284 ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



fresh green grasses to a laurel oak {Quercus imbricaria) , that was densely covered with 

 large hanging festoons of Spanish moss ; they disappeared always in a certain bunch of 

 moss, yet I could see no nest. At last, on taking down the branch, I was surprised 

 to find a beautiful structure in my hands. The grasses and threads of moss were all 

 firmly woven together with grass ; the entrance was on the side. There is no doubt 

 that the birds make frequently use of these festoons of dense moss, as I have often seen 

 them climbing around in them. They could not be better protected, it being exceedingly 

 difficult to find the nest among the bunches of moss. 



"June 11. Orchard Oriole nests are found almost daily. I even discovered one in 

 a top of a dense Scotch pine only a few steps from a much frequented veranda. Another 

 one was built close by in an apple tree, and a third one in an Osage orange. A fourth 

 nest stood in a black jack oak not far from the nest of a Robin; in the top of the same 

 tree a Kingbird had its nest. Not quite six feet from it, in a neighboring tree, a pair of 

 Bluebirds were nesting. In another oak tree near the house, about fifteen feet from the 

 grounS, a fifth nest was discovered. Under this tree the children play and chatter all 

 day long and a hammock i^ constantly swinging to and fro. The gushing, sprightly, 

 and melodious song of the Orchard Orioles as well as their rattling notes, sounding like 

 terrrrrrr, are frequently heard. Their flight is quick and graceful, and their motions 

 among the branches of the trees are very adroit. They rarely come down to the ground. 

 Almost all the nests found by me contained four, several five, and a few three eggs. 

 They have a pale bluish- white ground-color, and are blotched with purplish and spotted 

 on the larger end with a few deep markings of dark purphsh-brown." 



The sociability of this Oriole is one of its most marked characteristics, and has 

 been noticed by all observers who have had an opportunity to study its habits. Audu- 

 bon says that he has known no less than nine nests in the same enclosure, and that all 

 the birds were living together in great harmony. I have found five and six nests in one 

 orchard and garden, and two even in one tree. 



The Orchard Oriole is a more restless bird than the Golden Robin. This sprightly 

 bird is ever in motion, flying, hopping, and climbing about in the trees, often swinging 

 head downward in its search for food. Now and then we may see it flying down to 

 the ground after some fallen bug or worm, but in the next instant it is again fluttering 

 amidst the foliage, prying for lurking prey. All the time its search is accompanied by 

 its hurried and sprightly notes. Prof. Robert Ridgway, an excellent connoisseur of bird 

 song, says, that the male is an excellent songster, his notes having an ecstatic character, 

 quite the reverse of the mournful lament of his larger and more brilliantly colored 

 cousin. 



The Orchard Oriole is a highly beneficial bird, as its food consists almost exclu- 

 sively of insects, which are captured mostly in trees and shrubs, especially among the 

 flowers and leaves. In pursuing its prey it is exceedingly active, fluttering amidst the 

 foliage, climbing among the branches, or flying and springing after bugs and moths 

 on the escape. Of insects "it consumes," according to Dr. T. M. Brewer, "a large 

 number, and with them it also feeds its young. Most of these are of the kinds most 

 obnoxious to the husbandman, preying upon the foliage, destroying the fruit, and other- 

 wise injuring the trees, and their destroyers render an incalculable amount of benefit to 



