ORIOLID.^— ORIOLE. 



lOI 



pecially pointed out to me that whenever they were flushed they invariably 

 alighted on the muddy portions of the shore — never on the grass. One of them 

 was shot and stuffed by Dr. Maclean, so there could be no mistake about the spe- 

 cies, with which, in fact, he had been many years acquainted. In the spring all 

 the birds leave the shores of the river, and will be found breeding among the grassy 

 cliffs of the coast, returning to the banks of the river again in the autumn." He 

 adds that they breed annually on the Felixstowe and Walton Cliffs. 



Dr. Bree elsewhere writes (29. May 22, 1875) that in winter it is " found along 

 the banks of the River Colne, between Walton and Colchester. In the spring they 

 go down to the coast and breed there. I have known this many years. When 

 the Rock Pipit is disturbed in winter, it always alights again on one of the muddy 

 patches found by the side of the river — a fact pointed out to me by the late Dr. 

 Maclean. Hence its name of Mudlark." 



In his notes, he again says (32a.) that it is " found throughout the winter on the 

 banks of the Colne, and breeds on the cliffs along the coast from Walton to the 

 Blackwater," but in this the Doctor was certainly mistaken. 



Family ORIOLID^, 



Golden Oriole : Oriolus galbicla. 



A rare and accidental summer visitor, though a good many 

 specimens have been shot in the county. It seems very probable 

 that it would on more than one 

 occasion have bred with us had 

 it not been molested, as several 

 of our recorded specimens were 

 met with in May and June. It 

 has been known to do so in 

 Kent, Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk 

 and other counties. 



Hoy records (12. iii. 436) that " a 

 brilliant specimen was shot on May 

 loth, 1830, by a gamekeeper at Lawford 

 Hall, Manningtree. It had in its 

 stomach the remains of a cockchafer 

 and several small green caterpillars." 

 Mr. H. Barclay of Leyton writes (23, 

 2851): 



'• On Saturday, the 25th of May [1850], the gardener of John Masterman, Esq., 

 of Leyton, shot one of a pair of sirange birds that he had seen about the garden 

 for some days. The bird proved to be a female Golden Oriole. It was sent to 

 Mr. W. Morris, bird-stuffer, of this place, for preservation, and on dissection was 

 found to contain two eggs, but with unformed shells. This seems to warrant the 

 supposition that the birds had a nest, but it has not yet been found." 



A specimen shot about 1850 at Birch Holt, is now in the possession of Mrs. 

 Ingle, of Alexandra Road, Colchester. Dr. Bree records (23. 8032) that " a fine 

 male specimen ... in fresh breeding plumage " was shot at Tiptree about the 

 second week in May, 1862. He adds : " There is no doubt, I think, that the bird 

 was after breeding." E. L. M. of Leyton records (29. May 13) that he both heard 

 and shot a fine adult male there on May 6th, 1865. Mr. Hastings Warren, of 



GOLDEN ORIOLE, Utah 



