362 OKIOLID^. 



The dozen eggs that I possess of this species vary from 1*1 to 1"2 

 iu leugth, aucl from 0-78 to 0*87 iu breadth, and the average is 1-14 

 by 0'82. Although the average is somewhat larger than that of the 

 preceding species, and although none of the eggs are quite as small 

 as many of those of 0. Tcundoo, still none are nearly so large as the 

 finest specimens of the latter's egg. Probably had I an equally 

 large series of the eggs of the present species, we should find that 

 as regards size there was no perceptible difference between the 

 two. 



522. Oriolus traillii (Vigors). The Maroon Oriole. 

 Oriolus traillii (T^/.), Jcrd. B. hid. ii, p. 112; Hume, Cat. no. 474. 



Prom Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes : — " I took a nest of this 

 Oriole on the 24th April, at an elevation of about 2500 feet. It 

 was suspended, within ten feet of the ground, from an outer fork 

 of a branch of a small leafy tree, which grew in a patch of low 

 dense jangle. It is a neat cup, composed of fibrous bark and strips 

 of the outer part of dry grass-stems, intermixed with skeletonized 

 leaves and green moss, and hned with fine grass. Besides being 

 firmly bound by the rim of the cup to the horizontal forking 

 branches by fibrous barks, several strings extended from one branch 

 to the other, both under and in front of the nest, while other 

 strings from the body of the nest were fastened to an upright twig 

 that rose immediately behind the fork, thus most securely retain- 

 ing it in its position. 



" Externally the nest measured 5 inches wide by 2*75 in height ; 

 internally 3-25 wide by 2 dee]:). It contained three fresh eggs. 



" The female came quite close, making loud complaints against 

 the robbing of her nest." 



The nest is that of a typical Oriole, usually very firmly and sub- 

 stantially built, and of course always suspended at a fork between 

 two twigs. A nest taken by Mr. Grammie in Sikhim on the 20th 

 April, at an elevation of about 2500 feet, is a deep substantial cup, 

 nearly 4 inches in diameter and 2| in depth internally. It is 

 everywhere nearly an inch in thickness. The suspensory portion 

 composed of vegetable fibres ; towards the exterior dead leaves, 

 bamboo-sheaths, green moss, and tendrils of creeping plants are 

 profusely intermingled ; interiorly, it is closely and regularly lined 

 with very fine grass. 



A nest sent me by Mr. Mandelli was found on the 3rd April at 

 Namtchu, and contained three fresh eggs. It is precisely similar 

 to the one above described, except that in the lining roots are 

 mingled with the fine grass, and that instead of being suspended 

 in a fork, it was partly wedged into and partly rested on a fork. 



As a rule, however, as I know from other nests subsequently 

 obtained, the nests are always suspended like those of the Common 

 Oriole. 



Two eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie closely 



