, George Adams, son of Seth Adams, Esq., of 

 Providence, R. I. , a hoy who had much taste for 

 natural history, called my attention to a Baltimore 

 Oriole, who had his nest in my garden, and who 

 used to pay very frequent visits to a large hawk, 

 which I kept in a cage attached to my barn. — 

 When the boy told me of this circumstance, I 

 could hardly believe it ; but after I myself, as well 

 as all the members of my family, including my 

 pupils, had been eye-witnesses every day for about 

 a mouth, there was certainly no reason to doubt. 



The Baltimore Oriole, (the male bird, for the 

 female was not so daring, but kept in a respectful 

 distance) would every now and then enter the cage 

 of the hawk, alight on the same perch with him, 

 ami feed on the meat, an abundance of which was 

 always in the cage. He had so little apprehen- 

 sion of danger, that he frequently sang his merry 

 song in the neighborhood of so powerful an enemy. 

 Before we had heen convinced of the generosity of 

 the hawk, who justified so nobly the confidence 

 placed in him, we tried to prevent the Oriole from 

 entering the cage, and to chase him out of it as 

 often as we saw him there ; still seeing those visits 

 daily and hourly repeated, we were delighted with 

 the uncommon friendship between the two birds. 

 The Oriole continued visiting his friend till he left 

 us for the South. Whether the Oriole had pe- 

 rished on his journey, or whether he had forgotten 

 his friend, I do not know ; yet he was never seen 

 again in the hawk's cage. 



Some future time I shall give more illustrations 

 of strong attachment of two different species ol 

 birds to each other. At present, I wish only to 

 state, that my object in writing on birds is not the 

 improvement of the system as such, but the careful 

 observation of the peculiar manners and habits of 

 the different genera and species. I would, there- 

 fore, kindly request such friends of nature as have 

 had an opportunity of observing facts of this kind, 

 to communicate them to me either directly by let- 

 ter or in the papers, and to inform me, in the latter 

 case, where I have to look for them. If Divine 

 Providence should grant time and health, I hope, 

 that assisted by those interested in the feathered 

 tribe, I may be able to contribute some little to 

 facilitate the study of the ornithology of New Eng-. 

 land, and thus to protect the most faithful friends 

 of the farmer and horticulturist against unjust and 

 unpardonable persecuti >n. c. s. 



Remarks. — We hope those interested in birds, 

 (and who is not) will attend to the above request 

 of Dr. Siedhof. 



The Ohio Farmer. — This model of a newspaper 

 comes to us this week with a map of the Ohio State 

 Fair grounds which illuminates it with more than 

 usual attractions. It is conducted with ability 



and discretion, and will make a broad mark. The 

 reader is invited to read its prospectus in another 

 column. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SWALLOWS. 



Mr. Editor: — Sir, — In your remarks upon 0. 

 M. L.'s communication in the Farmer of August 

 28th, you ask "is he sure, <fcc." 



Now sir, I am sure that the barn swallow did not 

 leave here until August 27th. They were collect- 

 ed for several days prior to that day, and on the 

 morning of that day they were in large flocks, very 

 merry, but in a few hours they were about all 

 gone. A very few remained for some days and 

 then left. 



At that time there was a nest in a neighbor's 

 barn with eggs in it ; they have since hatched, and 

 are now evidently preparing for their departure. 

 The above facts may suggest thoughts for some of 

 your curious correspondents ; as this place is an 

 island about sixteen miles from the mainland, and 

 the frost does not come here until some three or 

 four weeks after it has killed everything on the 

 main. The potato rot is very severe here, more 

 than half the crop is lost. Yours, &c. 



Abraham Plummer. 



Matinicus, Me., Sept. 13, 1852. 



TO PURIFY THE AIR OP AN APART- 

 MENT. 



The best method of effecting this will be obvious, 

 if we consider the influence which heat exercises 

 on the atmosphere. Air is expanded and rendered 

 specifically lighter at the ordinary temperature, on 

 the application of heat. Hence in every room 

 heated above the temperature of the atmosphere, 

 there is a continual current of air in circulation. 

 The hot air in chimnies ascends and creates a 

 draught towards the fire-place, whilst the hot air 

 in churches, theatres, and other buildings, passes 

 through the gratings in their ceilings, and its 

 place is supplied by the flow of cold fresh air through 

 the windows and doorways in the lower parts of 

 these buildings. 



The following simple experiment can be easily 

 performed and is highly instructive : — Take a lamp 

 or candle and hold it to the top of the door-way of 

 a crowded apartment, or a room in which there is 

 a fire, the hot air will be found escaping out of the 

 room at the top of the door-way, as will be indi- 

 cated by the outward direction of the flame. If 

 the lamp be placed on the floor, the cold air will 

 be found to be coming in at the bottom of the 

 doorway. If now the lamp be gradually raised 

 from the bottom to the top, the flame at first in- 

 flected inwardly, will be seen gradually to become 

 vertical as the lamp qiproaches the middle of the 

 door-way, and finally it will be again blown out- 

 wardly when the lamp reaches its summit. It 

 would appear from this, that in the middle of the 

 door-way the temperature of the air is uniform, 

 hence there is no current either in or out of the 

 apartment. The whole experiment is highly in- 

 teresting and instructive, and proves that a fire is 

 an excellent ventilator. Hence to ventilate an 

 apartment thoroughly, it is only necessary to kin- 

 dle a good fire, and let the air have free access 

 through the door-way and windows ; the fire will 

 create a current of fresh air into the apartment, 



