BALTIMORE ORIOLE, OR GOLDEN ROBIN. 161 
and long continue to be assiduously fed and guarded by 
their very affectionate and devoted parents. Unfortunately, 
this contrivance of instinct to secure the airy nest from 
the depredations of thieving and rapacious monkeys, and 
other animals which frequent trees in warm or mild climates, 
is, also, occasionally attended with serious accidents, when 
the young escape before obtaining the perfect use of their 
wings. They cling, however, with great tenacity, either to 
the nest or neighbouring twigs ; yet sometimes they fall 
to the ground ; and, if not killed on the spot, soon become 
a prey to numerous enemies. On such occasions it is 
painful to hear the plaints and wailing cries of the parents. 
And when real danger offers, the generous and brilliant 
male, though much the less querulous of the two, steps in 
to save his brood at every hazard ; and I have known one so 
bold in this hopeless defence, as to suffer himself to be 
killed, by a near approach with a stick, rather than desert 
the offspring, in whose existence and safety his life seem- 
ed absorbed. Sometimes, after this misfortune, or when 
the fell cat has devoured the helpless brood, day after day 
the disconsolate parents continue to wail their irretrieva- 
ble loss. They almost forget to eat amidst their distress, 
and after leaving the unhappy neighbourhood of their 
bereavement and fruitless toil, they still come, at inter- 
vals, to visit and lament over the fatal spot, as if spell- 
bound by despair. If the season be not too far advanced, 
the loss of their eggs is generally soon repaired by con- 
structing a second nest, in which, however, the eggs are 
fewer. 
The true Oriole ( O. galbula), which migrates into 
Africa, and passes the breeding season in the centre of 
Europe, also makes a pendulous nest, and displays great 
courage in the defence of its young, being so attached to 
its progeny, that the female has been taken and conveyed 
14 * 
