CASSIQUES AND HANGNESTS. 355 



and the young are attended with remarkable care by the parents. Although 



feeding mainly upon insects, which are often taken on the ground, the golden 



oriole during the fruit-season lays toll on the orchard. The range of the golden 



oriole includes the whole of Europe, except the extreme north, as well as Persia 



and other parts of South- Western Asia. In winter this species visits South Africa. 



The bright colour of the male golden oriole renders it peculiarly liable to be 



attacked by the sparrow-hawk; and, in such a contingency, the oriole does not 



trust to his thrush-like flight enabling him to elude his tormentor in the open, but 



on the earliest opportunity seeks refuge in the densest thickets available as cover. 



The oriole forms a good cage-bird; although old birds are not easily reconciled to 



the loss of their freedom, and are apt to pine away. Young birds, on the other 



hand, are easily tamed. 



The adult male of this species is rich golden-yellow above; the wings being 



black, the primary coverts broadly edged with yellow, which forms a conspicuous 



spot; the tail is black, tipped with yellow, the outer feathers having more yellow 



than black: while the entire under-surface is golden-yellow. The female differs 



from the male in having the back and scapulars tinged with green. 



Among thirty odd species of the genus, we may select for 

 Green Oriole. . b . r - . . . " , 



mention the green oriole (0. vindis) of New South Wales, which 



frequents orchards and gardens, where it fills the summer air with its melodious 



notes. This oriole, says Prof. Ramsay, may often be seen perched on some shady 



tree, with its head thrown back, showing to perfection its mottled breast, singing 



in a low tone, and imitating the notes of many birds, such as the black magpie. 



"While feeding, it frequently utters a harsh guttural sort of squeak; and, during 



the breeding-season, which commences at the end of September, and ends in 



January, it confines itself to a monotonous although melodious cry, the first part 



of which is quickly repeated, and ends in a lower note. This oriole builds a 



cup-shaped nest, principally composed of shreds of the bark of a species of 



gum-tree, strongly woven together, and lined with leaves, or grass and hair; 



which is generally suspended between a fork at the extreme end of some horizontal 



bough, often in an exposed situation. The eggs vary in ground-colour from cream 



to dull white or very light brown, minutely dotted and blotched with umber and 



blackish brown. Green orioles feed principally on berries and wild fruits, 



particularly figs: although they sometimes capture insects on the wing. The 



adult male is dull yellowish olive above ; the wings and tail being brown, washed 



with grey: while the throat is dull olivaceous; the fore-neck greyish, and the 



breast and sides of the body white, washed with olive-yellow, each feather having 



a dark central streak. The sexes when adult are almost identical in colour, but 



the male has the olive of the upper-parts of a deeper tint than the female. 



* The Cassiqtjes and Hangnests. 



Family Icterid^e. 



To a certain extent intermediate in structure between the crows and the 

 finches, and agreeing with the starlings in the general structure of the skull, and 



