Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1897-03-13
THE BALTIMORE oR,oLe.
Tho Bird that Punctures the Ora pcs
for the Bccs,

for the Bccs.
! have large vineyard, and have
over fifty varieties of grapes, and have
been In the business for a number of
years. and have naturally paid some at.
tentiOn to Investigate ting the enemies
and diseases they IRE liable to. have
at times had MS many as forty colonies
OF bees within one hundred yartIs OF
my vineyard, and after several years
Of thorough investigation completely
cxonerated the bees from being the au.
thOrs Of any damage to the grapes; and
as l have on more than one occasion
given my views on this matter In the
columns Of Glcanlngs, I will not DIS
cuss 1t further here.
There are a number of birds that eat
grapes. and some that destroy them
without eating them. The robins are
the more numerous and more frequent
visitors to the vineyard, ana In their
fall flight south they appear here by
the thousands, and are very destruc-
tive to the smaller varieties. such ns
NOrtOn's Virginia, Bacchus, Delaware.
etc.; and II Is sometimes necessary to
keep a man with a gun In the vine.
yard; but they do not do SO much dam
agetO the larger grapes, such rs Cataw.
ba, etc. Yellowhammcrs and WOOD
peckcrs cat some grapes; but I can af.
ford to glve them all the grapes they
eat for the benefit they do In destroying
worms and insects.
But the bird that Is most destructive
to grapes. and the ono that pierces
them, to be followed by the. bees, Is that
beautiful little sweet singer, the Bal
tlmOrc OriOlc. and I have no doubt the
specimen procured by the editor and
sent to Professor Green was one OF
them.
When a boy I knew and was quite
familiar with the OrlOlc as the Swing
Ing bird" 80 called from their habit Of
building their curious pendent nest
from some Overhanglng swinging limb
Of tree, woven with scraps Of hemp,
lint and strings, and dcftly tied to the
limb-hanging down like a small lag.
I loved him for the brilliant plumagc Of
tho male. for his gay and cheerful
snatchcs Of song and the curious nest
he made. two or three Of which were
made every spring In the pendent
limbs Of tho big buckeye tree In the
yard Of my "Old Kentucky home" safe
even from n boys curiosity to know
what kind Of eggs the female laid, and
1t was hard for me to look upon them
as enemies.
Only q few orioles breed here: but.
like the robin, In their migration they
appear here In large numbers In Au.
gust and September. They arrive just
In time for the carly grapes, and prefer
tho tcndcrskinncd varieties, such us
Della ware and Brighton. They do not
CIT the grapes. but simply puncturc
them with q small triangular hole.
have never found grapes or grape seed
In their crop.
Why do they pierce the grape? a
bird will alight upon cluster and,
with quick motion. thrust It's sharp
bill Into one grape after another, until
a dozen or more are pierced, as II In
pure wantonncss. 1t must be only for
the drop Of juice they get from each
grape. Some Of tho punctures can
scarcely bc seen when first done; but
they all have tho thrcc.cOrnercd cut.
They arc thus left to rot. to dry up, or
bc visited by tho bees, and the number
Of grapes destroyed. or clusters spoiled
for market. amounts to more than the
damage done by all other blrtls.--Bee
Culture.