MYRMOTHERINvE. 
121 
The Orioles appear to be allied to the Rollers ; not only 
the form of their bill, but also their short tarsi and broad 
toes indicating this affinity. They belong to Africa, the 
warmer parts of Asia, and New Holland. One species ap- 
j pears in Britain, as an occasional or accidental visitor. 
59. Oriolus Galbula. Golden Oriole. 
Male with the plumage bright yellow, the wings black, the 
i primary coverts and all the quills excepting the first and se- 
cond, tipped with yellow ; the tail-feathers black, tipped with 
' yellow, the space of the latter colour enlarging from the me- 
dial to the lateral feathers ; the loral space black. Female 
greenish-yellow above, yellowish-white beneath, marked with 
longitudinal dusky lines ; wings and tail brown, tipped with 
yellow. Young dusky yellowdsh, grey above, each feather with 
the centre olive-brown ; yellowish-white beneath, with linear 
brown streaks. 
Male, 9^, . ., 6y^, lyV, 1, Female, 9j^^. 
The Golden Oriole is said to arrive in the south of Europe 
about the end of spring, and to extend over France and many 
parts of Germany, but to be rare in the northern countries. 
It has occurred in several counties in England, and in a few 
instances in Ireland. 
Oriolus Galbula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 160. — Oriolus Galbula, 
Temm. Man. d’Ornith. i. 129. — Oriolus Galbula, Golden Ori- 
ole, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, ii. 73, 
FAMILY XV. MYRMOTHERIN^. MYRMO- 
THERINE BIRDS, OR ANTCATCHERS. 
The birds of this family are distinguished from the 
Thrushes chiefly by their shortened form. Bill rather 
short, moderately stout, straight, with the dorsal line con- 
vexo-declinate, the tip narrow, the edges of the upper 
mandible slightly notched near the end. Mouth of mo- 
derate width. Feet rather long and stoutish ; tarsus com- 
pressed, with large distinct scutella ; toes of moderate size, 
the first stouter, and nearly as long as the second, the 
fourth a little longer, and united at the base^; claws mode- 
rate, arched, compressed, laterally grooved, acute. Wings 
