588 BRITISH BIRDS. 
Genus ORIOLUS. 
The genus Oriolus was established by Linnzus in 1766, in his ‘ Systema 
Nature,’ i. p. 160, to contain the Orioles and other more or less dis- 
tantly allied birds. Vieillot appears to have been the first ornithologist 
who removed from this genus several groups of birds which had been 
previously generically characterized by Brisson. In 1816 Vieillot, in his 
‘Analyse d’une nouvelle Ornithologie élémentaire,’ p. 33, restricted the 
genus to its present dimensions, designating Le Loriot (Oriolus galbula) as 
the type. Ornithologists differ in opinion as to the position of the Orioles ; 
but there seems to be no valid reason for removing them from the Corvine, 
of which they form a somewhat aberrant genus. As regards the average 
length of the wings and tail the Orioles form an intermediate group. The 
chief distinction between the genus Oriolus and the other genera in this 
subfamily is the fact that the nostrils are exposed and the sexes are different 
in colour; but the latter may possibly not be an important character. 
Like the rest of the Corvin, they appear to have a spring moult. There 
is nothing in the bill or feet to separate the Orioles from the allied 
genera; but the tarsus may be, on an average, slightly shorter. The pre- 
vailing colours are also very different, beimg principally yellow or red 
variegated with black. 
The Orioles appear to be essentially a tropical group of birds. There 
are about forty species and subspecies known, of which fifteen are resident 
in the Oriental and about the same number in the Australian Region, 
seven reside in the Aithiopian Region, and two of the species which inhabit 
the first-named region also extend their range into the extreme south of the 
Palearctic Region. One species alone appears to be confined to the Pale- 
arctic Region during the breeding-season ; this is the only species found in 
Europe, and is a rare summer visitor to the British Islands. 
The Orioles are found in gardens, groves, the outskirts of woods, orchards, 
and other well-cultivated places. Their food consists principally of insects 
and caterpillars ; but fruits of various kinds are eaten. Their call-notes 
are clear and musical; and many species rank amongst the finest songsters. 
They build open cup-shaped nests in the forks of branches. These 
nests are skilfully woven, and made of roots, grass, vegetable fibres, and 
lined with hair, moss, feathers, &e. Their eggs, from three to five or six 
in number, vary from pure white to cream- and salmon-colour, spotted with 
liver-brown and with purplish underlying markings. 
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