THE ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
409 
inches deep by four broad ; the concavity scarcely two inches deep by 
two in diameter. The fibres used in its construction are sometunes 
thirteen inches long, and in that length have been found hooked 
through and returned as often as thirty-four times. The inside is 
usually lined with the light downy coating of the seeds of the 
Platanus occidentalis, or button-wood. The outer work is here and 
there carried up to an adjacent twig, and strongly twisted round it, so 
as to ensure greater stability and protection against the wind. 
When the orchard oriole builds, as he often does, in the long 
drooping branches of the weeping willow, he makes his nest much 
deeper, and of a slighter texture. The circumference is marked out 
by a number of pensile twigs descending on each side like ribs, and 
supporting the whole ; at the same time they effectually screen the 
home from the curious gaze. The depth in such a case is increased to 
four or five inches, and the structure is slighter, or rather looser. The 
long branches of the willow, sweeping largely in the wind, render the 
first precaution necessary, to prevent the eggs or young from being 
rudely ejected ; and the comparative looseness of the framework is 
explained by the shelter which the close foliage afi'ords. " Two of 
these nests," says Wilson, "are now lying before me, and exhibit not 
only art in the construction, but judgment in adapting their fabrication 
so judiciously to their particular situations. If the actions of birds 
proceeded, as some would have us believe, from the mere impulses of 
that thing called instinct, individuals of the same species would 
uniformly build their nest in the same manner, wherever they might 
happen to fix it; but it is evident from those just mentioned, and a 
thousand such circumstances, that they reason d priori, from cause to 
consequence; providently managing with a constant eye to future 
necessity and convenience." In truth, the conclusion is forcing itself 
upon impartial inquirers that the sphere of instinct requires to be 
greatly limited. Formerly the word was used by naturalists like a 
magic spell, which was supposed capable of solving every problem, and 
removing every difficulty. 
In the Southern States of North America, the oriole makes his nest 
almost exclusively of Spanish moss, and constructs it in such a manner 
