WEAVER-BIRDS, SHRIKES, ETC. 185 



or beautiful bird that may chance to visit the country 

 is sure to be almost immediately slaughtered by some 

 ruffian with a gun; and that English gardens are 

 thus deprived of the amenity that they might other- 

 wise gain from the occasional presence of orioles. 

 The mere remembrance of the grace of their leaping 

 flight as they pass in and out among the trees, 

 gleaming in golden plumage and calling to one 

 another "in full-throated ease," is enough to make 

 the returned Anglo-Indian rejoice that his life was, 

 at one time, passed in a land where it was possible 

 to meet with such beauty, and to make him feel 

 that some climatic evils are far more than made 

 good by their attendant blessings. 



All gardens in and around Calcutta, so long as 

 they contain a few well-grown trees, are sure to be 

 frequently visited by black-headed orioles, Oriolus 

 melanocephalus (Plate VII.), who, although rarely 

 nesting within urban or suburban limits, show that 

 they are natives of the immediate neighbourhood by 

 appearing at every time of year and in all stages of 

 feathering. It would be hard to imagine any plumage 

 more beautiful than that of the mature male birds 

 with its brilliant contrasts of vivid yellow and shining 

 black ; and though that of the females and young 

 birds is not so striking, owing to the greenish tone 

 and streakiness of the yellow parts, it has very 

 decided beauties of its own in its delicate gradations 

 and pencillings of colour. They have a truly 



