Plate 42 – Orchard Oriole

Joseph Mason was 13 years old when he began working as an assistant to John James Audubon. Audubon chose the drawing Mason produced of the branches and pods of the Honey locust in which to place his drawings of the Orchard oriole for Birds of America. The pulp inside the pod of a Honey locust is sweet and is a food source for any number of creatures. The branches of the tree can also possess thorns approaching the size of sewing needles, or at least long and sharp enough for Audubon to notice tobacconists using them to secure their rolls of tobacco. The thorns on the branches also help protect the nests of such birds as the Orchard oriole. Orchard orioles are partial to long blades of grass to build their pendulous nests: “The filaments are twisted, passed over and under, and interwoven in such a manner as almost to defy the eye of man to follow their wanderings.”