GOLDEN ORIOLE. 23 
Famiry ORIOLIDA. 
GOLDEN ORIOLE. 
OntoLus GatBuLa, Linn. 
Pl. VI, figs. 18, 14. 
Geogr. distr.—Central and South Europe, rare in West Europe; as 
far eastward as Turkestan; also in South Africa; rare in Great 
Britain: has bred on several occasions in England. 
Food.—Insects in all stages, berries and fruit, especially cherries. 
Nest.—Basket-shaped, firmly constructed, being woven on each 
side to a branch; formed of strips of bark, straws, dried grass, bents, 
&c.; ornamented externally with strips of white birch bark, and lined 
with fine grass bents. 
Position of nest.—Suspended from one of the smaller branches near 
the top of a small tree in a dense wood or grove. 
Number of eggs,—4-5. 
Time of nidification.—V-VI; end of May and beginning of June. 
Some years since (1868) I had the pleasure of seeing 
this handsome bird in the neighbourhood of Linton in 
Devonshire : it flew rapidly past, and the effect of the sun 
shining full upon its brilliant plumage was to me quite 
startling. 
This species has been recorded as having bred in an ash 
plantation in Kent; the nest was of fibrous roots, and 
attached to two upright stems of ash; the structure was so 
thin that the young birds were visible through the bottom 
of the nest.* 
In the spring the Golden Oriole has a goft warbling note, 
uttered between its ordinary cry, which is loud and shrill ; 
the female is very attentive to its young, in defence of 
which, like the Blackbird, it shows great intrepidity : 
though a rare bird in this country, it is by no means 
uncommon in woods and gardens in France and Belgium, 
arriving in April and leaving in September. 
Its conspicuous colouring probably does more to hinder 
its becoming common in this country than anything else, 
as it makes its appearance almost every spring in the 
northern and eastern counties, and in the west of England 
by forty at a time. 
* This is, however, by no means the only recorded instance of its 
nesting in that county. 
