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ORIOLUS BRODERIPI, n,„ w . 



Broderip's Oriole. 



Oriohs broderipi, Bonap. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 279, pi. xviii.-Id. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 348.-Wallace, P. 

 Z. S. 1863, p. 485.— Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Coraces, p. 106.— Id. Dierent. p. 179.— Finsch, Neu- 

 Guinea, p. 173— Gray, Hand-list of Birds, i. p. 291 .— Sharpe, Catalogue of Birds Brit. Mus. p. 201. 



Broderipus refulgens, Bonap. Comptes Rendus, xxxviii. p. 538 (1854). 



Enchlorites broderipi, Heine, Journ. fur Ornithologie, 1859, p. 402. 



The subject of the accompanying Plate is one of the most beautiful of all the Orioles. Of the latter family 

 there are about forty species, the majority of them being birds of a brilliant plumage, in which the richest 

 yellow is contrasted with a wing and tail of the deepest black. There are, in fact, four divisions of the 

 true Oriole {Oriolus), without mentioning the Bare-faced Orioles of Australia and Papuasia, which belong- 

 to the genus Sphccotheres. There are, first, the Orioles with a perfectly yellow head, to which section 

 belong our own Golden Oriole of Europe and certain allied species ; secondly, there are the Yellow-headed 

 Orioles with a black horseshoe mark on the head : thirdly, the dull-coloured Orioles with olive-coloured 

 or brown plumage ; and, lastly, the black-headed Orioles. 



Broderip's Oriole belongs to the second section, which contains the Orioles having a black horseshoe 

 mark on the head. Not one bird of this section is found in Africa or Australia ; they are confined to 

 the Indian Region and Malayan archipelago : and in the latter archipelago they seem to reach their utmost 

 development both in size and in richness of colour ; for a more beautiful Oriole than the one selected by me for 

 illustration in the Plate probably does not exist. 



All those who knew the late Mr. Broderip will rejoice that his name is associated with so beautiful a 

 bird, which recalls the memory of a genial and well-beloved man whose claims science has scarcely 

 sufficiently recognized. As the owner, however, of the original specimen of the beautiful Euplectella 

 aspergillum, his name is not likely to be forgotten by those who remember the interest with which this 

 remarkable sponge was received in scientific circles when it was first described by Professor Owen. 



I regret that not a single word has been recorded concerning the habits of this fine bird, which is an 

 inhabitant of the islands of Lombock, Sumbawa, and Flores, and I can only add the description of the species 

 which is given by Mr. Sharpe in his ' Catalogue of Birds.' 



" Adult male. General colour above and below brilliant golden yellow, deepening into orange ; forehead 

 golden ; crown of head and nape, as well as the lores and feathers round the eyes, black ; least wino-- 

 coverts orange like the back, the greater series bright yellow, the inner webs of this series black ; bastard 

 wing, primary-coverts, and quills jet-black, the primary-coverts tipped with yellow, forming a speculum, the 

 primaries externally edged with grey, the secondaries narrowly margined with grey near the tips, the inner- 

 most more broadly tipped with yellow on the outer web ; tail black, the two centre feathers broadly tipped 

 with yellow, the rest orange-yellow at the tip, the black bases markedly decreasing towards the outer 

 feathers of the tail; ' bill pink ; feet black; iris red' {Wallace, MS.). Total length 12 inches, culmen 

 1"5, wing 62, tail 47, tarsus 1*15. 



" Young-. Much paler and more yellow, the black on the head forming a ring round the nape, leaving the 

 rest of the head yellow, whereas in the adult the yellow is confined to a small frontal patch, the rest of the 

 crown being black ; wings brownish, the primaries externally margined with greyish, the secondaries washed 

 with olive and externally edged with yellow near the tip ; two centre tail-feathers olive-greenish, tipped 

 with yellow, the rest of the feathers olive-green at base, bright yellow at the tip, with a more or less 

 subterminal shade of black ; entire under surface of body bright yellow, including the under wing- and 

 tail-coverts ; the lower surface of the quills dark brown, buffy white at the base of the inner web." 



The figures in the Plate represent a richly coloured old male of the size of life, and are drawn from 

 a specimen in my own collection. 



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