ORIOLDLE. 107 



more or less black. Several species are found in India, and others 

 in Malayana. They may be divided into four groups : 1st, Golden 

 Orioles ; 2nd, Black-naped Orioles ; 3rd, Black-headed Orioles ; 

 4th, Maroon Orioles. 



1st, Golden Orioles, (Galbulus of Bonaparte). 



470. Oriolus kundoo, Sykes. 



Sykes, Cat. 60 (the young or female) — O. galbula, apud Sykes, 

 Cat. 58 — Blyth, Cat. 1304 — Horsf., Cat. 418 — 0. aureus, apud 

 Jerdon, Cat/ 97 — O. galbuloides, Gould — Pilak, Hind. i. e., 

 the yellow bird — Vanga-paiidu, Tel. — Pawseh, Mahr. — Mango-bird 

 of Europeans in India. 



The Indian Oriole. 



Descr. — Male, bright yellow ; a black stripe from the base of 

 the bill through the eyes for a short distance beyond ; wings black, 

 with a yellow bar formed by the primary coverts and the tips 

 and outer edges of the quills ; tail with the central feathers black ; 

 the next pair black with a broad yellow tip ; and the others black 

 at the base, and yellow for the greater part of their terminal 

 length. 



Bill deep lake-rad ; legs plumbeous ; irides rich blood-red. 

 Length 9^ inches, wing 5^ ; tail 3^ ; bill at front 1 ; tarsus 1. 



The young bird is yellowish-green above ; the rump, vent, the 

 inner webs of the tail feathers at their tips, and the sides of 

 abdomen, bright yellow; wings olive-brown; body beneath 

 whitish, with brown stripes ; bill black. 



The adult female differs from the male in a slightly 

 greenish tint above. This Oriole differs from the European 

 O. galbula, only in the black eye streak extending to the ear- 

 coverts, in the wing being shorter, and the bill proportionally 

 longer. It extends over the whole peninsula of India (except 

 Lower Bengal) up to the base of the Himalayas. On the Malabar 

 Coast it is perhaps not so common as O. melanocephalus. It does 

 not occur in the countries to the east of the Bay of Bengal. In 

 the South of India it is most abundant in the cold weather ; in the 

 Deccan, according to Sykes, in the hot weather just before the 

 rains; and in Central India, during the rains, when it breeds ; but 



