The Washington herald., 1908-06-28

The residents OF North Hackensack, "
J., have a question which they are will
ing 10 refer for settlement 20 either Presl-
dent Roosevelt or 10 DR.. Long. What
We want 10 know is this" said the old
est inhabltant "do birds have memories,
and how long do they last? And n Mr.
Roosevelt says they haven't. how is he
going 10 explain this?
Seventeen years ago this spring the
Baltimore orioles began coming to North
Hackensack and nesting in the old elm
tree here. After they had been here
few seasons, we began looking upon them
as sort Of town institution and were
mighty proud of them The people i'm the
house nearest that tree put crumbs out
every day on the window sill opposite the
nest, and every morning down those birds
would fly and eat the crumbs, and they
were getting as tame as the squirrels in
Central Park.
some Of the folks thought they were
the same birds over and over again each
year, but seventeen years is longer than
had any notion an oriole lived 10 be. but
there isn't anything in the encyclopedia
against It. The rest OF the people de-
Clared that the birds were the young ones.
which had been brought up in that nest
and came back 10 il as soon as they were
grown up. remembering the old tree.
Anyway, last spring that house was
sold to some new people, and for a few
days there weren't any crumbs, and you
ought to have seen the fuss those orioles
made
But then some one told the purchasers.
and the mans wife started putting out
bread every day just as the others had
always done.
This year. though. they nearly 'queered'
the whole business by remodeling their
house. so that where the crumb window
sill used 10 be there was nothing but a
blank wall, and where the south wall had
been there were three new windows
OF course they ought not to have changed
the house like that until the birds had
come back. but l suppose they didn't
look at it that way. / said to them one
day: The orioles won't know where to go
for their bread, you've got your house
fixed up So but they said that that
would not matter, so long as the tree
was the same.
THAT very night there came up a big
wind and ripped out the branch that the
last years nest was hanging FROM
where those birds had builded for seven
teen years. Even the new people got
some disturbed over that. and as It was
about time for the birds TO appear they
began putting out crumbs on one OF the
new window sills.
When the orioles did come. about three
days later, you ought 20 have seen the
commotion. They flew around that tree
hunting for the old nest. Then they hop
ped down into the grass and held big
powwow about 1t. They must have de-
cided that they had come 20 the wrong
place. for Off they few and we didn't see
anything more of them that day Then
some one. maybe il was l. went and got
that old broken off branch with the ruined
nest on il, and propped it up against tho
tree trunk. hoping that that might set
them right.
Next day back they came and flew
round the tree and held another council
OF war. Then the male bird FOUND that
nest down at the foot Of the tree. And
he says TO her, Didn't ! tell you this
was the place yesterday?
And she answers back, That nest
last year was up in the tree in that big
south branch. and it's all gone now and