GOLDEN ORIOLE. 239 



the wing, six inches and a quarter : the first wing-feather 

 not quite half as long as the second, which is not so long as 

 the fourth, but longer than the fifth ; the third the longest 

 in the wing. 



The female has not the dark streak between the bill and 

 the eye ; the upper surface of the plumage is oil-green ; 

 upper tail-coverts greenish-yellow ; wing-coverts brocoli- 

 brown ; the quill-feathers blackish-brown ; the ends of the 

 spurious wing-feathers tipped with white ; outer edges and 

 ends of the quill-feathers margined with dull white : upper 

 surface of tail brocoli-brown, tinged with yellow at the base, 

 streaked and tipped with brighter yellow ; throat, breast, 

 and under surface of the body, dull greyish-white, streaked 

 longitudinally with dark brown on the shafts of the feathers ; 

 sides of the body and flanks yellow, streaked with dark 

 brown ; under tail-coverts pure yellow ; under surface of tail- 

 feathers yellow mixed with dull grey. 



According to Macgillivray, the young, in its first plumage, 

 is of a dusky yellowish-grey tint above, each feather having 

 the middle greyish-brown ; the lower parts yellowish-white, 

 each feather with a brown median line ; the sides and lower 

 tail-coverts bright yellow ; the wings and tail brown, marked 

 with yellow, as in the adult. The male is easily distin- 

 guished from the female by its lighter colour. The irides 

 are brown ; the beak dark grey. 



After the first moult, the young resemble females ; but it 

 has been stated that the latter as they grow older greatly 

 resemble the adult males. 



In Dr. Thackeray's British-killed specimen, which had not 

 attained the truly adult male livery, the upper surface of the 

 body is tinged with wine-yellow : the scapulars and a few 

 feathers on the centre of the back streaked with black ; the 

 wings not so decidedly black : the spurious wing-feathers are 

 slightly tipped with greyish- white, not bright yellow, on the 

 distal half of their length, as in the old male first described ; 

 the quill-feathers with narrow lighter- coloured outer margins 

 and tips : the feathers of the tail have the proximal two- 

 thirds black, the rest yellow : under surface of the body 



