BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 291 



frequently furnished nesting material for these birds. Never were red, yellow, blue, or 

 green strings accepted. 



In building the nest, the Orioles usually begin with a string and a few asclepias 

 or hemp fibers, which they skilfully wind around the twigs; then they take horse hair, 

 which they interweave with the other material until the rough skeleton of the nest is 

 formed. So well is the work of weaving performed that we must be surprised by 

 the close texture of the finished fabric. In weaving and forming the nest not only the 

 bill is used, but also the whole body. The female usually sits in the nest turning her 

 body to all sides and working with her bill, while the male climbs around on the out- 

 side, working diligently with his bill. 



Audubon tells us that he has found nests in Louisiana made entirely of the soft 

 Spanish moss, and such a nest, built in a flowering tulip tree, is figured in his magni- 

 ficent work, "The Birds of America." A nest which Dr. T. M. Brewer received from 

 Monticello, Fla., was constructed of the same material. The eggs, four to five in 

 number, are white, marked with dots and curving lines and streaks, appearing as if 

 made with a pen and black ink. 



While the female is hatching, her mate sings his most caressing notes, carries food 

 to her and keeps a sharp lookout for all enemies who may penetrate his haunts. At 

 this time he is extremely suspicious, and the presence of a cat, a dog, a squirrel, or a 

 snake brings him down to the lowermost branches. Birds of prey are vehemently 

 attacked and boldly driven off". When the nest is approached they utter notes of such 

 deep sadness that the kind hearted observer retires immediately. I have seen the male 

 driving away Crows and Crackles, and a writer in the "Audubon Magazine" says, that 

 he has seen one administer such a severe thrashing to a marauding Blue Jay, who 

 w^as prowling about his home, that the rascal went off" quite crest-fallen and hid himself 

 in a cedar tree, where hie stayed half an hour before he dared to venture out from its 

 sheltering branches. 



When the young are hatched both parents are busily engaged providing them with 

 food, and as they grow larger and hungrier the old birds are all day long busily engaged 

 in collecting innumerable noxious insects, the sole diet of their off"spring. When the 

 young are pretty well feathered, but before they are able to fly, they climb around over 

 the edge of the nest, extending finally their excursions to the surrounding twigs, until 

 they are able to use their wings. 



I know no bird that shows such an intense love and attachment to its mate or 

 young as the Baltimore Oriole. When an accident has befallen one of the parents or 

 the young, the surviving cry for days in the most pitiful and mournful tones. When I 

 one day caught a female in a trap and kept her in a cage, the male uttered notes of such 

 extreme sadness and showed such great tenderness and solicitude that it even came in 

 the room and alighted on the cage, where the mate w^as kept. This attachment and 

 love impressed me so deeply that on the next morning I set both firee. 



The Baltimore Oriole is a bird of great value in the household of Nature. To 

 the agriculturist and horticulturist "it renders immense service in the destruction 

 of highly injurious insects; among the most noteworthy of these are the common 

 canker-worm and the tent eater-pillar, both great pests to orchards." (Brewer.) The 



