opelessly snarled. The boy
had found it hanging to a tree.

I have seen in a bird magazine a photograph of an oriole's nest that
had a string carried around a branch apparently a foot or more away,
and then brought back and the end woven into the nest. It was given as
a sample of a well-guyed nest, the discoverer no doubt looking upon it
as proof of an oriole's forethought in providing against winds and
storms. I have seen an oriole's nest with a string carried around a
leaf, and another with a long looped string hanging free. All such
cases simply show that the bird was not master of her material; she
bungled; the trailing string caught over the leaf or branch, and she
drew both ends in and fastened them regardless of what had happened.
The incident only shows how blindly instinct works.

Twice I have seen cedar-birds, in their quest for nesting-material,
trying to carry away the strings that orioles had attached to
branches. According to our sentimental "School of Nature Study," the
birds should have untied and unsnarled the strings in a human way, but
they did not; they simply tugged at them, bringing their weight to
bear, and tried to fly away with the loose end.

In view of the ignorance of birds with regard to strings, how can we
credit the story told by one of our popular nature writers of a pair
of orioles that deliberately impaled a piece of cloth upon a thorn in
order that it might be held firmly while they pulled out the threads?
When it came loose, they refastened it. The story is incredible for
two reasons: (1) the male oriole does not assist the female in
building the nest; he only furnishes the music; (2) the whole
proceeding implies an amount of reflection and skill in dealing with a
new problem that none of our birds possess. What experience has the
race of orioles had with cloth, that any member of it should know how
to unravel it in that way? The whole idea is absurd.

IV. MIMICRY

To what lengths the protective resemblance theory is pushed by some of
its expounders! Thus, in the neighborhood of Rio Janeiro there are two
species of hawks that closely resemble each other, but one eats only
insects and the other eats birds. Mr. Wallace thinks that the
bird-eater mimics the insect-eater, so as to deceive the birds, which
are not afraid of the latter. But if the two hawks look alike, would
not the birds come to regard them both as bird-eaters, since one of
them does e