UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES AFIELD 101 



parts of boiled potato and hard boiled egg, Aaried 

 by the addition of a little fruit, at times bread and 

 milk or rolled hemp seed. When I was compelled 

 to go afield, for a week or ten days, their nest 

 placed in a small box and covered with a cloth was 

 carried with me so that they might be fed regu- 

 larly. Sometimes their field feedings were farther 

 apart than those at home but at no time did they 

 go longer than half an hour. They grew finely. 

 WTien they were large enough to fly well they had 

 the freedom of the conservatory. Then the door 

 was left open and at last they were placed in an 

 apple tree near the back door with their food 

 and water convenient. It was not long until they 

 could take care of themselves. For several weeks I 

 could see them and hear their voices as they flew 

 through the orchard. Then they wandered farther 

 afield and finally deserted me altogether. 



One of the greatest tragedies I have known of 

 afield was revealed by the body of a Baltimore 

 oriole hanging from a loop of cotton cord in a 

 Cottonwood, not far from a partially completed 

 nest that evidently had been abandoned on account 

 of the accident. In carrying material one of the 

 pair had dropped a piece of cotton cord mixed 

 with hea^'j^ sewing cotton. This had lodged on 

 the stiff point of a dead twig, then had been worked 

 back by the wind until it caught on a tiny projec- 

 tion of the twig made by a falling leaf. The male 

 oriole in working to free this material in order to 



