132 GAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



much smaller, and the nest itself was deeper, than were 

 any of those nests where concealment was not considered 

 in the construction ; these latter being in every way much 

 like the ordinary nests of the orchard oriole. 



Originally, in all probability, when its enemies were 

 more numerous, especially the smaller hawks, the nest of 

 the Baltimore oriole was perfectly closed at the top and 

 had an opening at the side ; but, of the hundreds of these 

 nests that I have seen, I have never yet found one that 

 was constructed in this manner. 



Perhaps as great a change in the manner of construct- 

 ing nests as that given in the case of the Baltimore ori- 

 ole is shown in an instance that occurred under my 

 notice in 1875, and has since been repeated every year 

 (1880) by, probably, the same pair of birds. This is the 

 construction of a semi-globular, supported nest, in a pine- 

 tree, by the orchard or bastard orioles. The materials 

 used in building it were the leaves of the pine, or " pine- 

 needles," as we call them. A few strands of long grass 

 and a bit or two of thread entered into the rim of the 

 nest, and seemed merely to outline the top and hold to- 

 gether the slight twigs to which the nest was attached. 

 The pine-needles were woven into a basket, and supported 

 by a stray thread or a single long, flexible blade of grass, 

 placed here and there through the nest. The bottom of 

 the structure rested on a twig, so that in no respect was 

 it suspended. While ordinarily these orioles build a less 

 carefully constructed nest than does the Baltimore oriole, 

 still it is usually suspended, and made of long, flexible 

 grass, closely interwoven. The nests in the pine-tree, 

 on the other hand, were remarkable for the almost total 

 absence of any suitable flexible materials. This could 

 not have arisen from their absence, as Baltimore orioles 



