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of the species, and it may prove to be 

 only a subspecific form of Webb's 

 Orowtit. 



Family, Oriolldae, the Orioles. 



Orioles have strong bills, about as 

 long as the head, straight, or slightly 

 curved at the tip, where the upper 

 mandible is notched. The nostrils are 

 bare. The tarsus is short, and the 

 toes rather small, and free at the base, 

 with long curved claws. The long 

 pointed wings contain ten primaries, of 

 which the third and fourth are the 

 longest. The tail is moderately long 

 and slightly rounded. The sexes are 

 usually different in plumage, and the 

 nestling is streaked. 



Orioles are rather shy, strictly 

 arboreal birds, subsisting chiefly on 

 insects, which they take among the 

 trees. 



These Old World Orioles must be 

 clearly distinguished from the 

 American Orioles (Icteridae) which 

 they resemble only in their coloration. 



There are about fifty species in the 

 Family, of which China has three, and 

 the Yangtse Valley one. 



THE BLACK-NAPED ORIOLE. 



ORIOLUS DIFFUSUS, SHARPE. 



Description. — Length nine and one 

 half inches. Bill reddish yellow. 

 Tarsus lead blue. Iris light brown. 



Male. — Brilliant golden yellow, with 

 a black stripe from the base of the bill 

 to the nape. Wings and tail black, 

 tipped yellow. 



Female. — Has the back tinted green, 

 and young birds, in addition are streak- 

 ed with black on the under parts, and 

 lack the eye streak. 



