This bird is beautiful in plumage, displays a great deal of ingenuity and skill in building his nest, and is likewise a good musical performer. And although merit is not always rewarded, it would appear that his has not altogether been overlooked. At least, it would seem that he has attracted a good deal of attention, from the number of appellations given him. He is named the Golden Robin, Goldfinch, Fire Bird, Fiery Hang Bird, etc. The last name intimating that he frames a pensile nest, which he suspends from the extreme branches of some high elm, weeping willow, or an apple tree, in the orchard. The name he now retains, it is said, is derived from the colors of his plumage, being orange and black; and that being the color of the arms and livery of Lord Baltimore, to whom Maryland, when a Colony, was granted, the bird being, perhaps, pretty often seen there at that time. Besides its beauty, there is no bird, perhaps, so docile, and which can be so completely domesticated as the Baltimore Oriole. A lady from the country called upon me one day, who had one of these birds she had brought fifty miles in the cars with her; it was a very beautiful one; it nestled in her dress, and when told would sit on her finger, and eat from her mouth. She said it never attempted to go away from her, it was so attached to her; of course the attachment was reciprocal. I kept one for some time, it hung in a room where we eat. On coming in to my meals, I would open its cage door, and calling it, it would perch on my finger, and taking it to the table it would take breakfast or dinner with me. It would hop round the table, help itself to bread and butter, and sip tea out of the saucer; and after tasting of all that was on the table, it would sit quietly near me, until I put it into its cage again, when it would give me its thanks, in all the little notes it could muster.

There is another bird of this class, named the Orchard Oriole, which has caused much confusion among naturalists, being confounded with the above species; they are closely allied, but there is no doubt they are distinct. The male is not near so beautiful a bird as the male of the Baltimore, and, what is rather remarkable, although found from Connecticut to Texas, they are not found in Maine or Massachusetts.

Food

I feed them on meal and milk, with, twice a week, a little beef, and hemp seed, bruised in a mortar, and put in a box in the cage, so as they can eat it when they please. When kept in the house they probably do as well by getting a little, as the saying is, of everything that is going; a little cooked or raw meat, potatoes bread, etc. It is generally supposed that they cannot be kept in the winter. This is a mistake; a young lady had one from me more than three years ago; I saw it lately, and it was in good health, and in fine plumage.

Characteristics Of The Sexes

The male of this bird has the head, throat, back, and wings, black. The rump, pretty high up on the back, and lower parts, a bright orange; a band of the same across the back, and the orange brightens into vermilion on the breast. The female, where the male is black, is a yellowish brown, lower parts a dull brownish yellow.

Location

Found throughout the United States, in summer. Migrates south in the autumn.