File:The illustrated natural history (microform) (1863) (20453001479).jpg

Title: The illustrated natural history (microform)
Identifier: cihm_50038 (find matches)
Year: 1863 (1860s)
Authors: Wood, J. G. (John George), 1827-1889
Subjects: Birds; Natural history; Oiseaux; Sciences naturelles
Publisher: London : Routledge, Warne, and Routledge
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(lOI.IMi.V OHKlI.i;.- iiiuhiii ijiHhuUt. devouring creatures wliicli are specially rife in the spring, and destroy so niucli fruit in its earliest stages. As is often the case with the insect-eating l)irds, tlie Golden Oriole has a great taste for fruit when it is ((uite ripe, and in the autunni is very fond of the best and nielloM-est fruits, having an especial predilection for cherries, hgs, and grapes. Perhaps it may be able to detect the larva cf some insect within the fruit, and to do good service by destroying it before it has come to niatiirity. The nest of this bird is a very elegantly formed and well-constructed edifice, of a shallow cup-like shape, and usually placed in a horizontal fork of a convenient braiicli. The materials of which it is made are mostly delicate grass-stems interwoven with woiil so firmly that the whole structure is strong and warm. The eggs are generally four or five in numl)er, and their colorir is ))ui'plish white, sparely marked with blotches of a deep red and ashen grey. It is lielieved that thei'C is but one brood in the year, so that the si)ecies does not multiply very rapidly. Sometimes the liird is said to build a deep and purse- like nest, which is sus))en(led from the forked branch instead of being placed upon it. This species has a very peculiar note, loud, llute-like, and of a singidarly articulate character, as may lie supposed from the fact already mentioned, that the Italian peasantry believe it to .speak their language. Ik'chstein considers the note to re,send)lc the word " puhlo," and many writers tliiidv that the dif'erent names of Oriole, Turiole, Loriot, Tirol, and ISiilow are given to the creature in imitation of its cry. The c(dour of the adult male is bright yellow over tJie whole of the head, neck, and body, with the exception of th(> wings, tiio two central tail-feathers, and the ba.sal portions of the remaining feathers, wl.irli are jetty lilack, the two cidmirs contrasting finely with each other. Across the eye vins a dai'k stripe, and the eyes themselves are bri.nht jiinky red. In tlie ynnng bird i he ytdlow is of a dusky greenish hue, and the black featlieis are of a dingy brown, and according to Mr. Varrell tlie young Tuales after tlieir first moult resemble the old females. In the second year the yellow of the liack is mor(' decided, and the wines and tail are (d' a deeper bla( k, and in manv of the remaininii' featlieis the as the the bird nf full plumag(\ It is rather curious that srcon rs hardl y V ^11 Pie to distinuuisli the .sexes, both wcariiis;

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