36 THE GOLDEN ORIOLE. 



laying eggs of a totally different pattern from 

 these birds. Some naturalists have even placed 

 the Orioles in the family of Crows, but this is 

 certainly a mistake, for there is scarcely a charac- 

 ter in common between the Families of the 

 CorvidcB and Oriolidce. The structure of the nest 

 alone is so totally different, that it shows at once 

 a want of kinship, for the Orioles build a sus- 

 pended nest, a kind of hammock, attached to the 

 fork of a branch. No Crow builds such a nest ; 

 but, on the contrary, the nests of the Corvidce 

 are rough and substantial structures, whereas that 

 of an Oriole is a very slenderly built affair. The 

 Drongos (DicruridcB), which also inhabit the tropics, 

 and are found, like the Orioles, in Africa, India 

 and Australia, build similar fork-slung nests, but 

 are not, in other respects, allied to the Orioles. 



The beautiful Golden Oriole has often wan- 

 dered to Great Britain. It has even bred in our 

 islands ; but this has been owing to the protection 

 of some proprietor, on whose land the birds 

 chanced to settle, for, as a general rule, no highly 

 plumaged species has much chance of establishing 

 itself in a land like ours, where a pecuniary 

 reward is ready for every one who owns a gun 



