THE RETURN OF THE NATIVES. 8 1 



bethought her of the song she was to put into its 

 throat, and went searching among her many tints 

 for a color to match it. She finally selected the 

 beautiful scarlet-orange, and it is no wonder that 

 Sir George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, for 

 whom the specific name is given, chose this hue 

 for his livery. 



Although a fitting bird to survive, and having 

 an impressive identity and character, there is some 

 kind of agency at work which makes the oriole a 

 comparatively rare bird. He is not so abundant 

 as others of his relatives that visit New England, 

 excepting the orchard oriole, which is an occa- 

 sional visitor in the most Southern districts. The 

 bobolinks outnumber him ten to one, and the red- 

 wings are in almost as many swarms as he in 

 couples. Certain it is that he has not the fighting 

 qualities of the robins, who now stare at him as he 

 flashes down in their midst, and therefore is not so 

 capable of defending himself or his property. And 

 may not his brilliant plumage offer a shining mark 

 to the many birds of prey? 



His song, when he first arrives, has a shade of 

 sadness in its intonation, the preliminary chirp 

 sounding like that of a lost chicken; then, after 

 drooping his head in a dejected manner, and paus- 



