. Cassell's natural history . the whole ; their thick foliage, at thesame time, completely concealing the nest from view. These long pendent branches,being sometimes twelve and even fifteen feet in length, have a large sweep in the wind,and render the first of these precautions necessary to prevent the eggs or young frombeing thrown out; and the close shelter aftbrded by the remarkable thickness of thefoliage is, no doubt, the cause of the latter. The orchard oriole is a lively, active,restless bird, never idle, never inanimate, but perpetually on the alert, his shrill andrapid carol being mai
. Cassell's natural history . the whole ; their thick foliage, at thesame time, completely concealing the nest from view. These long pendent branches,being sometimes twelve and even fifteen feet in length, have a large sweep in the wind,and render the first of these precautions necessary to prevent the eggs or young frombeing thrown out; and the close shelter aftbrded by the remarkable thickness of thefoliage is, no doubt, the cause of the latter. The orchard oriole is a lively, active,restless bird, never idle, never inanimate, but perpetually on the alert, his shrill andrapid carol being maintained with little intermission. He keeps iqj a system ofdestruction among the insect tribes and caterpillars which infest the loa\es and buds offruit trees, thereby rendering man no little service, for hundreds of these pests to thefarmer are not sufficient for the daily consumption of himself, his mate, and their young;the multitudes thus destroyed by a single pair of birds nnist be prodigious. * Icterus Mutatus.— THE KOOK. Who that has been brought up in the country has not been accustomed from hisinfanc) to hear the cawing of the rookery; to witness the active labour, and cares, andschemes of these birds in spring ?—has not stood by his father or any other old friend,while the young have been fetched down from the lofty elm by the cross-bow ?—has notrun to fetch it as it fell ?—has not clambered into the green tree in which it has, per-haps, lodged in faUing, and hooked it do^vn ?—has not helped the keeper to carry to thehouse the black feathery bunch of young rooks thus shot, for the cook to convert intothe most savoury of country pies ; or to be despatched in different directions as presentsto friends ? Who has not, on bright slimmer days, when the young have got abroad,seen them in almost every green oak, or on the tuft of every green meadow, when thecountry was all flowers and sweetness, with fluttering wings, demanding food from theirbusy parents ?
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1854
