360 ORIOLIDjE. 



nearer to typical 0. melanoceplwlus than to typical 0. ceylonensis. 

 Of its nid'ification southwards I know nothing. I have only 

 myself taken its eggs in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. 



It appears to lay from April to the end of August. The nest 

 of this species, though perhaps slightly deeper, is very much like 

 that of 0. Tcundoo; it is a deep cup, carefully suspended between 

 two twigs, and is composed chiefly of tow-like vegetable fibres, 

 thin slips of bark and the like, and is internally lined with very 

 fine tamarisk twigs or fine grass, and is externally generally more 

 or less covered over with odds and ends, bits of lichen, thin flakes 

 of bark, &c. It is slightly smaller than the average run of the 

 nests of 0. Tcundoo. The egg-cavity measures about 3 inches in 

 diameter and nearly 2 inches in depth. I myself have never found 

 more than three eggs, but I daresay that, like 0. Icundoo, it may 

 not unfrequently lay four. 



The late Captain Beavan writes : " A nest with three eggs, 

 brought to me in Manbhoom on 5th April, 1865, is cup-shaped ; 

 interior diameter 3-5, depth inside 2 inches. It is composed 

 outside of woolly fibres, flax, and bits of dried leaves, and inside of 

 bents and small dried twigs, the whole compact and neat. The 

 eggs are of a light pink ground (almost flesh-coloured), with a few 

 scattered spots of brownish pink, darker and more numerous at 

 the blunt end. They measure 1025 by barely 0-8." 



From Eaipoor, Mr. F. E. Blewitt remarks : " Oriolus melano- 

 cephalus indiscriminately selects the mango, mowah, or any other 

 kind of large tree for its nest, which is invariably firmly attached 

 to the extreme terminal twigs of an upper horizontal branch, vary- 

 ing from 20 to 35 feet from the ground, Owing to the position 

 it selects for the safety of its nest, it sometimes happens that the 

 latter cannot be secured without the destruction of the eggs. It 

 nidificates in June and July, and it would appear that both the 

 birds, male and female, engage in the construction of the nest. 

 Three is the normal number of the eggs, though on one occasion 

 my shikaree found four in a nest." 



Buchanan Hamilton tells us that this species " frequents the 

 groves and gardens of Bengal during the whole year, and builds a 

 very rude nest of bamboo-leaves and the fibres that invest the top 

 of the cocoanut or other palms. In March I found a nest with 

 the young unfledged." 



I confess that I believe this to be a mistake : neither season nor 

 nest correspond with what I have myself seen about Calcutta. 

 The nests, so far from being rude, are very neat. 



Mr. J. R. Cripps writes from Furreedpore in Eastern Bengal : 

 " Very common, and a permanent resident. On the 20th April I 

 found a nest containing two half-fledged young ones ; in the garden 

 was a clump of mango- trees, and attached to one of the outer twigs, 

 but overhung by a lot of leaves, and about 12 feet from the 

 ground, hung the nest, of the usual type." 



Mr. J. Davidson met with this Oriole on the Kondabhari Ghat 

 in TChandeish. On the 16th August he saw a brood, while on an 



