An Oriole s Nest. y I 



and away from houses they are noticeably deeper, and 

 so better protected from bird enemies. The same 

 thing is sometimes noticed of nests built in. maple or 

 apple trees, which are without the protection of droop- 

 ing branches, upon which birds of prey can find no 

 footing. Some wise birds secure the same jjrotection 

 by simply contracting the neck of the nest, instead of 

 building a deep one. Young birds building their first 

 nests seem afraid to trust in the strength of their own 

 weaving. Their nests are invariably shallow, and so 

 suffer most from birds of prey. 



In the choice of building material the birds are 

 very careful. They know well that no branch sup- 

 jjorts the nest from beneath ; that the safety of the 

 young orioles depends on good, strong material well 

 woven together. In some wise way they seem to 

 know at a glance whether a thread is strong enough 

 to be trusted ; but sometimes, in selecting the first 

 threads that are to bear the whole weight of the nest, 

 they are unwilling to trust to appearances. At such 

 times a pair of birds may be seen holding a little tug- 

 of-war, with feet braced, shaking and pulling the 

 thread like a pair of terriers, till it is well tested. 



It is in gathering and testing the materials for a 

 nest that the orioles display no little ingenuity. One 

 day, a few years ago, I was lying under some shrubs, 

 watching a pair of the birds that were building close 



