THE ORIOLES. 43 



like bill and longer tail and legs, has been occasionally 

 brought to India, and makes a much nicer pet than any 

 true Oriole. For, charming as they are at large, the 

 Orioles make very poor cage birds, and are not interesting 

 even in an aviary. It will be enough to mention our two 

 commonest species here. 



The Black-headed Oriole {Oriolus Melanocephalus). 

 — This is perhaps the commoner of the two species I 

 am dealing with, being found nearly all over India, be- 

 sides Ceylon and Burma, though it does not go far up 

 the hills. The yellow of its plumage is particularly rich 

 and deep, but the female is not quite so bright as the 

 male. The young have the black head streaked with 

 yellow, and the yellow of the body, which is pale, plenti- 

 fully streaked with black. Their bills also are black, 

 while that of the old bird is a lovely rose-pink. This 

 seems a particularly hard bird to keep in confinement ; 

 common as it is about Calcutta, I have very seldom known 

 it to be successfully caged, even though nestlings are 

 often brought in. 



The Indian Golden Oriole or Mango-Bird (Om- 

 lus kundoo) called PasJmool in Kashmir, is found higher 

 up the Himalayas than the last species, and is spread all 

 over India, but does not extend to the eastwards nor to 

 Ceylon. It is an even more lovely bird than the last, 

 being all yellow on the head as well as the breast and back, 

 except for a black streak on each side of the face. The 

 yellow is also of a lighter but more delicate shade. The 

 hen has a green tinge on the back. The young in this 

 species are of a yellowish gTeen above, and white with 



