OECHAED OEIOLE, OE BOB-O'-LINK. 243 



its architect in colour, its fomi being accommodated to the situa- 

 tion in which it is placed. When fastened to a tolerably stout 

 branch, its depth is less than its diameter, and it is firmly tied 

 in several directions to prevent the wind from upsetting it. 

 But when it is slung to a long and slender branch, over which 

 the wind has great power, and which is swung to a distance of 

 fourteen or fifteen feet in a smart breeze, the nest is made of 

 much greater depth, and is of a lighter construction. The 

 weeping willow is a favourite tree with this bird, as the drooping 

 leaves conceal the nest effectually, and the delicate twigs can 

 be gathered together so as to support the entire circumference of 

 the entrance. 



Wilson remarks, in allusion to these nests, that they " exhibit 

 not only art in the construction, but judgment in adapting their 

 fabrications so judiciously to their particular situations. If the 

 actions of birds proceeded, as some would have us believe, from 

 the mere impulses of that thing called instinct, individuals of 

 the same species would uniformly build their nests in the same 

 manner, wherever they might happen to fix it ; but it is evident, 

 from those just mentioned, and from a thousand such circum- 

 stances, that they reason, d priori, from cause to consequence, 

 persistently managing with a constant eye to future necessity 

 and convenience." 



The popular name of Orchard Oriole is given to this species 

 because it is a familiar and bold bird, not in the least fearing 

 the vicinity of man, but rather seeming to find a protection 

 therein, and loving to build its pensile nests in orchards. As is 

 the case with many British birds, it long had an evU. reputation 

 which it did not deserve, and was thought to devoiir the ripe 

 fruit of the trees in which the nest was placed. Cultivators now 

 know better, and are aware that, so far from being a foe, it is one 

 of their best friends, eating vast numbers of the noxious insects 

 which infest fruit trees, and saving many a crop by its exertions 

 to procure food for itself and young family. 



Indeed, one of the nests has been observed to be completely 

 overshadowed by a large bunch of apples, which had grown over 

 the entrance, and had absorbed more than half the space through 

 which the bird was accustomed to enter its home. Tet, although 

 the destruction of the fruit would have been a positive conve- 

 nience to the Oriole, not a single apple was touched, and the bird 



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