WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



winter carry it to the West Indies and Central Amer- 

 ica. It shows a slight tendency to gregariousness, 

 even in breeding ; for several nests may frequently 

 be seen in adjoining trees, all the proprietors keep- 

 ing upon the most neighborly terms with each 

 other and with other birds. 



The nest is ordinarily suspended only a few feet 

 from the ground, between the gnarled twigs near 

 the end of an apple bough, to which it is strongly 

 bound, and beneath which it is essentially pensile, 

 although by no means so freely swinging a pouch 

 as the structure of the Baltimore oriole. Never- 

 theless, it is sometimes hung (much after the pen- 

 dulous manner of its cousin's) among the pendent 

 tips of drooping willow branches, several of which 

 will be found woven into the sides in such a way 

 as to serve as upright ribs or stays. Such nests 

 are likely to prove of neater workmanship and 

 perhaps a trifle greater in depth than others. In 

 both cases, however, the shape and proportions are 

 nearly the same, the cavity being about as large 

 as a coffee-cup. The walls are rather thin, par- 

 ticularly in nests built at the South, where a cir- 

 culation of air is so desirable. 



The material of which this beautiful and easily 

 recognized structure is composed consists usually 



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