. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Bullock Oriole coils of black horsehair show up in high relief against the remaining background of normal white vegetable felt, these eggs are almost indis- tinguishable from their surroundings. They are obliteratively colored. But what of that? The nest of the Oriole is so deep, and its eggs so much in shadow that, were they purest white, they would scarcely show. And if they were green or blue, it would not matter. No; I prefer to think that
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Bullock Oriole coils of black horsehair show up in high relief against the remaining background of normal white vegetable felt, these eggs are almost indis- tinguishable from their surroundings. They are obliteratively colored. But what of that? The nest of the Oriole is so deep, and its eggs so much in shadow that, were they purest white, they would scarcely show. And if they were green or blue, it would not matter. No; I prefer to think that the artist wishes to be fan- tastic. And he gets his way. While each set of eggs shows a prevailing or unifying motif, each component egg is individually dis- tinct. No two objects in nature are exactly alike; and never by any chance does the master decorator of birds' eggs repeat himself. But, after all, eggs are as may be. However curiously we may admire the Creator's versatility, it is in the conscious artistry of the bird herself that we most openly rejoice. The Oriole does not de- sign her eggs, but she does design their receptacle; and perhaps nowhere else in nature are art and utility more happily blended. Certainly the selective process of art is nowhere else more clearly exemplified than in the nests of Bullock's Oriole. Guided, of necessity, by materials at hand, the bird, nevertheless, in each instance achieves something individual, dis- tinctive. Even with a wealth of varied materials available, the artist either makes rigid selection of one, as, black horse-hair, white string, or gray bark fiber; or else works out some happy combination of two or three, as, black horse-hair decorated with tufts of cotton, white string relieved by strands of red, gray bark uniformly interspersed with bluish threads. Exceptions to this, the olla podrida sort, are very rare. The artistry of the Bullock Oriole is strikingly comparable to that of the Baltimore Oriole, or "Hangnest,
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Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
