218 



MERULID.E. 



black ; tlie wings not so decidedly black : the spurious wing- 

 feathers are slightly tipped with greyish white, not bright 

 yellow, on the distal half of their length, as in the old male 

 first described ; the quill-feathers with narrow lighter-coloured 

 outer margins and tips : the feathers of the tail have the prox- 

 imal two-thirds black, the rest yellow : under surface of the 

 body yellow, tinged with green, and still retaining flunt in- 

 dications of darker streaks in the direction of the shafts of 

 the feathers. 



Mr. Hoy agrees with me in considering that the male does 

 not obtain its brilliant yellow and black plumage until the 

 third year. This gentleman in one of his letters states, " some 

 pairs are observed breeding, in which you can scarcely dis- 

 tinguish male from female ; others still further advanced, but 

 the plumage is not bright." This, it will be observed, is in 

 accordance with the descriptions here given as those of the 

 second and third summer. 



The Oriole so frequently received from India, Oriolus 

 aureus^ which is by some considered to be identical with the 

 bird under description, is, however, distinct, and may be 

 immediately recognised by having the dark mark behind the 

 eye, reaching to some distance above the ear-coverts ; the 

 wing is also much shorter, not reaching near so far towards 

 the end of the tail. 





