22 
CAGE-BIRDS. 
V 
perched on his hand. In short, in all his actions, he appears capable of real 
and affectionate attachment; but, like many other animals, he is jealous of 
every rival, particularly any other bird, which he drives from his presence 
with unceasing hatred. 
According to Audubon, the natural food of this species consists of in¬ 
sects, worms, berries, and fruits of all sorts, being particularly fond of ripe 
pears and figs. In winter, they resort to the berries of the sumach, holly, 
dogwood, and shrivelled wild grapes. 
In a state of confinement, these birds may be reared in the same manner, 
and on the same kind of food as their congener, the mocking-bird. In the 
autumn of the first season the young begin their musical studies, “ repeat¬ 
ing passages with as much zeal as ever did Paganini.” By the following 
spring their lessons are complete, and the full powers of their song 
developed. 
THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 
This beautiful pet is familiar in all the orchards of the United States. 
The plumage of the male is exceedingly brilliant, the under parts being a 
bright orange yellow. Head, throat, back, and tail, black; legs and feet 
lead-colored. Its eggs are bluish white, with pale brown spots and lines, 
and it raises two broods in a season. Goodrich says: “These birds appear 
among us from their far Southern home in May; their arrival is hailed by 
young and old as the harbinger of spring and summer. Pull of life and 
activity, these fairy sylphs are now seen glancing through the boughs of 
the loftiest trees, appearing and vanishing like living gems. The same 
curious fact exists in respect to them as in respect to many other birds; in 
the long migration from the South—often several thousand miles—the sexes 
