2 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



In addition to the above distinctive characters, the third primary of the wing 

 (not the fourth or fifth) appears to be the longest, in the Orioles ; whilst the 

 whole character of the nest, which Seebohm often made much of in his classifi- 

 cation, is quite unlike that of a Crow ; being neatly woven, and slung like a 

 hammock between the forks of a branch : moreover, whereas the eggs of the Crows 

 are usually of some shade of green or blue, heavily spotted and speckled, or 

 blotched and mottled, with various shades of olive or brown, those of the Orioles 

 vary from white to salmon pink, clearly spotted with blackish brown, and some- 

 times with lilacine greyish shell markings. 



The call-notes and songs of the Orioles are bright and melodious ; but this 

 fact would not be a sufficient reason for dissociating them from the Crows ; 

 although our native species of Corvida do not shine as whistlers, in their wild 

 state. I think, however, that Howard Saunders was fully justified in adopting 

 the present family for the Orioles. 



Family ORIOLIDAi. 



THE GOLDEN ORIOLE. 



Oriolus galbtila, LINN. 



BREEDS in suitable localities throughout Europe south of the Baltic and in 

 Algeria ; passes through Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt, and Nubia, 

 on migration ; and winters in North Africa, south-eastwards to Madagascar, Natal, 

 and westwards to Damara Land: stragglers sometimes occur in Madeira, and the 

 Azores. 



The Golden Oriole is a regular visitor to our shores in spring, the largest 

 number having been seen in the Scilly Islands, and Cornwall ; it has, however, 

 been met with in not a few of the southern and south-eastern counties, and several 

 instances of its breeding with us have been recorded. In 1868, I saw a male 

 specimen of this bird near Linton, in Devonshire, and in July, 1887, I was just 

 too late to see the species in Essex ; Mr. Fitch, of Maldon (whom I was visiting) 



