THE GOLDEN ORIOLE 



DAME Nature must have been in a very 

 generous mood when she manufactured 

 golden orioles, or she would never have 

 expended so much of her colour-box upon 

 them. Orioles are birds which compel our attention, 

 so brilliant are they ; yet the poets who profess to be 

 the high-priests of Nature give us no songs about these 

 beautiful creatures ; at least I know of no maker of 

 verse, with the exception of Sir Edwin Arnold, who 

 does more than mention the oriole. Here then is a fine 

 opening for some twentieth-century bard ! 



Two orioles, or mango birds as they are sometimes 

 called, are common in India. They are the Indian 

 oriole (Oriolus kundod) and the black-headed oriole 

 (0. melanocephalus). The Indian oriole is a bird about 

 the size of a starling. The plumage of the cock is a 

 splendid rich yellow. There is a black patch over and 

 behind the eye. There is some black on the tail, and 

 the large wing feathers are also of this colour. The bill 

 is pink and the eyes red. In the hen the yellow of the 

 back is deeply tinged with green. 



The black-headed oriole may be distinguished by 

 his black head, throat, and upper breast. The habits 

 of both species are similar in every respect. The 



