42 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
rupees—the fact that it is a very hardy and long-lived 
bird makes a Piping-Crow a very safe speculation for 
any bird-lover. 
THE ORIOLES. 
These constitute a small family of birds found chief- 
ly in warm regions in the Old World. They are 
of about the size of a MHouse-Mynah, and usually 
yellow and black in plumage, with rather long wings, 
medium tails, longish, stout bills, and decidedly short 
legs. The Black-headed Oriole, figured on Plate II 
(Fig. 2), will give a good idea of them, as they have a 
great family resemblance. They live in trees, feed- 
ing on fruit and insects, and building beautiful ham- 
mock-like nests in a fork of a branch; the eggs are 
white with black spots. Male and female are alike 
in plumage or nearly so; but the young are streaked, 
and the young hen does not come into full colour 
so soon aS the cock. They are not songsters, but 
have most beautiful flute-like calls. They go alone 
or in pairs and are called pilak in Hindustani. 
It should be mentioned here that the so-called 
Orioles of America belong to a different family alto- 
gether, the Troupials ; it is remarkable, however, that 
some of them display the same black and yellow 
colours, and almost the same patterns, as the true 
Orioles, whence, no doubt, the confusion. In form and 
habits the Troupials are intermediate between the 
Starlings and the Weaver-Finches, and practically 
every gradation between these very different birds’ 
can be found in the family. A common Brazilian 
