The Orchard Oriole is very 
common in many parts of 
America, and is very remarkable 
for the nest which it builds. 
The nest of the Orchard Oriole 
is a truly wonderful structure, 
woven into a bag or purse-like 
shape from long grasses, almost 
as if it had been fashioned in a 
loom, and so firmly constructed 
that it will withstand no small 
amount of rough treatment before 
its texture gives way. In one of 
these purse-like nests now lying 
before me, I find that the bird 
often employs two and sometimes 
three threads simultaneously, and 
that several of these double 
threads pass over the branch to 
which the nest is hung, and are 
then carried to the very bottom 
of the purse, so as to support the 
structure in the firmest possible 
manner. 
The entrance is from above, 
and near the mouth •; the nest is 
comparatively slight in texture, 
becoming thicker and more com- 
pact near the foot, where the 
eggs and young are laid. The 
entrance of the nest is generally 
lined with some soft downy seeds. 
ORCHARD ORIOLE .—Xan thornis vdrius . So admirably does the bird’s 
beak weave this remarkable nest, 
that an old lady to whom Wilson exhibited one of these structures, remarked that 
the Orchard Oriole might be taught to darn stockings. 
The size and form of the nest vary very greatly according to the climate in 
which the bird lives, and the kind of tree on which its home is placed. 
The colour of this bird is black and brown, with a little white. 
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