486 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
sought after it is on account of its docility, and for the ease with 
which it is taught to speak. . 
The Orioles (Xanthornis) have the bill broad at the base, nearly 
conical and pointed ; the upper mandible has the dorsal line slightly 
arched, the ridge narrow, the sides flat and sloping. ‘They are 
chiefly American birds, and have considerable resemblance in form 
and habit to the European starlings. Like them they are sprightly, 
light, and very rapid on the wing, and they live together in large 
Fig. 202.—The Baltimore Oriole, 
flocks throughout the year, feeding on seeds, berries, and especially 
insects, and frequently committing ravages on cultivated fields 
and orchards. Some of this genera exhibit remarkable industry 
and skill in the construction of their nests, particularly the Balti- 
more Oriole (Yphantes baltimore, Fig. 202), which constructs a 
kind of purse, about a yard in length and a foot in diameter, 
the mouth or entrance being placed sometimes at the upper ex- 
tremity, sometimes on the side. Naturalists have subdivided 
them into many smaller groups or genera, the most important 
being the one here described, and which may well be taken as an 
example. 
The Beef-eaters (Buphagus africana, Fig. 203) owe their name to 
