NATURE AND HER HARMONIES. 
17 
for him, has certainly some very mysterious ways. Mr. Au- 
dubon plainly intimates, that in common with all spirited 
young "bloods," he is frequently "disguised," and that it re- 
quires several years for him to take upon himself the " sober, 
outward seeming" of his tribe or profession. 
The whole extent of the curious and interesting charge 
the ISTaturalist brings against him, may be gathered from the 
passage we give below ; premising that he speaks of him as 
the " Orchard," while we know him as the " Parson Oriole." 
" The plumage of many species of our birds undergoes at 
times very extraordinary changes. Some, such as the male 
Tanagers, which during the summer months exhibit the most 
vivid scarlet and velvety black, assume a dingy green before 
they leave the country, on their way southward. The Gold- 
finch nearly changes to the same color, after having been seen 
in the gay apparel of yellow and black. The Eice Bird 
loses, its lively brightness until the return of spring. Others 
take several years before they complete their plumage, so as 
to show the true place which they hold among the other 
species, as is the case with the Ibis, the Flamingo, and 
many other Waders, as well as with several of our land birds, 
among which, kind reader, the species now under your con- 
sideration is probably that in which these gradual improve- 
ments are most observable by such persons as reside in the 
country inhabited by them. 
" The plumage of the young birds of this species, when 
they leave the nest, resembles that of the female parent, al- 
though rather less decided in point of coloring, and both 
males and females retain this color until the approach of the 
following spring, when the former exhibit a portion of black 
on the chin, the females never altering. In bird.s kept in 
cages, this portion of black remains without farther augmen- 
tation for two years ; but in those which are at liberty, a cu- 
rious mixture of dull orange or deep chesnut peeps out 
through a considerable increase of black-colored feathers 
over the body and wings, intermixed with the yellowish- 
2 
