THE BIRDS 



OE 



MONGOLIA, THE TANGUT COUNTRY, 



AND THE 



SOLITUDES OF NORTHERN TIBET. 



By Lieut.-Col. N. PRJEVALSKY. 



[Continued from p. 204.] 



PASSERES (co/^/^mw^6/;. 

 118. Oriolus chinensis, L. holga Mtayskaya, 



Oriolus chinensis, Gray, Gen. of B. i. pi. Iviii. 



During the whole time of my stay in South-eastern Asia, I only once 

 met with Oriolus chinensis, in June 1873, in the garden of the Prince of Ala- 

 shan, situated in the town of Din-nan-in. It was singing enchantingly, on 

 the top of a tree ; but we did not succeed in killing a specimen, and we 

 never met with it again. It is just possible that it had its mate and nest in 

 the adjoining park, belonging to the Prince, where we had not been ; at all 

 events this bird visits Mongolia from China very rarely, and then only 

 accidentally. In Ussuri country, however, it is common, particularly so in 

 the larch-tree groves on the islands and shores of rivers. Its song is louder 

 than that of the European Oriole. It makes its appearance at Lake 

 Hanka in the middle of May. The young leave their nests in July, and 

 keep in small flocks together with the old birds till the end of August, about 

 which time their autumnal mi2:ration commences. 



