The Balthnore Oriole s3 



of grapevine bark, etc. With such materials a strong purse 

 or pouch-shaped nest is woven and firmly attached to one or 

 more forked twigs by the slightly-contracted rim, and it is 

 usually placed in such a position that' the entrance is well 

 shaded by leafy twigs above. 



All sorts of materials are used in lining the bottom and sides 

 of the nest — cotton, wool, tow, rags, cattle hair, fur, fine strips 

 of bark, green moss, fine grass and plant down. They readily 

 avail themselves of any suitable materials, such as yarn, which 

 may be thrown out to them, but prefer plain to gaudy colored 

 stuffs. 



The color of some of the nests varies considerably accord- 

 ing to the materials used; some look almost white, others a 

 pale straw color, and the majority smoke-gray. In the south 

 the Baltimore Oriole builds occasionally in bunches of the 

 gray moss. 



The nests are usually suspended from long, slender droop- 

 ing branches of elm, maple, birch, weeping-willow, button- 

 wood, sycamore, oak, aspen, poplar, Norway spruce, apple, 

 pear and wild cherry trees; but in some localities they are 

 frequently built in the very top and center of a tree, where it 

 is almost impossible to see them. They are placed at various 

 heights from the ground, from eight to fifty feet and more, 

 and frequently in utterly inaccessible positions. The Balti- 

 more Oriole is tolerant and amiably disposed toward its 

 smaller neighbors, and such are often allowed to nest in the 

 same tree and occasionally within a few feet of its own nest. 



Incubation lasts about fourteen days, and I think the female 

 attends to this duty almost exclusively. Both sexes are 

 extremely devoted to each other, as well as-to their eggs and 

 young, defending these bravely against all intruders. From 

 four to six eggs are laid to a set, most frequently four, though 



