DE. THEODOR NEUMANN. 177 



with her bill, and continually walking round the nest. 

 In one instance the bird began at seven o'clock on a 

 Tuesday morning and the nest was finished in good time 

 on Friday afternoon." 



The nest of the Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula) is 

 also a very elegant structure, generally of a thicker and 

 tougher substance, and more ingeniously woven. It has 

 the form of a cylinder, six to eight inches in length, 

 rounded at the bottom. The materials are flax, hemp, 

 tow, hair and wool, woven into a complete cloth, the 

 whole tightly sewed through and through with long 

 horse-hairs, several of which measured two feet in length. 

 The female bird seems to be the chief architect, receiving 

 a constant supply of materials from her mate, and occa- 

 sionally rejecting the fibres or hairs which he may bring, 

 and sending him off for another load better to her taste. 

 So solicitous is the Baltimore oriole to procure proper 

 materials for his nest that, in the season of building, the 

 people in the country are under the necessity of carefully 

 watching their threads that may be out bleaching or lying 

 around, knowing that the oriole is ever ready to pounce 

 upon such valuable material, and straightway to weave it 

 into his nest. Pieces of loose string, skeins of silk, or even 

 the bands with which young grafts are tied, are equally 

 sought by this ingenious bird, and often purloined, to the 

 discomfiture of the needle-woman or the gardener. 



Somewhat differently from their name-sake do the or- 

 chard orioles (Icterus spurius) build their sumptuous 

 residences. 



They usually suspend their nest from the twigs of the 

 apple tree ; often from the extremities of the outward 

 branches. It is a really magnificent structure, woven 

 into a hammock or bag-like shape from long grasses and 

 so firmly constructed that it will stand no small amount 

 of rough treatment before its texture gives way. It is 

 formed exteriorly of a particular species of long, tough 



115 



