They looked for him everywhere, for they knew he could not fly. Suddenly
they noticed a great deal of oriole chatter out in the yard. Then they
looked carefully over a tree near the window, and there they saw the
broken-winged bird in the midst of quite a flock of others.
Of course the outside birds were called by the captive, and they must
have carried him out in some way. Birds have been seen to carry off one
who was wounded, in two ways. One way was by two birds each taking in
his beak a wing of the helpless bird and so flying away with him. This
has been seen, and more than once, by men who tell the truth.
The second way birds have been seen to help another was by one getting
under the helpless one and so holding him up on the back. This also has
been seen by men whose word can be trusted. You remember I told you such
a story about the shrike.
So many untrue stories are told about the birds that I am very careful
not to tell you anything that is not strictly true.
If you live in the South, you more often see the ORCHARD ORIOLE. He is
not quite so gay in his dress as the Baltimore. He has chestnut color
with his black. His mate is different. She is olive on the back, and
yellow below, and she has bright blue legs and feet, which look as if
they were covered with kid.
The nest is a hanging one, of course, but it does not usually swing like
other oriole nests. It is a little supported at the bottom. It is very
beautiful, for it is made of one kind of fine grass. When it is first
made, its green color makes it hard to see among the leaves. And as it
dries, it turns a rich yellow, like bright clean straw. It is not so
high as the Baltimore's, and not hung to the end of a branch. It is
often in an apple-tree, for this bird likes to be near people.
The song of the orchard oriole is different from the Baltimore's. It is
longer, and has more variety. His mate sings also. Her voice is sweeter
than his and not so loud.
If you live in California, the oriole you know will be the ARIZONA
HOODED ORIOLE. Sometimes he is called the palm-leaf oriole for a reason
you will soon see. He is a beautiful, slender bird, having bright orange
color with his black. He wears more black than some of the family. His
face and throat and tail and wings are of that color, though the wings
have two white bars. His mate is yellowish below and olive brown above.
This bird makes the regular oriole family cradle. Sometimes it swings
free like the Baltimore's, but not always. It is made of slender, wiry
grass, which is green, so that it is hard to see. Sometimes a sort of
thread from the edge of palm leaves is used.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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