THE ORIOLES. 95 



coloured spots. I think March or April is the usual 

 season, but I have only once myself found a nest. 



Of the true Orioles, or Golden Orioles, there are 

 several species in India, two of which may be seen in 

 Bombay. They are all splendid birds, more gor- 

 geous than the Green Bulbul, and larger, being 

 nearly the size of a starling. The commonest is the 

 Indian Oriole (Oriolits kundoo), which is of a unir 

 form, bright beautiful yellow, excepting on the eye- 

 brows, the points of the wings (the quill feathers) and 

 part of the tail, which are black. The beak is pink 

 and the eyes are red. The female is tinged with 

 greenish, and the young are very green and 

 altogether a little "dowdy" compared with their 

 parents. The Indian Oriole's nest is a loose cup, or 

 bag, hung in a fork of a high tree. It is made of 

 fine grass and fibres and any other materials that the 

 bird finds serviceable. Jerdon found a nest tied 

 about with a long, strip of cloth, three-quarters of an 

 inch in width, which had been stolen from the dirzie 

 in the verandah. The theft was not actually proved, 

 but there was strong ground for suspicion. There 

 arc usually three eggs, white with dark claret-colour- 

 ed spots. But you arc r.ot likely to find an Oriole's 

 nest in Bombay. These birds leave us at the begin- 

 ning of the hot season and go to drier climes inland 

 to bring up their young. They return in September, 

 with their families, and are very noisy on first 

 arrival. The usual note of the Indian Oriole is a 

 rich mellow whistle, which Jerdon spells peeho. 

 The French name of the bird, loriot, seems to me 

 to give the sound better. It has also a harsher 

 cry. 



