26 



THE SUNNY SOUTH OOLOGIST. 



variety of materials used is astonishing; 

 nothing conies amiss — flax, hemp, cotton 

 straw, grass, wool, hair, strips of bark, 

 sometimes thread or small pieces of lace will 

 be appropriated; horse hair, two feet long, 

 will be sewed through and through from the 

 top to the bottom, then up to the other side 

 and back again; and when all this is done it 

 will be so matted together as to be almost as 

 firm as a felt hat. The nest of the Oriole is 

 indeed a combination of weaving and felting. 

 So solicitous is this bird to procure proper 

 materials for the construction of her nest 

 that it is often necessary to watch thread 

 that may be out bleaching, and the farmer 

 must secure his young grafts, as this bird 

 will carry off the former, and the strings that 

 tie the latter to serve her purpose in building. 

 Clothes lines are also attacked, and all need- 

 ed materials taken therefrom. The nest 

 when finished is well secured from sun and 

 rain, and also from observation below by the 

 thick foliage and branches among which it 

 is placed. The young Orioles remain in the 

 nest until they are able to fly, but for some 

 time before they take their flight the nest is 

 easily discovered by their peculiar notes, 

 which resembles the piping of young goslings. 



THE ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



(Icterus shuriusj 

 This species is seven inches in length. The 

 plumage of the male, on the upper parts, is 

 dusty black, that on the lower parts brown- 

 ish chestnut, while that of the female has a 

 grayish hue above and light yellow beneath. 

 It is quite common in the southeastern states, 

 but until recent years it has been rather a 

 rare summer visitor to the southern parts of 

 Ontario. In these parts, however, it is be- 

 coming more common, and yearly penetrates 

 further into the inland districts. It frequents 

 orchards and willow groves, as well as other 

 shady places in the vicinity of towns and 

 farm residences, where it forms its curiously 

 woven nests among the pendant branches. 

 This structure is composed of dry grass, 

 wool, and other fiberous materials; the eggs, 

 four to six in number, measure .85x.55, and 

 are of a bluish-white hue, marbled with lines 

 and spots of a brownish hue. It feeds on 

 small fruits and many species of insects, in 

 their various stages of development. It is 



sometimes called the tailor bird, on account 

 of the ingenious manner in which its nest is 

 composed, and for this purpose it is provided 

 with a long, straight bill. Its plumage un- 

 dergoes various changes, and it does not 

 acquire its adult plumage until the fourth 

 year. Its rapidly repeated notes are not so 

 loud and clear as are those of the Baltimore 

 Oriole. 



THE MEADOW LARK. 



(Sturnella magna.) 

 This familiar and handsome bird is among 

 the best, most pleasing, and continuous of 

 American song birds. It is also among the 

 first of our summer residents to return and 

 cheer the rural agriculturist with its melodi- 

 ous notes, when the long cold winter of this 

 region is drawing to a close. Generally 

 toward the latter part of March, or in the 

 early days of April, while the air is still 

 chilly, and snow and ice still linger on the 

 margins of the fields and deep in the woods, 

 if the sun shines and there are indications of 

 more spring-like weather, among the sound 

 of returning bird-life that greets the listening- 

 ear, from detached tree or fence-post, or on 

 the margins of the wood, is sure to be heard 

 the pleasing song-notes of the meadow lark; 

 and these varied sounds may be daily heard 

 from every grass-field, through all the sum- 

 mer days, until the late autumn, when all 

 the rest of our summer visitors have fled 

 from our woods and fields to their winter 

 homes in the sunny south. Even after the 

 first snow has fallen, and severe frost has 

 put an end for the season to the growth of 

 vegetation, and the appearance of the Snow- 

 buntings heralds the near advent of the icy 

 king, this bird still lingers in our fields, and 

 during the day may be seen in small compan- 

 ies, frisking among the stubble, or chasing 

 each other over the meadows with as much 

 animation as though it was the long sunny 

 days of the summer season. Its general hab- 

 itat is the meadow or pasture-field, though 

 sometimes it finds a suitable nesting-place 

 among the growing-grain, especially fall- 

 wheat, and in the grassy field it finds its 

 favorite food, which consists chiefly of 

 various species of insects, and seeds, and 

 among old stubble or growing a^rass its nest 



