52 OKIOLID^E OKIOLUS 



edged with grey, the secondaries with yellow ; axillaries and under- 

 wing-coverts golden yellow ; the two centre tail feathers olive- 

 green, the remainder black at the base, the terminal portion yellow, 

 the amount of yellow increasing with each succeeding feather 

 towards the outermost. 



Iris red ; bill dull red ; feet black. 



Length 9 -25 ; wing 5 -50 ; tail 3-25 ; tarsus 0'90 ; culmen 1-05. 



Adult female. Eesembles the adult male in colour. 



Young of the year. Above olive-yellow indistinctly streaked 

 with brown ; head and face dusky-brown ; wing-quills brown with 

 paler brown margins ; tail dark olive-green ; below yellowish, the 

 breast streaked with black. 



Distribution. South Africa : an abundant resident in all the 

 forest and wooded districts in Cape Colony, Natal, Zululand, Por- 

 tuguese East Africa and the Transvaal. It ranges northward into 

 Nyasaland and German East Africa, thence into Central and North- 

 east Africa and Angola, but has not been recorded from Damara or 

 Great Namaqua Land. Examples from East and North-east Africa 

 as well as Angola are considerably smaller than those from South 

 Africa, and have been described as 0. rolleti. 



Habits. This beautiful Oriole is found usually on the out- 

 skirts of forests, among detached groves of trees, and the large 

 growth on the banks of streams and rivers. In such localities its 

 rich flute-like notes may be generally heard. These Orioles are 

 almost invariably in pairs. They pass most of their time among 

 the upper branches of fairly lofty trees, preferring those of thick 

 growth in which their brilliant plumage is concealed by a mass 

 of foliage. They rarely settle on the ground. Their flight is undu- 

 lating and seldom prolonged for any great distance. They feed on 

 caterpillars, small beetles and other insects, also on berries and 

 small forest fruits, occasionally on seeds. The young are fed ex- 

 clusively on caterpillars. The nest is suspended from a fork near 

 the end of a horizontal branch of a tree, at a height of from twenty 

 to fifty feet. It is saucer-shaped, woven from a long grey lichen 

 that grows on the higher forest trees, often where it is hidden by 

 the natural growth. The eggs, three to five in number, resemble 

 those of the Golden Oriole in size, shape, and colour. 



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