THE PURPLE GRAKLE. 93 
can be reasonably expected to draw. The bird retains 
the nest year after year, and, as has been shown from 
actual observation, the same spot has been occupied for 
so long a term that the branches of the tree became 
rotten, and the nest fell to the ground. In this case it 
is evident that a succession of birds must have occupied 
the same nest. 
It has been observed that whenever a tree is occupied by 
the osprey, it dies in a short time, though no one is aware 
of the precise nature of the injury which kills it. Some 
persons say that the fish-oil which is spilled by the birds is 
the cause of death; but when we remember that there is 
no better manure than fish, we can hardly believe that the 
alleged cause is the real one. Other persons think that 
the real cause of death is the huge mass of decaying 
vegetable and animal substances which is placed on the 
branches, and that the drippings from the nest fall into 
casual interstices of the branches, and gradually kill it 
from above downwards. So firmly are the materials 
interwoven, that when a tree falls on which an osprey 
nest is built, large masses of the nest hold together in 
spite of the shock. 
The construction of the osprey nest has been described 
somewhat at length, because the manner in which the 
Purple Grakle becomes a parasite could not be understood 
unless the structure of the nest were comprehended. 
As the sticks of which the foundation of the nest are 
made are very large, and not regular in form, considerable 
interstices are left between them, and in such spots the 
Grakle chooses to nidificate. 
In writing of the osprey, Wilson remarks as follows: 
“There is one singular trait in the character of this bird 
which is mentioned in treating of the Purple Grakle, and 
which I have had many opportunities of witnessing. The 
