BAI.TIMORE ORIOEE CENSUS 
133 
of numerous compact layers of different materials, ranging from 
coarse grasses in the lower layers to the soft down from weed 
seeds which made the upper lining layers. 
This nest and most of the others were found within the resi- 
dence districts of the town near the most frequented streets, but 
several blocks from the business section. Noise does not seem 
to bother the orioles for in one case a nest was found swinging 
from a low branch of a big maple not ten feet from a railroad 
track where a local train which passed twice a day must have 
caused great excitement among the young* birds. The orioles 
seem to seek human companionship, for a vain search was made 
for nests in a quiet grove of old elms and maples near the edge 
of town which seemingly should have been an ideal nesting place. 
Moreover the woods around the town seemed neither to be chosen 
as nesting places, nor to be frequented by orioles after their return, 
from which facts it was inferred that the rural orioles prefer the 
big shade trees in the farmyard to the solitudes. 
One nest was found which was notably different from the 
others, and which must have belonged to a very eccentric oriole 
family. It was hung in the woods, almost a mile from the nearest 
residence and in a very unfrequented place. It was also the only 
nest reported as being built in a sycamore tree. But its location 
in the tree was the most peculiar thing about it. It did not swing 
from a low outer branch as the other nests did, but it was placed 
in the very top of the tree and fastened to three small branches 
so that it hung in the fork that they formed. As this nest was 
located while occupied there is no question of correct identification. 
The comparatively small amount of work which was done 
raised numerous most interesting questions which the limited 
time and opportunity made it impossible to answer. Whether 
the orioles that nest in one town or comrnunity during one season 
generally return to it during the next, whether young birds re- 
turn the next year to the locality in which they were reared, are 
questions which might all be answered in a few years by careful 
banding of the young orioles in a few nests. Concerning the nest 
itself such questions arise as whether or not both birds are em- 
ployed in the building, what different kinds of material they will 
use, how far away they will search for them, and to what extent 
their choice of materials may be governed by supplies provided 
for them. A season’s watchfulness would answer these ques- 
tions and might also reveal the secret of how the mother b'rd 
