July, 1901 1 
THE CONDOR 
99 
in nest building than the adults. The 
materials used are not only differ- 
ent but the nest is quite often swung 
loosely to the twigs above, so that it is 
at the mercy of every wind. The 
material used by the young birds for 
the construction of the nest is mostly 
coarse vegetable fibre and they seldom 
line their first home. The older birds, 
however, discover that twine, horse- 
hair etc. make a much stronger and 
neater wall for their home and also 
that fluffy chicken feathers and bits of 
cotton batting are excellent lining. 
They are quite expert in concealing 
their nest by bringing down green 
leaves and tying them about the out- 
.'^ide. I'his is so well done that to a 
casual observer it would appear only as 
a thick bunch of foliage. The older birds 
often do most excellent weaving and I 
have taken one nest composed entirely 
of horeshair, the sides being as smooth 
as a piece of camel’s-hair goods. This 
nest is heart-shaped and has a circular 
opening at one side of the top, which 
has a diameter of only 1.65 inches, 
hardly large enough to admit the birds. 
The nest is four inches deep and 
four inches across inside, and is lined 
with soft chicken feathers and cotton 
batting. The quills of the feathers are 
pushed through the sides of the nest so 
that they will keep their places. 
Until the season of ’97 I have never 
known the Bullock’s Oriole to use 
palm-fiber in the construction of its 
home, but I found a nest May ii, 1897 
in a peach tree, composed entirely of 
this fiber. It was well lined with 
chicken feathers and placed between 
several small branches. A pair of Bul- 
lock’s Orioles built a nest this year in 
an almond tree near the porch, and I 
had an excellent opportunity to watch 
them while they were at work. The 
place chosen was in a wide fork be- 
tween four small branches. Both birds 
worked on the nest and as soon as they 
had loosely formed the walls or frame- 
work, one of them worked inside and 
the other outside. The latter would 
bring a horse-hair or a piece of twine 
in its beak and pass the end through 
the wall of the nest to his mate inside 
who took the end and passed it out 
again through another place. In this 
way the nest was soon woven quite 
smooth and looked as if it had been 
made with a darning needle by hand. 
This nest is very peculiar in shape, the 
sides being woven to the surrounding 
twigs which makes the opening at the 
top very large and causes the nest to 
look like a double one. The opening is 
six inches long and three inches wide 
and the nest is five inches deep inside. 
It is difficult to find two nests of the 
Bullocks’ Oriole alike in shape or ma- 
terial, as they use almost anything they 
can find in the way of fiber. 
The nests of the Arizona Hooded 
Oriole on the other hand are very much 
alike, and I have never found one 
made of other material than the palm- 
fiber. The locations, too, are similar, a 
tree with large leaves being usually 
selected and a favorite position is 
under the broad, corrugated leaves of 
the palm. These form an excellent 
shelter from both rain and sun. They 
drill lioles through the thick leaves 
with their sharp, slender beaks and tie 
the nest to tliem with palm-fiber. 
Often the nest is hung between several 
leaves such as those of the fig tree, 
when holes are cut and the palm-fibers 
laced in and out through them, thus 
drawing the leaves together to form the 
outside of the nest. The leaves not 
only aid in the nest structure but also 
form the best possible concealment. 
An average nest of Arizona Hooded 
Oriole is 3.50 inches deep and 2.50 
inches wide inside measurements, while 
the outside is about four inches deep 
and four across. Nests of both the Bul- 
lock’s and Arizona Hooded Orioles are 
frequently taken posse.ssion of by 
House Finches, sometimes even before 
the orioles have finished them, but 
more often after they are deserted. 
When the House Finches take pos- 
session of the nest they re-line it with 
