ORIOLUS CRASSIROSTRIS 21 



Oriolus crassirostris (Pi. 43). 



Oriolus crassirostris, Hartl. Orii. W. Afr. p. 266 (1857) St. Thomas Isl. ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 217 (1877) ; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 575 

 (1896) ; Reichen. Yog. Afr. ii. p. 662 (1903) ; Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. 

 1904, p. 77. 



Adult. Entire head, upper neck and throat black; remainder of the neck 

 yellowish white, passing into ashy yellow on the back ; upper ta'1-coverts 

 slightly yellower ; two centre tail-feathers dusky shaded olive yellow, with 

 pale yellowish terminal margins ; remainder of tail black, with pale yellow 

 ends broadest on the outer feathers where the yellow extends over the end 

 third ; wings dusky black, strongly washed with grey on the coverts and 

 outer webs of the secondaries, and shaded with yellow towards the 

 scapulars ; quills with the outer and terminal margins white, broadest 

 towards the ends of the feathers ; inner margins of basal half of quills 

 white; under wing-coverts slightly mottled with black, otherwise white 

 like the breast and thighs, with an obsolete yellow tinge towards the neck 

 and flanks ; under tail-coverfcs whitish yellow. Iris red ; bill pale brownish 

 red ; feet pale grey. Total length 9-3 inches, culmen 1-1, wing 5-0, tail 3-9, 

 tarsus 1-1. S 4. 88. Angolares (Newton). 



Immature. Differs in having no blacks on the head ; forehead, crown, 

 sides of head and back of neck dusky brown obscurely streaked with paler 

 and yellower sides to the feathers ; chin, throat and breast white, with 

 dusky black shaft stripes on the crop and chest. Bill more dusky. Wing 

 4-6. $ , 8. 89. St. Micquel (Newton). 



The Stout-billed, Black-headed Oriole is confined to the 

 Island of St. Thomas. 



This remarkable species of Oriole is very abundant 

 throughout the island (Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. 1904, p. 77). The 

 type was discovered by Weiss, and this is all the information 

 J can find regarding the species, which, no doubt, like the 

 other Ethiopian Orioles, frequent the forests and suspend 

 graceful, cup-shaped nests in the thick foliaged trees, at some 

 distance from the ground, and live on the large caterpillars, 

 insects and fruit, which such localities supply them with in 

 abundance. 



