ORCHARD ORIOLE. y l 



amined them both in spring and towards the latter part of 

 summer, and having at the present time in his possession thirty 

 or forty individuals of this species, in almost every gradation 

 of change. 



The orchard oriole, though partly a dependent on the in- 

 dustry of the farmer, is no sneaking pilferer, but an open and 

 truly beneficent friend. To all those countless multitudes of 

 destructive bugs and caterpillars that infest the fruit trees in 

 spring and summer, preying on the leaves, blossoms, and em- 

 bryo of the fruit, he is a deadly enemy ; devouring them when- 

 ever he can find them, and destroying, on an average, some 

 hundreds of them every day, without offering the slightest 

 injury to the fruit, however much it may stand in his way. 

 I have witnessed instances where the entrance to his nest was 

 more than half closed up by a cluster of apples, which he could 

 have easily demolished in half a minute; but, as if holding 

 the property of his patron sacred, or considering it as a natural 

 bulwark to his own, he slid out and in with the greatest gentle- 

 ness and caution. I am not sufficiently conversant in entomo- 

 logy to particularise the different species of insects on which 

 he feeds, but I have good reason for believing that they are 

 almost altogether such as commit the greatest depredations 

 on the fruits of the orchard ; and, as he visits us at a time 

 when his services are of the greatest value, and, like a faithful 

 guardian, takes up his station where the enemy is most to be 

 expected, he ought to be held in respectful esteem, and pro- 

 tected by every considerate husbandman. Nor is the gaiety of 

 his song one of his least recommendations. Being an exceed- 

 ingly active, sprightly, and restless bird, he is on the ground 

 — on the trees — flying and carolling in his hurried manner, in 

 almost one and the same instant. His notes are shrill and 

 lively, but uttered with such rapidity, and seeming confusion, 

 that the ear is unable to follow them distinctly. Between 

 these, he has a single note, which is agreeable and interesting. 

 Wherever he is protected, he shows his confidence and 

 gratitude by his numbers and familiarity. In the Botanic 



