OREOLUS LARVATUS 15 



seldom prolonged for any great distance. They feed on cater- 

 pillars, small beetles and other insects, also on berries and 

 small fruits, occasionally on seeds. The young are fed exclu- 

 sively on caterpillars. The nest is suspended from a fork near 

 the end of a horizontal branch of a tree, at a height of from 

 twenty to fifty feet. It is saucer-shaped, woven from a long 

 grey lichen that grows on the higher forest trees, often where 

 it is hidden by the natural growth. The eggs, three to five 

 in number, resemble those of tlie Golden Oriole in size, shape 

 and colour." 



Mr. Shortridge, in his article on " Birds from Pondoland " 

 ("Ibis," 1904, p. 175), observes : " It is often seen in company 

 with, or following flocks of, Lamprocolius inelanogasfer.'' 



Laj'ard gives the following picturesque sketch of a haunt 

 of this bird : "On the left bank of the Kearboom's Eiver, 

 which falls into Plottenberg's Bay, about half a mile from 

 where the mountains narrow down to the river, there is a 

 lovely kloof, which opens to the water's edge, and stretches 

 back inland for about a couple of miles. A clear running 

 stream flows through the centre of it, and on each side rocky, 

 inaccessible precipices hem in a splendid forest. In this 

 lovely spot the silence was only broken by the babbling brook 

 and the loud pipe of the Oriole, which frequented the summits 

 of the gigantic yellow-wood trees, whose mighty heads, hung 

 with dense masses of gre}" moss, seemed, like vegetable Titans, 

 to watch over the solitude around them." The Messrs. Wood- 

 ward found this Oriole in Zululand, frequenting the high 

 trees, and flying " up and down the kloofs uttering its loud 

 pleasant crj'. Besides this cry it possesses an excellent song, 

 with clear, mellow notes." 



Can this Oriole be migratory in Mashonaland ? Jameson 

 and Ayres met with the species at the Umfuli Eiver and 

 write : " Occasionally we saw a specimen and heard its loud 



