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Golden Oriole.
Oriolus Gálbula, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 160.
Coradas Oriolus, Linn. Faun. Suec., no. 95.
-----------Galbula, Nilss. Ornith. Suec. p. 94.
Galbula, Ray, Syn., p. 68, no. 5.
Oriolus, Briss. Om., tom. ii. p. 320.
Turdus aureus, Klein, Av , p. 66.
— luteus, Frisch, Yog. Teutsch., pi. 31.
It is possible that some of my readers who are not very intimately acquainted with our native birds may
think that I am introducing to their notice a species which does not fairly belong to our avifauna; but this
I can assure them is not the case, for the lovely bird represented on the opposite Plate (the Oriolus Galbula
o f Linnaeus) has doubtless regularly visited our islands in summer from before the landing o f Julius Cmsar
to the present year. To enumerate all the specimens which have been shot would fill several pages. In
Mr. Stevenson’s ‘Birds o f Norfolk,’ no less than twenty are recorded as having been captured or seen in
th at county alone; the works o f Yarrell and Thompson contain many similar notices of its occurrence in
other counties, both o f England and Irelan d ; Mr. Rodd, in his recently published ‘ List of the Birds of
Cornwall,’ mentions several instances o f its appearance in that part o f England; the Hon. Evelyn Boscawen
saw a fine male, a year o r two ago, on the terrace-wall a t T regothnan; an adult male, in full plumage, which
had been shot on the 26th o f April 1858, was placed in my hands, the next day, by Mr. Leadbeater; and,
were it desirable or necessary, many instances might be cited of its having been seen in our southern and
western counties. But, although the bird is so frequently found in Britain, it can only be regarded as an
occasional visitant, since our islands do not lie in the direct line o f its migrations. That those individuals
which cross the straits and resort to our shores have occasionally bred here, and, if unmolested, would still
do so, cannot be doubted. Should any of my readers wish to see it in a state of nature, they have only to
make a journey to the quiet town o f Leyden, and there, on any fine spring morning, they will hear the flutelike
note o f the male, and perchance find one o f its nests among the trees growing in the very streets of
th at celebrated seat of learning; during the summer-time it may also be seen in every suitable locality of
the Continent, from the shores o f the Mediterranean to Finland. Being strictly a migrant, it leaves its
African winter quarters in April, and, after spending the summer in the more northern countries of Europe,
returns again in September to its winter home among the Atlas rauge or even further south. In speaking
of the birds o f Malta and Gozo, Mr. Wright says, “ This strikingly beautiful bird is a regular visitor in
the spring, where it arrives in small flocks, and would probably breed were it not disturbed. It is very
common sometimes in Sant’ Antonio Gardens, and is very destructive to the fruit o f the Japan medlars
(Mespilus Japonica), of which it appears to be exceedingly fond. Occasionally females, probably old birds,
are found in the brilliant plumage of the males. A few also repass in September.”—Ibis, 1864, p. 63.
“ During the summer,” says Lieut. R. M: Sperling, “ this beautiful and essentially Mediterranean bird
meets the eye round the whole o f the northern coast. Migrating from Africa about the middle of April, it
spreads through the deep olive-woods o f Corfu, the dark carob-trees o f Malta, and the thick bay and myrtle
covers o f Albania and Greece. It is a shy and retiring bird, and generally appears like a golden gleam as
it darts through the dark-green foliage; but, by sitting perfectly still, I have been enabled to watch its
graceful motions for half an hour within five o r ten yards o f me.”—Ibis, 1864, p. 277.
Mr. H. E. Dresser, who has favoured me with a short note respecting the bird as observed by bim in
Finland, says, “ In the southern and eastern parts it is very generally distributed; but I do not think it is
found higher than Abo. At the country-seat of my friend Mr. Hackman (Hertnala, near Wiborg), where I
spent the summer of 1856, a t least four pairs must have had n e s ts ; but I could not succeed in finding them.
The Finns call this bird ‘ Kuhankeittaja,’ from its peculiar whistle.”
One o f the best accounts of the habits of the Golden Oriole I have seen is th a t contained in M. Bailly’s
‘ Ornithologie de la Savoie,’ vol. ii. p. 154, of which the following is a somewhat free translation :—
“ In Savoy the Golden Oriole is neither scarce nor abundant during the four summer months. It arrives
with us about the 20th or 25th o f April, and departs again about the end o f August or the beginning of
September, after which a few may occasionally be met with until the 10th o f October; but by that time
they have all left the country. On their return from Africa in spring, the males generally arrive a few days
before the females, and wander alone about the woods until they also arrive, when the pairing commences.