Oriolus traillii (_Vig._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 112; _Hume, cat._
no. 474.
From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took a nest of this Oriole on the
24th April, at an elevation of about 2500 feet. It was suspended,
within ten feet of the ground, from an outer fork of a branch of a
small leafy tree, which grew in a patch of low dense jangle. It is a
neat cup, composed of fibrous bark and strips of the outer part of dry
grass-stems, intermixed with skeletonized leaves and green moss, and
lined with fine grass. Besides being firmly bound by the rim of the
cup to the horizontal forking branches by fibrous barks, several
strings extended from one branch to the other, both under and in
front of the nest, while other strings from the body of the nest were
fastened to an upright twig that rose immediately behind the fork,
thus most securely retaining it in its position.
"Externally the nest measured 5 inches wide by 2·75 in height;
internally 3·25 wide by 2 deep. It contained three fresh eggs.
"The female came quite close, making loud complaints against the
robbing of her nest."
The nest is that of a typical Oriole, usually very firmly and
substantially built, and of course always suspended at a fork between
two twigs. A nest taken by Mr. Gammie in Sikhim on the 20th April, at
an elevation of about 2500 feet, is a deep substantial cup, nearly 4
inches in diameter and 2½ in depth internally. It is everywhere nearly
an inch in thickness. The suspensory portion composed of vegetable
fibres; towards the exterior dead leaves, bamboo-sheaths, green
moss, and tendrils of creeping plants are profusely intermingled;
interiorly, it is closely and regularly lined with very fine grass.
A nest sent me by Mr. Mandelli was found on the 3rd April at Namtchu,
and contained three fresh eggs. It is precisely similar to the one
above described, except that in the lining roots are mingled with the
fine grass, and that instead of being suspended in a fork, it was
partly wedged into and partly rested on a fork.
As a rule, however, as I know from other nests subsequently obtained,
the nests are always suspended like those of the Common Oriole.
Two eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie closely resemble those
of _O. melanocephalus_. In shape they are regular moderately elongated
ovals; the shell is strong, firm, and moderately glossy. The ground
is white with a creamy or brownish-pink tinge; the markings are
blackish-brown spots and specks, almost confined to a zone about the
large end, where they are all more or less enveloped in a brownish-red
haze or _nimbus_. In length they measure 1·12 by 0·82, and 1·14 by
0·83.