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The
Pecan tree is designated as the official tree of Texas. It
should be planted with plenty of room to grow, for it will
reach a height between 60 and 80 feet at maturity.
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In almost every pecan grove
in this part of the country you will find the little orchard oriole
and his mate living and raising their families in the spring. Where
you find pecan trees you will find this little black and chestnut
fellow and his tiny yellow, green and brown wife. You see the trees
and the orioles living together because once upon a time each did
a favor for the other. The Indians remember.
One spring in the long
ago an oriole family was living in its small nest of woven grasses
swinging at the end of a branch on a tall pecan tree. The proud
father bird and his wife were the parents of five little ones. As
yet they could not fly, though their tiny feathers were beginning
to grow large enough so that they could flutter to the edge of the
nest and look over to see what the world looked like down on the
ground. All day the parents gathered bugs for the little ones and
sang their sweet songs. The big pecan tree liked the oriole family
because they ate the bugs that tried to bore into the trunk or cut
its leaves off. And so the tree and the birds got along like good
neighbors.
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Hooded
Oriole (male)
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Hooded
Oriole (female)
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One day the father bird
looked up and saw the sky beginning to fill with bits of white clouds
like snow flakes and flying very fast towards the north. Soon he
saw flying under the clouds those great wide-winged birds called
frigate birds or men-of-war, which live far away on islands in the
Gulf. These birds only fly inland when a hurricane, or storm, is
getting ready to rush out of the Gulf of Mexico and blow its wild
breath upon the coast country. The father oriole knew this. He knew
by the clouds and the frigate birds that a storm was soon to strike
the country where his little ones were waiting in the nest. He became
frightened. When the pecan tree saw him fluttering around and around
in distress . the tree asked him what was the matter. The oriole
told him that a storm was coming and would blow his five children
away.
"I know what to do,"
said the pecan tree. "There is a hole under my biggest branch. Take
your wife and babies into that hole and the wind will not touch
you."
Thanking the good tree,
the oriole father took his family into the hole and waited for the
storm. They did not have to wait long. The next day the howling
winds swooped into the grove with the black clouds and rain that
came with the hurricane. All the trees bent their heads as °
the wind tore at their leaves. Branches were stripped from the tree,
and the grass nest of the orioles was soon torn apart and scattered
and carried away. But, safe in their hole, the oriole family listened
to the wind howl and were glad that the pecan tree was good to them.
After the storm the father
oriole decided he would do a good turn for the tree just as soon
as he got a chance. He told the tree about this.
The pecan tree laughed
and said, "What can you do for me, little bird?"
"Wait and see," said
the oriole. "Something will give me a chance to help you."
He was right about that,
too. One winter all the trees and bushes thought that the cold north
wind would not come. Spring was about due, and the winter had been
warm. The trees thought it was now too late for the north wind to
make them a visit, and they began to put out their buds and leaves
earlier than usual. One day down in Mexico, where the orioles always
went during the winter months, the father oriole felt in his tiny
bones that a cold spell was on the way from the north. He had heard
that the trees in Texas were putting out their buds too soon. He
knew that if his friend, the pecan tree, put out its buds the cold
north wind would bring sleet and would freeze the buds, so that
the tree could not have any pecans.
Here was a chance to
do the pecan tree a good turn. The oriole flew quickly to Texas.
He found his friend the pecan tree was about to put out its buds
on the limbs.
"Keep in your buds and
leaves!" cried the oriole. "A cold wind is on the way from the north
and will hurt all the trees that are budding too soon." Then the
oriole hurried back to Mexico before the cold weather could catch
him.
The pecan tree laughed
to itself and thought the oriole was wrong. But it decided it would
wait until later to put out its buds. And how glad it was! For the
next day the north wind made a late trip into the south, bringing
the sleet and cold weather with it. It whooped and blew around the
country, and all the trees and bushes had their early buds frozen
off. All but the pecan tree who had been the friend of the little
oriole, for this tree had not put out any buds. It was the only
tree that bore pecans that year.
The other pecan trees
learned about the good turn which the oriole had done for one of
them. They became the friends of all orioles from that time, and
this is why you find the little birds living and nesting wherever
pecan trees are growing.
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