152 ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
thousand such circumstances, that they reason d pi-mi from cause to 
consequence ; providently managing with a constant eye to future 
necessity and convenience. 
The eggs, one of which is represented in the same plate (fig. a), are ' 
usually four, of a very pale bluish tint, with a few small specks of brown 
and spots of dark purple. An egg of the Baltimore Oriole is exhibited 
beside it (fig. b) ; both of these were minutely copied from nature, and 
are sufl^icient of themselves to determine, beyond all possibility of doubt, 
the diversity of the two species. I may add, that Charles W. Peale, 
proprietor of the Museum in Philadelphia, who, as a practical naturalist, 
stands deservedly first in the first rank of American connoisseurs, has 
expressed to me his perfect conviction of the changes which these birds 
pass through ; having himself examined them both in spring, and towards 
the latter part of summer, and having, at the present time, in his pos- 
session thirty or forty individuals of this species, in almost every grada- 
tion of change. 
The Orchard Oriole, though partly a dependent on the industry of 
the farmer, is no sneaking j^ilferer, but an open and truly beneficent 
friend. To all those countless multitudes of destructive bugs and cater- 
pillars, that infest the fruit trees in spring and summer, preying on the 
leaves, blossoms, and embryo of the fruit, he is a deadly enemy ; devour- 
ing them wherever 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 Avitnessed 
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 con- 
sidering it as a natural bulwark to his own, he slid out and in with the 
greatest gentleness and caution. I am not sufficiently conversant in 
entomology to particularize 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 protected by every considerate husbandman. Nor is the gaiety of 
his song one of his least recommendations. Being an exceedingly 
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 Garden of my worthy and 
