ORIOLUS LARVATITS 13 



Oriolus capensis, Swains. Classif. B. ii. p. 237 (1837). 



Oriolus arundinarius, Burch. Trav. S. Afr. i. p. 464 (1822). 



" Oriolus chloris, Cuv." Hartl. Orn. W. Afr. p. 81 (1857). 



Oriolus roUeti, Salvad. Atti B. Acad. Torino, vii. p. 151 (1864). 



Oriolus larvatus rolleti, Eeichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 659 (1903) ; Neum. 



J. f. O. 1905, p. 324. 

 Oriolus personatus, Heugl. 1867, p. 203 White Nile. 

 Oriolus larvatus, var. minor, Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 225 Abyssinia and 



Angola. 

 ? Oriolus percivali, Grant, Bull. B. 0. C. xiv. p, 18 (1903) Eikmju. 

 Oriolus larvatus angolensis, Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 236 Malange. 

 Loriot coudougnau, Levaill. Ois. Afr. vi. p. 52, pi. 261 (1808). 



Adult. Entire head and throat jet black ; remainder of the plumage, with 

 the exception of the wings and tail, uniform yellow of a more olive shade on 

 the mantle ; wings black, with pale edges to the quill and broad white ends 

 to the primary-coverts ; the pale edges to the quills are white on the 

 primaries and outer secondaries, increasing in breadth and becoming yellow 

 on the inner quills ; lesser wing-coverts like the back, median and greater- 

 coverts slightly greyer with some black on their inner webs or base ; under 

 surface of wings dusky black fading into ashy white on the inner webs of the 

 quills and the adjoining wing-coverts, remainder of the latter bright yellow ; 

 tail olive yellow, with a black band across all but the centre feathers 

 separating the olive yellow from the clear bright yellow ends of the ten outer 

 feathers; both the yellow ends and the black band increasing in width 

 towards the outer feathers. Iris red ; bill pale brownish red ; feet dusky 

 ash. Total length 9-2 inches, culmen 1-0, wing 5-5 and 5'4, tail 3-7, tarsus 

 0-95. S and,? , 3. 74. Pinetown (Shelley). 



Immature. Differs from the adult in having the feathers of forehead and 

 crown edged with dull yellow ; back of neck and mantle with obscure blackish 

 stripes ; chin and throat yellow with black shaft-stripes, chest with narrower 

 black stripes. Iris reddish brown ; bill black ; feet dusky ash. 5 , 5. 3. 74. 

 Durban (Shelley). 



Lichtenstein's Black-headed Oriole ranges from Angola to 

 the Cunene River, and over the eastern half of the continent 

 from the Knysna in Cape Colony to about 12° N. lat. 



The species has often been divided into two subspecies ; 

 a nominally large South African form, 0. larvatus, and a 

 smaller race, 0. roletti. The size of the individual probably 

 depends on the nutrition of the food it receives when young, 

 and might vary to some extent with the nature of the sur- 



