BALTIMORE ORIOLE, 



25 



Almost the whole genus of Orioles belong to America, and 

 with a few exceptions build pensile nests. Few of them, however, 

 equal the Baltimore in the construction of these receptacles for their 

 young, and in giving them, in such a superior degree, convenience, 

 warmth, and security. For these purposes he generally fixes on 

 the high bending extremities of the branches, fastening strong 

 strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs, corresponding to 

 the intended width of the nest; with the same materials, mixed 

 with quantities of loose tow, he interweaves or fabricates a strong 

 firm kind of cloth, not unlike the substance of a hat in its raw 

 state, forming it into a pouch of six or seven inches in depth, lining 

 it substantially with various soft substances, well interwoven with 

 the outward netting, and, lastly, finishes with a layer of horse hair ; 

 the whole being shaded from the sun and rain by a natural pent- 

 house, or canopy of leaves. As to a hole being left in the side for 

 the young to be fed and void their excrements through, as Pennant 

 and others relate, it is certainly an error : I have never met with 

 any thing of the kind in the nest of the Baltimore. 



Tho birds of the same species have, generally speaking, a 

 common form of building, yet, contrary to the usually received 

 opinion, they do not build exactly in the same manner. As much 

 difference will be found in the style, neatness and finishing of the 

 nests of the Baltimores, as in their voices. Some appear far supe- 

 rior workmen to others; and probably age may improve them in 

 this as it does in their colors. I have a number of their nests now 

 before me, all completed and with eggs. One of these, the neat- 

 est, is in the form of a cylinder, of five inches diameter, and seven 

 inches in depth, rounded at bottom. The opening at top is nar- 

 rowed, by a horizontal covering, to two inches and a half in dia- 

 meter. The materials are flax, hemp, tow, hair and wool, woven 

 into a complete cloth; the whole tightly sewed thro and thro with 

 long horse hairs, several of which measure two feet in length. The 

 bottom is composed of thick tufts of cow hair, sewed also with 



