158 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE I^\RM 



of a ])riinitivc loom, such as women of certain tribes use 

 to-day. Into this waq) the threads of the woof are woven, 

 by the woman with her fingers (aided, perhaps, by a crude 

 wooden shuttle) , by the bird with its slender beak. If anyone 

 think that the wca\'ing of the oriole is not well done, let him 



sit do^\Ti with an empty 

 nest and tr\' to unravel all 

 its threads ! 



The fiber products used 

 by the oriole are such as 

 were first used by man for 

 textile work — strips of 

 bark, strands of bast fibers, 

 long hairs from the tails 

 of horses and cattle, grass 

 stems and leaves ; in short, 

 an}i:hing that nature 

 ollercd, and that had 

 sufficient length, strength 

 and pliancy. In our day, 

 this bird has adopted one 

 of the products of our 

 spindles, cotton-wrapping 

 twane, for the warp of its 

 nest, doubtless finding, 

 just as we have found, 

 that this is superior for the purpose to anything that nature 

 offers ready-made. Perhaps we thus repay an unacknow- 

 ledged debt we may be owing this bird-weaver; for possibly 

 some poetic soul in an age long gone may have watched 

 an oriole at his labors, as Lowell did: 



"When oaken woods with l)U(ls are pink, 



Pig. 63. An oriole at his nest, bringing a 

 thread for the weaving. 



Then from the honeysuckle Rray 

 The oriole with experienced quest 



Twitches the fibrous bark away 

 The cordage of his hammock-nest," 



