ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
215 
which it is strongly twisted, to give more stability to the whole, 
and prevent it from being overset by the wind. 
When they choose the long pendent branches of the Weeping- 
willow to build in, as they frequently do, the nest, though formed 
of the same materials, is made much deeper, and of slighter 
texture. The circumference is marked out by a number of these 
pensile twigs, that descend on each side like ribs, supporting 
the whole; their thick foliage, at the same time, completely con- 
cealing the nest from view. The depth in this case is increased 
to four or five inches, and the whole is made much slighter. 
These long pendent branches, being sometimes twelve and even 
fifteen feet in length, have a large sweep in the wind, and ren- 
der the first of these precautions necessary, to prevent the eggs 
or young from being thrown out; and the close shelter afforded 
by the remarkable thickness of the foliage is, no doubt, the 
cause of the latter. Two of these nests, such as I have here de- 
scribed, are now lying before me, and exhibit not only art in 
the construction, but judgment in adapting their fabrication so 
judiciously to their particular situations. If the actions of birds 
proceeded, as some would have us believe, from the mere im- 
pulses of that thing called instinct, individuals of the same spe- 
cies would uniformly build their nest in the same manner, wher- 
ever they might happen to fix it; but it is evident from these 
just mentioned, and a thousand such circumstances, that they 
reason a priori from cause to consequence; providently manag- 
ing with a constant eye to future necessity and convenience. 
The eggs, one of which is represented in the same plate (fig. 
«,) 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 Balti- 
more Oriole is exhibited beside it (fig. b,) \ both of these were 
minutely copied from nature, and are sufficient 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 
