This Oriole is one of the most brilliantly colored of our common birds.
The name oriole is from “aureolus,” meaning, little bird in gold. Ruskin
says that on the plumes of birds the gold of the cloud is put, that
cannot be gathered of any covetousness.
There is a story to the effect that when, in 1628, Lord Baltimore was
exploring the Chesapeake, worn out and discouraged, he was so much
cheered by the sight and sound of the oriole that he adopted its colors
as his own, hence the name, “Baltimore Oriole.”
This bird, however, rejoices in several other cognomens, such as English
Robin, Golden Robin, Hang-nest Bird, Fire-Finch, and Golden Oriole. He
is both esthetic and utilitarian, being beautiful, musical, social and
also useful in that he feeds upon insects most injurious to vegetation;
especially the harmful small kinds passed over unnoticed by the birds of
other species.
The Baltimore Oriole is fond of sweets. He has been seen to snip off the
heads of white-headed or stingless bees and draw out the viscera through
the ring-like opening, for the sake of the honey sack. How did he know
it was there? How did he learn that he could get at it in this way? The
poet naturalist, Thompson, well says of him:
“You whisk wild splendors through the trees,
And send keen fervors down the wind;
You singe the jackets of the bees,
And trail an opal mist behind.
“When flowery hints foresay the berry,
On spray of haw and tuft of briar,
Then wandering incendiary,
You set the maple swamps afire.”
While the Oriole’s song is not especially melodious to me, it is fresh
and cheerful, with something of a human element in its child-like
whistle. Young birds in the nest cry “cree-te-te-te-te-te.”
This bird is fond of building near the habitations of men, selecting
sites in door-yards, orchards, and lawns. He weaves an artistic
habitation at airy heights, choosing strong, flexible material for the
pendant, bag-like nest. In California, the Arizona hooded oriole weaves
nests of the beautiful Spanish moss; but one occasionally uses the
love-vine or yellow dodder to construct a gaudy, pocket-like nest. The
Fire-bird would not do this, for it always selects for its nest grayish,
bleached material in harmony with the limbs of the trees. An experiment
was tried of placing a bunch of colored yarns near its nesting-place, in
order to see what, if it used them, the choice of colors would be. It
selected all the gray threads, and, when nearly done, a few blue and
purple, but not a single red, or green or yellow strand. The strongest
and best material is used for the part by which the whole is supported.
The Baltimore Oriole is sometimes on intimate terms with his relative,
the Orchard Oriole. Last summer the latter had hung its pretty
cup-shaped nest on a branch of weeping willow near my window. The tedium
of her sitting was relieved several times by a morning call from Sir
Baltimore. He would seat himself on a twig near her nest and utter a
soft, clear note, which no doubt meant a greeting in bird language. When
he went away a few moments later, his two notes sounded strangely like
“A—dieu”—a translation for which Olive Thorn Miller is authority.
But his song and his speech were less heeded than the spectacle of his
brilliant flight—
“For look! The flash of flaming wings
The fire plumed oriole.”
Belle Paxson Drury.
[Illustration: BRANDT’S CORMORANT.
(Phalacrocorax penicillatus).
About ¼ Life-size.
FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.]
BRANDT’S CORMORANT.
(_Phalacrocorax penicillatus._)
There are about thirty species of Cormorants which are distributed
throughout the world. Ten of these are known to inhabit North America.
They are ocean birds, yet they are also occasionally seen on the larger
bodies of fresh water. The Pacific coast of North America and the shores
of New Zealand are rich in species and their plumage is more beautiful
than that of those found in other parts of the world.
The name Cormorant is derived from the Latin words Corvus Marinus,
meaning marine crow or raven. This name may have been suggested by the
fact that these birds are fond of sitting on an elevated perch,
especially after a hearty meal. In this habit of seeking high perches,
and because of their dark color, they resemble the raven or crow. The
generic name Phalacrocorax is derived from the Greek words, meaning bald
crow.
One of the species that frequents the coast of Europe is easily tamed
and in early times was trained to fish for its master. There was even an
appointment in the royal household known as the “Master of the
Cormorants.” When used in fishing “a strap is fastened around the bird’s
neck so as, without impeding its breath, to hinder it from swallowing
its captures. Arrived at the waterside, it is cast off. It at once dives
and darts along the bottom as swiftly as an arrow in quest of its prey,
rapidly scanning every hole or pool. A fish is generally seized within a
few seconds of its being sighted and as each is taken the bird rises to
the surface with its capture in its bill. It does not take much longer
to dispose of the prize in the dilatable skin of its throat so far as
the strap will allow and the pursuit is recommenced until the bird’s
gular pouch, capacious as it is, will hold no more. It then returns to
its keeper, who has been anxiously watching and encouraging its
movements, and a little manipulation of its neck effects the delivery of
the booty.”
The Cormorants are voracious eaters. They catch the fish, which is their
usual food, under water by rapid swimming and with the aid of their
hooked bills. On account of this habit of the bird the word Cormorant
has been used synonymously with the word glutton, rapacious or
avaricious when applied to a person who exhibits these traits.
Brandt’s Cormorant, the bird of our illustration, is found on the
Pacific coast from the state of Washington southward to Cape St. Lucas
at the southern extremity of Lower California. In its habits it is
gregarious and collects in great numbers wherever its natural food of
fish is plentiful. These flocks present a very odd appearance and their
long necks appear as numerous black sticks on the watery background.
Mr. Leverett M. Loomis well illustrates the habits of these birds in a
report on the California Water birds. He says of a rookery “which is
situated on a rock, or little islet, in the ocean at the extremity of
Point Carmel, about fifteen yards from the mainland. This rock rises
perpendicularly some forty or more feet above the water. At first sight
it does not seem that it can be scaled, but closer inspection reveals
that a foothold may be had in the seams and protuberances on its
water-worn sides. Only on days when the sea is very calm can the rock be
landed upon and then only from the sheltered channel separating it from
the mainland. We first took a view of the rookery from the mainland. The
Cormorants were very tame, remaining on their nests while we clambered
down the sloping rocks and while we stood watching them on the same
level, only a few yards away. They were equally tame when our boat drew
nearer as we approached from the water. The clefts in the sides of the
rock were occupied by Baird’s Cormorant and the top by Brandt’s. There
were comparatively few of the former, but of the Brandt’s Cormorant
there were upwards of two hundred pairs. Their nests covered the top of
the rock, every available situation being occupied. Standing in one
place I counted one hundred and eighteen.”
He also states that the Cormorants remained on the nests till he fired
his gun and they lingered on the edge of the rock while he walked among
the nests a few yards away. On the rock were many piles of sardines,
evidently placed near the nests for the use of the sitting bird.
The nests are nearly circular when placed on top of the rocks, and are
usually constructed of eel grass. They are generally placed in the most
inaccessible places and at various heights above the surface of the
water. The Cormorants frequent the same locality from year to year and
experience considerable difficulty in constructing their nests because
of the gulls which frequently carry away the material as fast as it can
be gathered. The young, when first hatched, are entirely devoid of
plumage and their skin resembles a “greasy, black kid glove.” It is said
that the gulls feed upon these young birds.
Mr. Frank M. Woodruff relates the following observations, made during a
recent trip to California. He says:
“The Brandt’s Cormorant is the common species wintering in Southern
California. Like the California brown pelican and the surf ducks, only
the juvenile birds are found in the bay close to the city of San Diego.
As one rows about the harbor close to the shipping docks and by the old
deserted fishermen’s huts along the slips, large numbers of Brandt’s
Cormorants and pelicans can be seen perched on and almost covering the
sunny sides of the roof tops. They sit in rows like sentinels with the
head well down upon the shoulders, undisturbed by the noise of traffic
and only by continued rapping on the building with an oar can they be
induced to take to flight. They will usually circle for a short time in
a lazy manner and then return to their old position. The older birds are
rather more wary and usually feed a mile or so from the shore, in flocks
of from three to ten. The loose kelp floating in the bay attracts the
smaller fish. Such places form their feeding grounds. After they become
gorged with fish, they fly to the rocks along the jetties and to the
cross bars of the buoys, which mark the deep water channels. The birds
are perfect gluttons, and as I lifted it into the boat there dropped
from the gular sack of one specimen that I shot, over twenty small fish.
The beautiful iridescence of the dark copper-green plumage of the adult
Cormorant can only be appreciated when the freshly killed bird is seen.”
Seth Mindwell.