146 GOLDEN ORIOLE. 
hatched. In Scotland its occurrences have been few, and mostly in 
the southern districts ; but one is recorded from Lerwick, Shetland, 
in October 1882, and one from Sanday, Orkney, in May 1893. For 
Ireland about forty are on record ; the majority from cos. Waterford 
and Cork, but several from the north and west. 
The Golden Oriole is a mere wanderer to the south of Sweden, 
and is only known to have visited Heligoland once in the last fifty 
years ; but it breeds in South Finland, and in Russia rather further 
north than St. Petersburg. In the rest of Europe it is a common 
species during the summer, except in the eastern half of the 
Mediterranean basin, where it is better known as a migrant. LEast- 
ward it is found in Asia—north of the great mountain ranges—as 
far as Irkutsk; but in the Indian region it is represented by 
O. kundoo, in the adult male of which the black loral streak extends 
behind the eye, and the outer tail-feathers are entirely yellow. In 
North Africa the Golden Oriole breeds sparingly, but winters 
regularly ; its migrations extending to South Africa. As a straggler 
it has been found in Madeira and the Azores ; also in the Feroes, 
in May 1893; but Kjerbdlling’s assertion that one was picked up 
dead in the north of Iceland in December 1843, is incredible. 
The nest is placed in, and suspended from, the horizontal fork of 
a small branch of some tree—frequently an oak or fir—in a shady 
grove or thick wood, and is made of strips of pliable bark, wool, 
slender grass stems &c., carefully woven together; the 4-5 eggs 
are glossy white, blotched with reddish-purple: measurements 1:2 
by °84in. Although fond of shade, the Oriole is not a shy bird, and 
often breeds in the gardens of large towns. Its food consists of 
insects and their larve, the young birds being principally fed on 
caterpillars; but fruits, especially cherries, are also eaten. The 
French name ‘ Loriot’ indicates the flute-like call of the male; the 
alarm-note being a harsh 2477. 
Adult male: most of the plumage golden-yellow; lores black ; 
quills and wing-coverts black, tipped and margined with yellowish- 
white ; tail-feathers yellow at the tips and black at the bases, except 
the central pair which are mostly black ; bill dull red ; iris bright 
red ; legs lead-grey. Length 9°5 in.; wing 6 in. I have tried in 
vain to obtain any proof of Blyth’s theory that the mature female 
assumes the plumage of the adult male; she certainly has a blackish 
loral streak, but the yellow is far less intense than in the male, and 
the under parts are striated with greyish, while in less mature birds 
the upper parts are merely greenish-yellow. The young are duller in 
colour than the female. 
