742 
O R I O L U S. 
fiz.e, and its plumage compofed of black, yellow, and 
white. But Fernandez lays nothing of the diftribution 
of thefe colours, nor furniffies any property charafteriftic 
of the fpecies. Thefe birds are exceedingly crafty, and 
difficult to enfnare. They are nearly of the fize of a lark ; 
length eight inches, alar extent twelve or thirteen, the 
tail three or four inches, and tapered, ftretching more 
than half beyond the clofed wings. 
32. Oriolus nidipendulus, the hang-neft oriole: front- 
let and wreath black; crown, neck, back, and tail, red- 
diffi-brown; bread and belly, tawny-yellow. This bird 
is fmaller than the preceding, being only fix inches in 
length, and nine acrofs the wings; its plumage is dif¬ 
ferent, and it conftrudts its nelt differently. It is a fort 
of bag, fufpended from the extremity of fmall branches 
by a thread which they fpin out of a fubltance that they 
extraft from a parafite plant called old mans heard, which 
many have miftaken for horfe-hair. The bafe of the bill 
is whitifh, and encircled by a black ring; the crown of 
the head, the neck, the back, and the tail, are of a light- 
brown, or rather reddifh-grey; the wings of a deep-brown, 
variegated with white feathers ; the lower part of the tail 
marked in its middle with a black line; the fides of the 
neck, the bread, and the belly, of the colour of a dead 
leaf. Thefe birds haunt the woods of America and the 
Wed Indies, and have an agreeable fong. They feed on 
infefts and worms, for fragments of thefe are found in 
their gizzard or domach, which is not mufcular. Their 
liver is divided into a great number of lobes, and of a 
blackifti colour. 
,33. Oriolus varius, the variegated oriole: black; be¬ 
neath, rump, and fmaller wing-coverts, ferruginous. 
The bill and legs are dark-blue ; the outer edges of the 
feconaary quill-feathers dirty-white. It fometimes varies, 
in having the head and neck (haded with black and green ; 
chin and throat black; bread chefnut; belly yellowifh ; 
quill and tail feathers blackifh, edged with white; pro¬ 
bably occafioned by difference of fex. Inhabits Cayenne; 
fix inches long. 
34.. Oriolus Dominicenfis, the St. Domingo oriole: 
black ; body on the hind-part, wing-coverts, and fpot on 
the wings, pale-yellow. Inhabits New Spain, Jamaica, 
and St. Domingo; eight inches long; builds a purfe- 
(haped ned on the extreme branches of trees, hanging 
over water. 
35. Oriolus Jamaicaii, the Brafilian oriole: yellow; 
head, throat, fpot on the fhoulders, wings, and tail, black. 
Bill black ; wing-coverts with a white fpot in the middle ; 
legs brown. Inhabits Brafil; fixes its ned to a plantain- 
leaf by means of filaments. The bird is ten inches long. 
36. Oriolus Cayanenfis, the yellow-winged oriole: 
black, with a yellow fpot on the wings. Bill black ; tail 
rounded, a little wedged at the tip. 
37. Oriolus leucopterus, the white-winged oriole : 
black, with a white fpot on the wings. The female is of a 
cinnamon-brown colour, cinereous beneath. It is a na¬ 
tive of Cayenne and Surinam, and is about eight inches 
long. 
( 3 . The white-backed oriole. A variety met with at 
New York. 
38. Oriolus ifterocephalus, the yellow-headed oriole: 
plumage black; with a fort of yellow cap that covers the 
head and part of the neck, but defeends lower before than 
behind. A black dreak detches from the nodrils to the 
eyes, and turns round the bill; legs and claws brown. 
Its fize is about feven inches long, and eleven acrofs the 
wings. 
39. Oriolus melancholicus, the fpotted oriole: grey, 
dotted with black, with a white dripe on the eyes. 
The fpots which occur in this fpecies are owing to 
this circumdance, that almod all the feathers, which 
are brown or blackifh in the middle, are edged with yel¬ 
low, more or lefs inclined to orange, on the wings, the 
tail, and the lower part of the body. The throat is of a 
pure white; a dreak of the fame colour, which paffes 
clofe under the eye, dretches back between two parallel 
black dreaks, one of which accompanies the w'hite above, 
and the other bends round the eye below; the iris is of 
a bright-orange, almod red. All thefe give a lively ap¬ 
pearance to the male; for, though the iris is orange alfo 
in the female, its plumage is of a tarnilhed-yellow, which, 
mingling with a pale-white, produces an unpleafant uni¬ 
formity. The bill is thick and pointed, and cinereous ; 
the legs are fledi-coloured. It is a native of Mexico. 
( 3 . Is a variety, in which the plumage is of a brighter 
cait, or more inclining to orange-colour. The head is 
marked on each fide by a white eye-dripe, bordered above 
and below with black; the irides of a reddilh-orange hue. 
It is found in Cayenne. 
40. Oriolus Capenlis, the olive oriole. This is, as its 
trivial name denotes, of an olive-brown colour, but be¬ 
neath it is of a pale-yellow. The bill, legs, and claws, 
are brown; the colour on the crown is inclining to grey, 
on the chin and throat to orange; the wing-coverts are 
brown, edged and tipt with olive ; quill-feathers brown, 
edged with olive. 
41. Oriolus caeruleus, the blue oriole: black, or cine¬ 
reous; head, wings, and tail, blue. The bill is tawny. 
Inhabits Madras. 
42. Oriolus trifaciatus, the triple driped oriole : bluiffi 
lead-colour; the head has a triple dripe of black, and 
waved with black on the fides; the lower part of the 
back and rump are of a jonquil-yellow. This is an In¬ 
dian bird. 
43. Oriolus viridis, the yellow-throated oriole: green ; 
eye-brows, cheeks, and chin, yellow ; fome of the wing- 
coverts tipt with white. The bill is corneous; the legs 
grey. It inhabits Hudfon's Bay; and is about nine inches 
long. 
44. Oriolus ferrugineus, the rudy oriole ; black ; edge 
of the wings rudy ; head and neck purplifh-black ; belly 
of a dirty-alh. The bill and legs are alfo of a dirty-aih ; 
the areas of the eyes are black ; the wings and tail have a 
greenidi (hade. Inhabits New York; from feven to eight 
inches long. 
45. Oriolus fufeus, the brown-headed oriole: bhek ; 
head rudy-brown ; tail dirty-alh. Inhabits New York ; 
gregarious. 
46. Oriolus niger, the black oriole. This* is totally 
black; but the female is greenidi-brown, beneath and on 
the head inclining to cinereous. Inhabits North Ame¬ 
rica; is about ten inches long; gregarious, and in brood¬ 
ing-time lings delightfully; feeds on worms and beetles ; 
builds in trees, about eight feet from the ground, and lays 
five eggs, that are dulky with black fpots. 
47. Oriolus minor, the little black oriole : fmaller than 
the preceding; it is fix or feven inches long; and its 
tail, which is fquare, only two inches and a half, and 
extends an inch beyond the wings. The plumage is en¬ 
tirely black, but more gloffy, and with bluifh reflections 
on the head and the contiguous parts. It is faid this 
bird can be eafily tamed, and taught to live familiarly in 
the houfe. 
48. Oriolus olivaceus, the olive oriole of Cayenne. 
This bird is only fix or feven inches long. It owes its 
name to the olive-colour which prevails on the hind-part 
of its neck, back, tail, belly, and wing-coverts. But 
this colour is not uniform ; it is darker on the neck, the 
back, and the adjacent coverts of the wings, and fome- 
what lefs fo on the tail; it is much lighter under the 
tail, and alfo on a great part of the coverts of the wings 
which are fartheft from the back; with this difference be¬ 
tween the large and the fmall fort, that the latter have no 
mixture of colour, while the former are variegated with 
brown. The head, the throat, the fore-part of the neck, 
and the bread:, are of a glofly-brown, deeper undei*the 
throat, and inclining to orange on the bread, and run¬ 
ning into the olive-colour of the lower part of the body. 
The bill and legs are black; the wing-quills, and the 
large coverts neareft the outer edge, are of the fame co¬ 
lour. 
