116 WAKE-ROBIN 
pause, I had the good luck to see, through an open- 
ing in the leaves, the bird return to her nest, 
‘which appeared like a mere wart or excrescence on 
'a small branch. The hummingbird, unlike all 
‘ others, does not alight upon the nest, but flies into 
it. She enters it as quick as a flash, but as light as 
any feather. Two eggs are the complement. They 
are perfectly white, and so frail that only a woman’s 
fingers may touch them. Incubation lasts about 
ten days. In a week the young have flown. 
' The only nest like the hummingbird’s, and com- 
‘parable to it in neatness and symmetry, is that of 
the blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is often saddled 
‘upon the limb in the same manner, though it is 
generally more or less pendent; it is deep and soft, 
composed mostly of some vegetable down covered 
all over with delicate tree-lichens, and, except that 
it is much larger, appears almost identical with the 
nest of the hummingbird. 
But the nest of nests, the ideal nest, after we 
| have left the deep woods, is unquestionably that of 
| the Baltimore oriole. It is the only perfectly pen- 
sile nest we have. The nest of the orchard oriole 
is indeed mainly so, but this bird generally builds 
lower and shallower, more after the manner of the 
vireos. 
The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to 
the swaying branches of the tallest elms, making no 
attempt at concealment, but satisfied if the position 
be high and the branch pendent. This nest would 
seem to cost more time and skill than any other 
