of the season, I suspect, had failed in a more secluded
place under the hill; so the pair had come up nearer the house for
protection. The male sang in the trees near by for several days before I
chanced to see the nest. The very morning, I think, it was finished, I
saw a red squirrel exploring a tree but a few yards away; he probably
knew what the singing meant as well as I did. I did not see the inside
of the nest, for it was almost instantly deserted, the female having
probably laid a single egg, which the squirrel had devoured.

One evening, while seated upon my porch, I had convincing proof that
musical or song contests do take place among the birds. Two wood
thrushes who had nests near by sat on the top of a dead tree and pitted
themselves against each other in song for over half an hour, contending
like champions in a game, and certainly affording the rarest treat in
wood-thrush melody I had ever had. They sang and sang with unwearied
spirit and persistence, now and then changing position or facing in
another direction, but keeping within a few feet of each other. The
rivalry became so obvious and was so interesting that I finally made it
a point not to take my eyes from the singers. The twilight deepened till
their forms began to grow dim; then one of the birds could stand the
strain no longer, the limit of fair competition had been reached, and
seeming to say, "I will silence you, anyhow," it made a spiteful dive at
its rival, and in hot pursuit the two disappeared in the bushes beneath
the tree.

THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE

The nest of nests, the ideal nest, is unquestionably that of the
Baltimore oriole. It is the only perfectly pensile nest we have. The
nest of the orchard oriole is indeed mainly so, but this bird generally
builds lower and shallower, more after the manner of the vireos.

The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to the swaying branches of
the tallest elms, making no attempt at concealment, but satisfied if the
position be high and the branch pendent. This nest would seem to cost
more time and skill than any other bird structure. A peculiar flax-like
material seems to be always sought after and always found. The nest when
completed assumes the form of a large, suspended gourd. The walls are
thin but firm, and proof against the most driving rain. The mouth is
hemmed or over-handed with strings or horsehair, and the sides are
usually sewed through and through with the same.

Not par