766 
THE BIRDS THAT WE SEE. 
plumage, song, and nest 
alike, lie is an especially 
remarkable bird. When 
the Earl of Baltimore be¬ 
came the lord of Mary¬ 
land, his followers quick¬ 
ly noticed the corre¬ 
spondence between his 
heraldic livery of orange 
and black and the orange 
and black of the splendid 
bird that so abounded in 
the new estates, so that, 
very natui'ally, the name 
“ Baltimore bird ” was 
suggested, and has been 
borne ever since. 
His nest is one of the 
most wonderful examples 
of bird-weaving in exist¬ 
ence. It is made of sep¬ 
arate threads, strings, 
horsehair, or strips of bark, closely in¬ 
terwoven into a sort of sack, and so 
firmly knit together that it will bear a 
weight of twenty or thirty pounds. In 
the Southern parts of this bird’s range, 
the nest is suspended from two or three 
terminal twigs for protection from nu¬ 
merous enemies, such as snakes, opos¬ 
sums, and the like ; it is also made six 
or seven inches in depth to prevent the 
eggs being thrown out by the high 
winds. But in the colder North, where 
tree-climbing foes are rare, it is hung, 
not at the extremities of the branches, 
but in a cluster of twigs that affords 
shelter. It is much shallower than 
when exposed to the wind, but is very 
thickly woven, and lined with soft, 
warm materials. The oriole’s loud, fife¬ 
like notes ringing from the high tree- 
tops in the morning are an ample refu- 
Chipping Sparrow. 
tation of the old theory that 
melody and bright jfiumage 
have never been bestowed on the same 
bird. 
In the same family with the wonder¬ 
ful Baltimore is the cowbird [p. 768], a 
species that affords a complete contrast 
to the famed oriole in almost every re- 
sj)ect. The cowbird is abundant every¬ 
where in the Eastern States. It is doubt¬ 
less one of those that have increased 
with deforesting, for it is a bird of the 
meadows and plains. Its name is de¬ 
rived from its habit of frequenting cow- 
2 oastures, where it may be seen following 
the grazing kine to feed on the flies which 
swarm about them. In color the males 
are glossy black with browm heads, the 
females dull, brownish gray; in size it 
is similar to the oriole, that is, about 
eight inches in length. But the most 
interesting part of its history is its 
breeding habit. 
The cowbird, like the 
European cuckoo, never 
pairs, builds a nest, or 
hatches its owm young. 
The flocks that frequent 
cow-pastures are com¬ 
posed of males and fe¬ 
males that consort to¬ 
gether jDi’omiscuously, 
and the female, when 
the time comes, leaves 
her companions and 
sets out alone to find 
the nest of some small 
Common Wren. 
