GOLDEN ORIOLE. 75 



Length to end of tail 9^% ; wing from flexure 6 ; tail 3^\ ; 

 bill lj\^. 



Habits. — The Golden Oriole, the only species of the genus 

 that is ever seen in Europe, is said to arrive in Spain, France, 

 and Italy about the end of spring, and it is not uncommon in 

 many parts of Germany, but is rare in the northern countries, 

 and in England is not a regular visitant, a few individuals only 

 having been seen there at long intervals, so that it ranks among 

 the accidental stragglers. It is described as preferring low 

 wooded districts, and resorting to the margins of the forests, 

 where it resides chiefly among the lower branches of the large 

 trees, or in the thickets. Its food consists of insects and larvae, 

 but as the season advances, it feeds on berries and fruits of 

 various kinds, occasionally visiting the gardens and orchards, 

 and showing, like the Blackbird, a preference for cherries. Its 

 manners, however, are not fully detailed by authors, but, judg- 

 ing from its appearance, they are probably similar to those of 

 the larger Thrushes. As its wings are long and broad, its 

 flight must be easy and sustained ; and the form of its feet 

 shows that it is equally adapted for hopping on the ground, and 

 for gliding among the branches, although the shortness of the 

 tarsi, and the disparity of the second and third toes indicate a 

 greater aptitude for the latter mode of progression. It is a 

 solitary bird, shy, and difficult to be approached. 



Its nest is described by authors as of an oblong form, shaped 

 like a purse, having its aperture above, and suspended from a 

 forked branch, generally towards the top of a tree. It is com- 

 posed externally of long straws interwoven, internally of mosses 

 and lichens, with a lining of grass, and sometimes wool. Mr 

 Yarrell, however, in his History of British Birds, p. 214, 

 states that it is " rather flat and saucer-shaped, generally 

 placed in the horizontal fork of a bough of a tree, to both bran- 

 ches of which it is firmly attached," and composed of wool and 

 long slender stems of grass curiously interwoven. The eggs, 

 four or five in number, are of a regular oval form, smooth, an 

 inch and two-twelfths in length, ten-twelfths in breadth, white, 

 with a few brownish-black spots, among which are frequently 



