266 OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS. 



wood, and straining my neck forward in my 

 endeavours to get a sight of the bird, put me in 

 a profuse perspiration. The result of about 

 three hours' work was, that I finally succeeded 

 in getting three shots at long intervals, and 

 secured a pair of Orioles, a young male and an 

 old female. Subsequently, however, I got 

 others. I found the stomachs of these birds 

 crammed with caterpillars of various species, 

 and can well understand the good they do in 

 young plantations, by ridding the trees of 

 these pests. 



" The colours of the soft parts in these birds, 

 as noted by me at the time, were as follows : — 

 Iris, reddish hazel ; bill, brownish flesh colour; 

 legs and toes, pale lead colour. 



" On June 3rd, after breakfast, I went to the 

 wood near the house to take a Golden Oriole's 

 nest, and a difficult matter it was. The nest 

 was placed in a slender fork at the extremity of 

 a thin bough of an oak tree, and almost at 

 the top. 



" The oaks here are not, as in England, sturdy 



