190 
ICTERUS SPURIUS. 
so judiciously to their particular situations. If the 
actions of birds proceeded, as some would have us 
believe, from the mere impulses of that thing- called 
instinct , individuals of the same species would uniformly 
build their nest in the same manner, wherever they 
might happen to fix it; but it is evident from those 
just mentioned, and a thousand such circumstances, 
that they reason a priori , from cause to consequence ; 
providently managing with a constant eye to future 
necessity and convenience. 
The eggs are usually four, of a very pale bluish tint, 
with a few small specks of brown, and spots of dark 
purple. 
The orchard oriole, though partly a dependant on the 
industry of the farmer, is no sneaking pilferer, but an 
open, and truly beneficent friend. To all those count- 
less multitudes of destructive bugs and caterpillars that 
infest the fruit trees in spring and summer, preying on 
the leaves, blossoms, and embryo of the fruit, he is a 
deadly enemy ; devouring them wherever he can find 
them, and destroying, on an average, some hundreds of 
them every day, without offering the slightest injury to 
the fruit, however much it may stand in his way. I 
have witnessed instances where the entrance to his nest 
was more than half closed up by a cluster of apples, 
which he could have easily demolished in half a minute; 
but, as if holding the property of his patron sacred, or, 
considering it as a natural bulwark to his own, he slid 
out and in with the greatest gentleness and caution. I 
am not sufficiently conversant in entomology to par- 
ticularize the different species of insects on which he 
feeds, but I have good reason for believing that they 
are almost altogether such as commit the greatest depre- 
dations on the fruits of the orchard ; and, as he visits 
us at a time when his services are of the greatest value, 
and, like a faithful guardian, takes up his station where 
the enemy is most to be expected, he ought to be held 
in respectful esteem, and protected by every considerate 
husbandman. Nor is the gaiety of his song one of his 
least recommendations. Being an exceedingly active, 
