252 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



Strange Mishaps to Birds 



' F all the various mishaps 

 that befall birds during 

 their life struggles were 

 recorded, what a collec- 

 tion of tragical incidents 

 such a voluminous record 

 would contain ! One day 

 in July, I discovered a 

 beautiful nest of the Bal- 

 timore oriole swaying in 

 fr ' the air from one of the 

 terminal branches of a 

 large beech tree. The 

 family of orioles occupy- 

 ing it had left some time 

 before. For a week after- 

 wards I passed the local- 

 ity of the nest without 

 observing anything un- 

 usual about it. Of course 

 there was no expectation 

 of seeing the artisans that 

 had built the superb archi- 

 tectural structure, for orioles usually leave their nests in June 

 in this latitude, being much earlier than most birds. Later, 

 while on a strolling tour of inspection one morning, after a 

 strong northeast wind, accompanied with rain, a dark object 

 was seen hanging suspended below the oriole's nest, dangling 

 by a thread. At the first glance I surmised that it was a dead 

 leaf, but after again noticing the object I concluded that it 

 was a dead bird which had been entrapped by a string com- 

 posing the nest. I set out to investigate the matter more fully, 



