194 ORIOLIX.E. 



abdomen, bright-yellow ; wings olive-brown ; body beneath whitish, 

 with brown stripes ; bill black. 



The Indian Oriole occurs generally throughout the district, 

 but is less common in Sind than elsewhere. On the higher 

 ranges it is replaced by 0. melanocephalus. 



It is a permanent resident and breeds during May and June. 

 It seems to have a preference for neem trees, as most of the 

 nests I have seen have been built on these. It chooses a fork at 

 the extremity of a slender bough, and between the twigs forming 

 the fork it constructs a purse-like nest, composed of grass stems 

 and roots, vegetable fibre, pieces of rag, &c., all firmly bound at 

 its upper edges to the fork between which it is suspended. The 

 eggs, usually three in number, are moderately long ovals, pure 

 glossy china-white in colour with dark-claret or nearly black 

 specks, spots or blotches, chiefly at the larger end. They vary 

 greatly both in size and shape, but the average is 1 '1 inch in 

 length by 0'8 in breadth. 



As soon as the eggs are laid, the nest is easy to find, owing to 

 the habit the bird has of attacking any bird, no matter how 

 large, that ventures near the nest. 



The nestlings are easily reared by placing them in a cage, 

 accessible to the parent birds, as although naturally shy yet they 

 will attend to, and feed them until long after they are able to 

 fend for themselves. 



Oriolus galbula, Lin. 



4s7Qbis. Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 136. 

 THE GOLDEN ORIOLE. 



Length, 10; wings, 5'9 ; tail, 3'6; tarsus, 0'85 ; bill at 

 front, 0'95. 



Bill dull-reddish ; irides blood-red ; legs lead-grey. 



Adult male : Entire plumage, except the wings and tail, rich 

 golden-yellow ; a broad stripe from the base of the bill to the eye, 

 covering the lores, deep-black ; wings jet-black ; the quills tipped 

 and externally narrowly margined with yellowish-white or 

 sulphur-yellow ; edge of the wing and under wing-coverts rich 

 yellow, the primary coverts being broadly terminated with the 

 same color ; tail black, broadly terminated with yellow ; the 

 outer rectrices being more broadly, and the inner ones less marked 

 with this color, the central-rectrices black, only narrowly tipped 

 with yellow. 



Adult female : Differs considerably from the male ; upper 

 parts (excepting the wings) greenish-yellow or apple -green ; the 

 patch in front of the eye dull brownish-black ; wings as in the 

 male, but duller and browner, the edgings being pale sulphur- 

 yellow ; secondaries and wing-coverts washed with dull greenish- 

 yellow ; tail as in the male, except that the yellow markings are 

 only on the inn.er webs, the outer webs of the feathers being 



