164 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



position quite exposed to view. So even 

 when she herself is dull colored, as is the 

 case of the female of both these birds, it is 

 a matter of no little danger to be visited 

 constantly by so gaudy a companion. 



THE ORIOLE'S NEST 



But the oriole's wife and children are se- 

 cure far beyond most birds. For her nest 

 is more of a concealment to its inmates 

 than that of any other of our common resi- 

 dents except the woodpeckers. Gathering 

 slivers of grape bark, fibres of milk-weed, 

 horse-hairs, or any such long-threaded ma- 

 terial, the oriole weaves them into a deep 

 round pocket, which hangs beneath some 

 pendent limb, often so far out that no enemy 

 save another bird could well reach it. The 

 long pendulous boughs of the elm form a 

 favorite resting-place, while the weeping 

 willow, though strange to the experience 

 of the race, has been adopted by this skilful 

 worker as a place for her woven nest. In- 

 deed, when we remember how thoroughly 

 many students of nature and of science have 



