Nests in Trees 



efforts of some higher intelligence than is to be found 

 amongst birds. One and all are bizarre in shape. Bottle, 

 pear and retort shapes are common, and some of the 

 nests resemble hammocks. Some are more than mere 

 nests, and form permanent abodes ; many are double- 

 chambered, one for the sitting hen, the other a resting- 

 place for her mate, or a nursery for her chicks. 



One of the most remarkable of these nests is constructed 

 by the Baltimore oriole, a common American bird. It 

 bears considerable resemblance to the housewife's string 

 bag, being suspended by its rim from some favoured 

 branch. The bird weaves vegetable fibres so skilfully in 

 its construction that the substance of the nest resembles 

 that of a straw hat in an unfinished state. Frequently 

 wool and hair are woven into the nest to give it added 

 strength. As the Baltimore oriole is not troubled with 

 shyness, its building operations have been frequently 

 observed. In the first place, it selects the strongest fibres 

 it can find, and weaves them round the branches it has 

 selected, to form the supports for its pendent nest. 



On this foundation it builds up the rest of the structure 

 and lines the whole with a layer of horsehair. " So 

 solicitous is the Baltimore oriole to procure proper 

 materials for his nest that in the season of building the 

 women in the country are under the necessity of narrowly 

 watching their threads that may chance to be out 

 bleaching, and the farmer to secure his young grafts, as 

 the Baltimore oriole, finding the former and the strings 

 which tie the latter so well adapted for his purpose, 

 frequently carries off both. Or, should the one be over- 

 heavy, and the other too firmly tied, he will try at them 

 for a considerable time before he gives up the attempt. 

 Skeins of silk and hanks of thread have often been found, 

 after the leaves have fallen, hanging round the Baltimore 

 oriole's nest, but so woven up and entangled as to 

 be entirely irrecoverable. Before the introduction of 

 Europeans, no such materials could have been found 



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