AUGUST 163 



ried the then well-known colors of Lord 

 Baltimore. The robin is the dearest bird 

 to the American heart, and our present 

 friend has often been gathered into the 

 inner circle by calling him the golden robin; 

 for his call is not at all unlike that of the 

 robin, though it is far more mellow, so that 

 in voice as well as in plumage our friend is 

 truly golden. That he is neither an oriole 

 nor a robin, scientifically speaking, is only 

 another instance of the small dependence 

 to be put on common names. 



BRIGHT-COLORED BIRDS 



The fearlessness of so brilliant a bird is 

 strange and does great credit, I am sure, to 

 the bird world, for I think it shows that the 

 timidity of our feathered friend is largely 

 a matter of anxiety for the safety of his wife 

 and childern, rather than of himself. The 

 tanagers and the thistle finches, birds about 

 as conspicuous as the oriole, are both more 

 difficult of approach. But each of these 

 has an open nest, and his mate when en- 

 gaged at her domestic duties must lie in a 



