124 BIRDS 



song with its martial, interrogative notes, becomes almost 

 tiresome until he is happily mated and family cares check 

 his enthusiasm. One can easily imitate his whistle and, on 

 calling him, find a quick response from the mystified oriole 

 who is always disposed to live within hailing distance of 

 human homes. The music from a piano excites him as, 

 joyously singing, he flies nearer and nearer to the house. 

 Among the best architects in the world is his plain but 

 energetic mate. Gracefully swung from the end of a high 

 branch of some tall tree, preferably an elm or a willow, the 

 nest is woven with exquisite skill into a long, flexible pouch 

 that rain cannot penetrate nor wind shake from its horse- 

 hair moorings. Bits of string, threads of silk, and some- 

 times yarn of the gayest colors, if laid about the shrubbery 

 in the garden, will be quickly interwoven with shreds of 

 bark and milk-weed stalks that the bird has found afield. 

 The shape of the nest often differs, because in unsettled 

 regions, where hawks abound, it is necessary to make it 

 deeper than seven inches (the customary depth when it is 

 built near the homes of men), and to partly close it at the 

 top to conceal the sitting bird. 



The Orchard Oriole 



Length — 7 to 7.3 inches. About one fourth smaller than 

 the robin. 



Male — ^Head, throat, upper back, tail, and part of wings 

 black. Breast, rump, shoulders, under wing and tail 

 coverts, and under parts bright reddish brown after 

 second year. Whitish-yellow markings on a few tail and 

 wing feathers. 



Female — ^Head and upper parts olive, shading into brown; 



