710 Bird s-Nests. 
an eyesore to her ever after, and, pass- 
ing and repassing, she would pause to 
give them a spiteful jerk, as much as 
to say, ‘There is that confounded yarn 
that gave me so much trouble.” 
From Pennsylvania, Vincent Barnard 
(to whom I am indebted for other curi- 
ous facts) sent me this interesting story 
of an oriole. He says a friend of his, 
curious in such things, on observing 
the bird beginning to build, hung out 
near the prospective nest skeins of 
many-colored zephyr yarn, which the 
eager artist readily appropriated. He 
managed it so that the bird used nearly 
equal quantities of various high, bright 
colors. The nest was made unusually 
deep and capacious, and it may be 
questioned if such a thing of beauty 
was ever before woven by the cunning 
of a bird. 
Nuttall, by far the most genial of 
American ornithologists, relates the 
following : — 
“‘ A female (oriole), which I observed 
attentively, carried off to her nest a 
piece of lamp-wick ten or twelve feet 
long. This long string and many other 
shorter. ones were left hanging out for 
about a week before both the ends were 
wattled into the sides of the nest. Some 
other little birds, making use of similar 
materials, at times twitched these flow- 
ing ends, and generally brought out the 
busy Baltimore from her occupation in 
great anger. 
“TI may perhaps claim indulgence for 
adding a little more of the biography 
of this particular bird, as a representa- 
tive also of the instincts of her race. 
She completed the nest in about a 
week’s time, without any aid from her 
mate; who indeed appeared but sel- 
dom in her company, and was now 
become nearly silent. For fibrous ma- 
terials she broke, hackled, and gathered 
the flax of the asclefias and hibiscus 
stalks, tearing off long strings and flying 
with them to the scene of her labors. 
She appeared very eager and hasty in 
her pursuits, and collected her materials 
without fear or restraint, while three 
men were working in the neighboring 
walks and many persons visiting the 
[June, 
garden. Her courage and perseverance 
were indeed truly admirable. If watched 
too narrowly, she saluted with her usual 
scolding, ¢éshrr, tshrr, tshrr, seeing no 
reason, probably, why she should be 
interrupted in her indispensable occu- 
pation. 
“Though the males were now com- 
paratively silent on the arrival of their 
busy mates, I could not help observing , 
this female and a second, continually 
vociferating, apparently in strife. At 
last she was observed to attack this 
second female very fiercely, who slyly 
intruded herself at times into the same 
tree where she was building. These 
contests were angry and often repeated. 
To account for this animosity, I now 
recollected that ¢wo fine males had 
been killed in our vicinity ; and I there- 
fore concluded the intruder to be left 
without a mate ; yet she had gained 
the affections of the consort of the busy 
female, and thus the cause of their jeal- 
ous quarrel became apparent. Having 
obtained the confidence of her faithless 
paramour, the second female began pre- 
paring to weave a nest in an adjoining 
elm, by tying together certain pendent 
twigs as a foundation. The male now 
associated chiefly with the intruder, 
whom he even assisted in her labor, 
yet did not¢wholly forget his first 
partner, who called on him one evening 
in a low, affectionate tone, which was 
answered in the same strain. While 
they were thus engaged in friendly 
whispers, suddenly appeared the rival, 
and a violent vexcontre ensued, so that 
one of the females appeared to be greatly 
agitated, and fluttered with spreading 
wings as if considerably hurt. The 
male, though prudently neutral in the 
contest, showed his culpable partiality 
by flying off with his paramour, and for 
the rest of the evening left the tree to 
his pugnacious consort. Cares of an- 
other kind, more imperious and tender, 
at length reconciled, or at least termi- 
nated these disputes with the jealous 
females ; and by the aid of the neigh- 
boring bachelors, who are never want- 
ing among these and other birds, peace 
was at length completely restored, by 
