BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 203 



distance from the native residence of these birds, and the strange 

 alterations of colour which the latter are subject to. 



This obscurity I have endeavoured to clear up in the present 

 volume of this work, PI. iv, by exhibiting the male and female 

 of the Oriolus spurius in their different changes of dress, as well 

 as in their perfect plumage; and by introducing representations 

 of the eggs of both, have, I hope, put the identity of these two 

 species beyond all further dispute or ambiguity. 



Almost the whole genus of Orioles belong to America, and 

 with a few exceptions build pensile nests. Few of them, how- 

 ever, equal the Baltimore in the construction of these recepta- 

 cles for their young, and in giving them, in such a superior de- 

 gree, convenience, warmth and security. For these purposes he 

 generally fixes on the high bending extremities of the branches, 

 fastening strong strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs, 

 corresponding to the intended width of the nest; with the same 

 materials, mixed with quantities of loose tow, he interweaves 

 or fabricates a strong firm kind of cloth, not unlike the substance 

 of a hat in its raw state, forming it into a pouch of six or seven 

 inches in depth, lining it substantially with various soft substan- 

 ces, well interwoven with the outward netting, and lastly, fin- 

 ishes with a layer of horse hair; the whole being shaded from 

 the sun and rain by a natural pent-house, or canopy of leaves. 

 As to a hole being left in the side for the young to be fed, and 

 void their excrements through, as Pennant and others relate, 

 it is certainly an error: I have never met with any thing of the 

 kind in the nest of the Baltimore. 



Though birds of the same species have, generally speaking, 

 a common form of building, yet, contrary to the usually re- 

 ceived opinion, they do not build exactly in the same manner. 

 As much difference will be found in the style, neatness, and 

 finishing of the nests of the Baltimores, as in their voices. Some 

 appear far superior workmen to others; and probably age may 

 improve them in this as it does in their colours. I have a num- 

 ber of their nests now before me, all completed, and with eggs. 

 One of these, the neatest, is in the form of a cylinder, of five 



