Notes from Field and Study 



355 



the Blackbirds waited close by until the 

 holes were finished, when they 'rushed' 

 the Robins, which always retreated, and 

 pulled out the grubs themselves. I fear 

 that the Robin, despite our love for him, 

 is but an arrant 'pacifist' at heart. — Thos. 

 S. Roberts, Minneapolis, Minn. 



An Oregon Oriole 



The place is a veritable 'paradise for 

 birds. An old brown house, half hidden 

 by giant rose bushes climbing to the roof; 

 wide lawns with open stretches, where sun- 

 shine and shadow play hide-and-seek; 

 sleepy firs, towering maples, locusts, and 

 poplars for shade; hedges of roses and 

 sweet peas to shut out the dust of the 

 street; basins of clean, cool water under 

 a dripping tap, where the birds come often 

 to drink and bathe. 



There I first heard of the Oriole, not an 

 Oriole, but the Oriole. Six summers 

 before, a boy threw a stone at him and 

 broke his wing. The brown-house people 

 found him in time to save him from 

 prowling cats, bound up his broken wing, 

 and now receive yearly reward, for he 

 returns each season and builds nearby. 

 They know him by his wavering flight 

 and the cluster of white feathers that 

 never lays smoothly on the broken wing. 



I was calling at the brown house one 

 May afternoon, when a flash of yellow past 

 the window caught my eye, and an instant 

 later a bird's voice rang out a song of 

 greeting. The lady of the house ran to 

 the window, saying, "That must be our 

 Oriole." I asked why she said "our Oriole," 

 and got his story. 



This is about as she told it to me: 



"For several weeks following his injury 

 we fed the Oriole from a window-ledge, 

 and until the going-away time in the 

 fall he seldom failed to appear at a regular 

 hour for his breakfast. 



"The next spring my husband built 

 a cooler-cupboard over the north kitchen 

 window, and for a temporary protection 

 tacked a mosquito netting loosely over the 

 exposed side. 



"It was early strawberry season, and I 



had a dish of choice ones set there beside 

 a bowl of cream, ready for lunch. Going 

 to the cupboard on some errand, I saw 

 my luscious berries all nibbled raw, and 

 the cream spotted with pink. 'A mouse,' 

 I cried. We searched cupboards, pantry, 

 and closets but found no lour-footed thief. 

 The strawberry and cream episode re- 

 mained a mystery. 



"I think it was the next morning as we 

 were eating breakfast, a slight tapping on 

 the window glass made us glance that 

 way. There on the ledge sat an Oriole, his 

 cocked head and twinkling eyes seeming to 

 say, 'Don't you kno.w me? Don't you 

 know me?' 



"Our first thoughts and words were, 

 'Can it be our Oriole?' We cautiously 

 opened the window, and he promptly flew 

 away, though only to the nearest tree. 

 That settled our doubts, for he flew in the 

 old zigzag manner. 



"We were pleased as two children and 

 immediately laid out a tempting tidbit 

 for our traveler. Meanwhile he watched 

 from the tiptop branches, pouring out his 

 joy in the clearest, purest notes you ever 

 heard. A flash and twitter, and, lo, two 

 Orioles were where one had been before. 

 He had brought his mate, but we couldn't 

 be sure whether she was the old wife or a 

 new. 



"One morning, a little later, my 

 neighbor's little daughter was playing 

 about the kitchen while I did my morn- 

 ing work. Suddenly she gave out a funny 

 little squeal, and cried, 'Oh, look Auntie, 

 look ! look !' A chubby finger pointed to the 

 cooler-cupboard. There, in the very center 

 of a fresh currant pie, stood Mr. Oriole, 

 filling his 'tummie' and likewise that of his 

 more timid mate, who fluttered and coaxed 

 and chirped just outside the danger- 

 line. The mystery was solved; but what 

 was to be done with the beautiful, daring 

 robber? 



"Well, we put up a wire netting, for 

 such impudence was past our endurance. 

 For days he fought that netting like a 

 thing alive, beating it with beak and claw. 

 In some way we discovered that if a berry 

 were placed close against the screen, the 



