THE OOUxiisT. 



WOfd OH some habits perhaps uot wholly 

 covered by the popular writers. 



Of all t he summer residents its stay is the 

 briefest. Arriving ea rry in Mav, it is at 

 <mce paired and begins its penduline cradle. 

 The young are out of the nest by the 4th 

 of July and by the 15th not an oriole can 

 be found. For a few days previous to the 

 ♦light the incessant clamor of the squabs is 

 one of the commonest and most distressing 

 sounds in nature. But why do they leave 

 just after breeding, and where do they go ? 

 To new feeding grounds ? Certain it is that 

 only in the more wooded districts are they 

 rarefy seen in August and uot even a strag*- ' 

 gier in the full. Do thev go' north for a- 

 while and then south? (1 should say that 

 these observations were made in an "inland 

 Conn, city, and that elsewhere the stay may 

 be longer, and the migrations vary.) A- 

 gain, in the season of '72 when these birds 

 were building, we awoke one morning to 

 the fact that there were no flute-like culls 

 and swaying forms in the branches of the 

 oriole-hauuted elms, and no robber scouts 

 in the livery of Lord Baltimore foraging on 

 our peas newly set. In fact, between two 

 'lavs, every oriole in the neighborhood hud 

 vanished as if by magic, leaving some 

 scores of half-finished nests which remain- 

 ed untenanted for the season. What was 

 the cause of this sudden exodus ? And was 

 it noticed elsewhere ? At the time I should 

 have compared notes with other observers, 

 had there been such a medium as this jour- 

 nal. Were they but following the iisual 

 assigned courses for migration — following 

 heat, light, and food? Was there perhaps 

 'in abundance of worms in a not distant 

 section, where thev went and so changed 

 tbei! breeding place? This is of course but 

 conjecture. We know the value of the I<- 

 tenaa as worm-eaters. One pair of orioles 

 is worth all the English Sparrows ever in- 

 troduced. It is a common sight to see one 

 parched above a caterpillar's nest for half 

 un hour at a time, destroying hundreds of 

 those destructive grubs lit a meal. That 

 their tuste for green peas is a new one I am 

 convinced. Have made special inquiry of 



many old farmers aud gardeners and find 

 j that a generation ago the habit was un- 

 known. And ou the whole it is easv to ac- 

 count for its origin. In flic old "days of 

 hardy early June peas and tough marrow- 

 fats, there was little to tempt the orioles 

 from their diet of worms, with cherries for 

 dessert : but the advent b£ the several wrink- 

 led imported peas in their luscious varieties 

 were halcyon days for our feathered friends 

 with a sweet tooth. The new peas hue 

 200 per cent, more sugar than the old sort. 

 Our bold freebooter was not slow to dlscov- 

 , er the difference and to profit by (he change, 

 | So nowadays no one can have his Dwarf 

 jGems, Carters, and Champions of England, 

 without his powder and shot and old muz- 

 zle-loader close at hand. 



I will dwell but a moment on the hack- 

 neyed subject of this bird's penduline home. 

 Five ue^ts in my cabinet tukeu in the sea- 

 son of '74 from apple and pear trees in the 

 suburbs, were pensile, it is true, but bowl- 

 shaped and shallow. Twelve others taken 

 at different times from the mil elms in town 

 were more truly penduline. Of the whole 

 lot of seventeen, new and old, but one had 

 an aperture on the side. In this case a fal- 

 len branch had lodged from above and the 

 original [dans of the architect had been mod- 

 | ifiod. 



From an immemorial elm on our prem- 

 ises has swung for two years an oriole's 

 n?st in which is incorporated a lot of scar- 

 let sewing-silk. It was occupied the sec- 

 ond season by a pair of small parasite birds, 

 and though the old owners claimed their 

 own more than once, they were driven a- 

 way by the parasites who reared their young 

 in safety. As I write, this nest still swings 

 near my window in good condition ; and I 

 shall soon look to sec it again used by sonic 

 feathered house-hunter.-, too shiftless to 

 build, aud on the lookout for a tenement 

 in a good locality where there will bo no 

 long bill for repairs. J. M. W. 



Unparalled ( )tfers next month 1 Be sure 

 and read them, as thev are for your ben- 

 efit. 



