OUR HOME BIRDS. 
Ill 
purposely placed skeins of bright-colored zephyrs in 
the way of a nest-building oriole, who eagerly seized 
upon them, and wove them so skilfully into her work 
that the nest when finished was the brightest and 
most ornamental thing ever seen on a tree. 
“ A cradle thus carefully made would naturally 
be watched with great solicitude ; and this is always 
the case. There are five white eggs, slightly tinged 
with flesh-color, marked on the larger end with pur- 
ple dots, and on the other parts with long, hair-like 
lines, which intersect each other in all directions ; 
and these precious eggs are defended most valiantly 
against the attacks of marauding birds. So devoted 
is the mother-bird that she has been known to suffer 
herself to be carried away sitting on her eggs, and to 
die of starvation. 
1 High on yon poplar, clad in glossiest green, 
The orange, black-capp’d Baltimore is seen ; 
The broad extended boughs still please him best ; 
Beneath their bending skirts he hangs his nest ; 
There his sweet mate, secure from every harm, 
Broods o’er her spotted store, and wraps them warm ; 
Lists to the noontide hum of busy bees, 
Her partner’s merry song, the brook, the breeze ; 
These, day by day, the lonely hours deceive 
From dewy morn to slow-descending eve. 
Two weeks elapsed, behold ! a helpless crew 
Claim all her care, and her affection too ; 
