Orioles 753 



Long -tailed Tits. The so-called Long-tailed Tits of the Old World number 

 twenty-five or more forms, and are apparently referable to two genera, though 

 formerly included in one. They are closely related to the Bush Tits, though 

 with shorter bills, and like them construct large globular or purse-shaped nests 

 with the entrance near the top. While none of them is very bright colored, 

 there is a pleasing disposition of the color pattern, the White-headed Long- 

 tailed Tit (jEgithalus caudatus) of Europe, for example, having the head throat, 

 and breast snowy white. 



THE ORIOLES 



(Family Oriolida) 



Although often dressed in a somewhat similar livery of yellow and black, 

 the Old World Orioles should not for a moment be confounded with birds fre- 

 quently so called in the New World (i.e. American Orioles, IcteridcB), for, as Dr. 

 Stejneger says, the two groups are structurally as different as a Crow and a 

 Warbler. Their nearest relatives are among the Crow-like birds, while the 

 American Orioles are closest to the Finches and Tanagers. The Oriolida are 

 medium-sized Oscines, mostly between nine and twelve inches in length, with a 

 rather strong bill about as long as the head, and straight or slightly curved to 

 the tip, where the upper mandible is notched; the nostrils are bare; the long 

 pointed wings contain ten primaries, of which the third and fourth are longest, 

 while the moderately long and slightly rounded tail has twelve rectrices; the 

 tarsus is short and the toes rather small, free at base and with long, curved claws. 

 The sexes are generally different in plumage, that of the nestling being streaked. 



Mainly tropical in distribution, the Orioles are spread over the whole of 

 Africa, and the Indian, Malayan, and Australian regions, with three species ex- 

 tending into the Palsearctic region, one of which, the well-known Golden Oriole, 

 is found over Europe generally as well as a portion of southwestern Asia. They 

 are generally bright-plumaged birds, the prevailing colors being yellow, olive- 

 green, and black, occasionally with a dash of crimson. They are rather shy, 

 restless, strictly arboreal birds, never descending to the ground, but frequenting 

 forests, open wooded districts, groves, and gardens, and usually keeping among 

 the higher branches; their flight is rolling and heavy, though tolerably swift. 

 They subsist principally on fruit, but to some extent on insects, which they seek 

 entirely among the trees. In addition to their harsh alarm cries, they have 

 loud, clear, flute-like whistled notes, and these, together with their bright dress, 

 make them objects of affectionate regard. Their nesting habits are quite uni- 

 form, all constructing a more or less elaborate basket-shaped nest which is sus- 

 pended by the rim in the fork of a small branch, though in the Fig-birds (Sphe- 

 cotheres) the nest is more slightly constructed and so thin that the eggs may be 

 seen through the bottom; the latter are somewhat gregarious, it being common 

 to find several nests in the same tree. The three to five eggs are mostly white 

 or salmon-colored, spotted with brownish or pink. 



