The few remaining great auks now assembled and form- 

 ed a rookery on a rock called Eldey, where, for fourteen 

 years, they lived a precarious existence. During that 

 time sixty of their number were taken, and finally the 

 last pair was destroyed. Their history in other localities 

 is very similar to this. That the birds were once com- 

 mon on the Maine coast is shown by the fact that their 

 bones are found in the oyster shell heaps at various parts 

 of the shore. [St. Nicholas.] 



A Clever Oriole, 



An observing correspondent, Ml*, (x. B. M., sends me 

 a letter about my friends, tlu uncles, or rather about one 

 of these birds that had a keen eye to business. "It is cu- 

 rious,' 7 says Mr. Gr. B. M., "what a variety of materials 

 Baltimore orioles will use in the construction of their nests 



in the lawn of one of the prettiest homes in the State of 

 Maryland a pair of orioles selected a tree in which to 

 build. It was a large fir tree, about forty-five feet from 

 the house. The lady of the house was sewing hy one of 

 the windows opposite this tree early one beautiful sum- 

 mer morning, and, on being called away to some other 

 room, she placed her spool of cotton on the window-sill. 



When she returned she found the spool was gone, and 

 on looking for it, discovered it on the floor of the porch 

 which was just outside of the window. She found that a 



