138 GOLDEN ORIOLE. 



hatched. In Scotland its occurrences have been few, and mostly in 

 the southern districts ; but one is recorded from Lerwick, Shetland, 

 in October 1882. In Ireland it has occurred in the southern and 

 eastern counties, and once in Donegal. 



The Golden Oriole is a mere straggler to the south of Sweden, 

 and has only visited Heligoland once in the last thirty years ; but 

 it breeds regularly in Finland, and in Russia rather further north than 

 St. Petersburg. In Germany, Holland, France and Europe gener- 

 ally, it is a common species during the summer in suitable locaUties ; 

 except, perhaps, in the eastern half of the Mediterranean basin, 

 where, as well as in Asia Minor and Palestine, it is better known as 

 a migrant. Eastward it is found in Asia — north of the great moun- 

 tain ranges — as far as Irkutsk ; but in the Indian region it is repre- 

 sented by O. kiaidoo, in the adult male of which the black loral 

 streak extends behind the eye, and the outer tail-feathers are entirely 

 yellow. In North Africa the Golden Oriole breeds sparingly, and 

 winters regularly; its migrations extending to Damaraland, Natal and 

 Madagascar. As a straggler it has been found in Madeira and the 

 Azores ; but Kjoerbolling's assertion that one was picked up dead 

 in the north of Iceland in December 1843, is incredible. 



The nest is placed in, and suspended from, the horizontal fork 

 of a small branch of some tree — frequently an oak or fir^ — in a 

 shady grove or thick wood, and is made of strips of pliable bark, 

 wool, slender grass stems &:c., carefully woven together ; the eggs, 

 4-5, are glossy white, blotched with reddish-purple : average 

 measurements 1-2 by '84 in. Although fond of shade, the Oriole 

 is not a shy bird, and I have seen its nests in the avenues of trees 

 in Utrecht. Its food consists of insects and their larvoe, the young 

 birds being principally fed on caterpillars ; but fruits, especially 

 cherries, are also eaten. The French name ' Loriot ' indicates the 

 flute-like call of the male ; the alarm-note being a harsh k/in: 



Adult male : most of the plumage golden-yellow ; lores black ; 

 quills and wing-coverts black, tipped and margined with yellowish- 

 white ; tail-feathers yellow at the tips and black at the bases, except 

 the central pair which are mostly black ; bill dull red ; iris bright 

 red ; legs lead-grey. Length 9 '5 in. ; wing 6 in. The mature 

 female certainly /las a blackish loral streak, but the yellow is far less 

 intense than in the male, and the under parts are striated with 

 greyish ; in less mature birds the upper parts are only greenish- 

 yellow ; but I have tried in vain to obtain any proof of Blyth's 

 theory that the mature female assumes the plumage of the adult 

 male. The young are browner and greener than the female. 



