In the house, if it cannot be let range at pleasure, it must be confined in a large wire cage.
Food.—When wild, its food is insects and berries. In confinement, and if an old one be caught by means of the owl, like the jays, it must be kept at first in a quiet and retired place, offering it fresh cherries, then adding by degrees ants’ eggs, and white bread soaked in milk, or the nightingale’s food. But I confess there is great difficulty in keeping it alive, for with every attention and the greatest care, I do not know a single instance of one of this species having been preserved for more than three or four months.
Breeding.—The scarcity of the golden oriole arises from its breeding but once a year. Its nest, hung with great art in the fork of a small bushy branch, is in shape like a purse, or a basket with two handles. The female lays four or five white eggs, marked with a few black streaks and spots. Before the first moulting, the young ones are like their mother, and mew like cats. If any one wishes to rear them, they must be taken early from the nest; fed on ants’ eggs, chopped meat and white bread soaked in milk, varying these things as their health requires, and as their excrements are too frequent or too soft. In short, they may be accustomed to the nightingale’s food. I must here remark that a very attentive person alone can hope to succeed.[[3]]
Attractive Qualities.—I have seen two golden orioles that were reared from the nest, one of which, independent of the natural song, whistled a minuet, and the other imitated a flourish of trumpets. Its full and flute-like tones appeared to me extremely pleasing. Unfortunately, the fine colors of its plumage were tarnished, which almost always happens, above all if the bird be kept in a room filled with smoke, either from the stove or from tobacco. One of my neighbors saw two golden orioles at Berlin, both of which whistled different airs.
Its note of call, which in the month of June so well distinguishes the golden oriole from other birds, may be well expressed by “ye, puhlo.”[[4]]
| [2] | It is rarely found in Britain.—Translator. |
| [3] | These young birds like to wash; but it is dangerous for them to have the water too cold, or to let them remain too long in it, as cramp in the feet may be the consequence. In one which we possessed, the accident was more vexatious as the bird was otherwise in good health, having followed the above-mentioned diet.—Translator. |
| [4] | The natural song is very like the awkward attempts of a country boy with a bad musical ear, to whistle the notes of the missel thrush.—Translator. |