THE GOLDEN ORIOLE. 267 



and short, with wide-spreading heads, but tall 

 and slender, running up for a great height with- 

 out any branches, and very tiring to climb. I 

 was obliged to saw off the branch before I could 

 look into the nest, and after a great deal of 

 trouble, when I at length got it down safely, I 

 found, to my disappointment, that it contained 

 three young birds instead of eggs. Could I 

 have ascertained this without cutting off the 

 branch, I should certainly have left them where 

 they were ; as it was, there was no help for it 

 but to take them. They were apparently about 

 three days old, and almost naked, the skin of 

 an orange or yellowish flesh-colour very sparsely 

 flecked with yellow down. I fed them on 

 maggots, and covered them with cotton wool 

 to keep them warm, and in this way I kept 

 them alive until I reached Paris, where they 

 died, and were entrusted to a skilful taxidermist 

 for preservation." 



Although the discovery of a Golden Oriole's 

 nest in England is not unprecedented, it is of 

 sufficiently rare occurrence to attract the atten- 



