580 BIRDS OF BRITISH GUIANA. 



awav to the denser second growth in search o£ insect food. And 

 hardly ever did they })erch without giving utterance to the silvery 

 thread of warbling notes which, while individual and distinctive, 

 yet with no less certainty declared tlieir Oriole relationship. 



" Late in February, upon our arrival at Kalacoon, we discovered 

 no less than five nests of this Oriole in the single royal palm 

 in the compound in front of the house. We soon found tlnit 

 only one pair of Orioles occupied the tree, and each day it 

 became more and more probable that this pair was the architect 

 of all five nests. 



"Two of the nests were complete and apparently several months 

 old. Three were unfinished, and upon two of these we saw the 

 birds working intermittently. One of the nests contained two 

 eggs, one of which we took, as it had apparently never been 

 described. 



" The nests were placed on the under-side between the leaflets 

 of one side of the frond, about two feet from the tip. They were 

 made entirely of shreds of leaves themselves, which the birds tore 

 from a particular frond, a frond which through their industry had 

 become almost denuded. The green fibre was woven with the bill, 

 and the process was not a simple one. The nest was a fairly deep 

 cnp, held in place by the rim and sides being woven into several 

 separate leaflets. The leaves were split by the bill, and the shreds 

 of fibre then woven in and out until the leaf was safely bound to 

 the side of the nest. In the case of two of the nests the sewing 

 was very finely done, not unlike the work of the Tailor-bird of 

 India. The divided row of leaflets formed a perfectly waterproof 

 cover. The entrance to the nest was invariably at the end towards 

 the trunk oE the palm. Here a pair of leaflets was held slightly 

 apart by a thick mass of woven fibres, a thick frame, which also 

 acted as a sort of perch or landing stage for the old birds in 

 entering or leaving the nest. The nests were of coarse materials 

 outside, but lined with very fine, soft shreds. The nest with the 

 two eggs when completed, measured, outside, 12 cm. in length, 

 &2 cm. in diameter and 6*5 in depth. Inside it was 80 cm. in 

 length, 5"7 cm. in diameter, and 5 cm. in depth. 



" The egg was rather shar})ly pointed and measured 25 x 18 mm. 

 Its ground-colour was creamy-white, marked with spots and 

 blotches of various shades of dark brown, umber, and sepia. These 

 were very sparse about the small end and centre, but abundant at 



