12 ORIOLUS LARVATUS 



originally described from a painting made by that traveller. 

 It was first called the Nun Thrush by Latham, a few years 

 before it received its Latin name. Heuglin records it as 

 abundant in Abyssinia, at elevations varying from 2,000 to 

 8,000 feet, frequenting the belts of trees which line the banks 

 of the streams and form one of the prettiest features of the 

 country. In habits and voice it much resembles the better 

 known European Golden Oriole. In its more northern range, 

 Dr. Blanford considered the species to be rare, and remarks : 

 " It has a peculiar harsh double call-note." 



With regard to 0. meneliki, Lord Lovat writes : " This 

 Oriole is a native of the thickets, south of the Hawash 

 Valley. It is locally plentiful, and is always met with singly 

 or in pairs, feeding in forest trees with yellow leaves (name 

 unknown) and, notwithstanding the bright colour, is difficult 

 to see. The note is a melodious whistle, and the answer is 

 a harsh double note." 



Both Dr. Eeichenow and Mr. Oscar Neumann regard 

 0. meneliki as specifically distinct from 0. monackus ; this 

 I do not believe to be correct. The type of 0. monachus is a 

 fully adult bird, and that of 0. meneliki an immature speci- 

 men. That the former is a highland race, ranging from 2,000 

 to 8,000 feet, and the latter a lowland form, appears to me to 

 be based upon no evidence, and the variation in the colouring 

 of the tail-feathers and bill can be accounted for by age, and 

 in no other manner. 



Oriolus larvatus. 



Oriolus larvatus, Licht. Verz. Doubl. p. 20 (1823) Kaffraria; Monteiro, Ibis, 

 1862, pp. 335, 341 Quanza B. Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 217 (1877) ; 

 Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 572 (1896); Eeichen. Yog. Afr. ii. p. 658 

 (1903) ; Shortridge, Ibis, 1904, p. 175 Pondoland ; Grant, t. c. p. 256 

 S. Abyssinia ; 1905, p. 203 Uganda. 



