Very commonly the bird so selects the site for its nest that the leaves of the twigs it uses as a framework form more or less of a shady canopy overhead; in fact, as a rule, it is from very few points of view that even a passing bird of prey can catch sight of the female on her eggs.  Possibly the brilliant plumage of the bird (which has endowed it amongst the natives with the name of Peeluk, or “The Yellow One”) may have had something to do with the concealment it so generally affects.

The nests vary a good deal in size.  I have seen one with an internal cavity 31/2 inches in diameter and over 21/2 deep.  I have seen others scarcely over 21/2 inches in diameter and not 2 in depth, which you could have put bodily, twigs and all, inside the former.  As a rule, the purse is strong and compact, the material closely matted and firmly bound together; but I have seen very flimsy structures, through which it was quite possible to see the eggs.

Four is the greatest number of eggs I have ever found in one nest, but it is quite common to find only three well-incubated ones.

Colonel C.H.T.  Marshall reports having found several nests of this species about Murree at low elevations.

Mr. W. Blewitt tells me that he obtained two nests near Hansie on the 1st and 14th July respectively.  The nests (which he kindly sent) were of the usual type, and were placed, the one on an acacia, the other on a loquat tree, at heights of 10 and 12 feet from the ground.  Each contained three eggs, the one clutch much incubated, the other perfectly fresh.

Dr. Scully writes:—­“The Indian Oriole is a seasonal visitant to the valley of Nepal, arriving about the 1st of April and departing in August.  It frequents some of the central woods, gardens, and groves, and breeds in May and June.”

Colonel J. Biddulph remarks regarding the nidification of this Oriole in Gilgit:—­“A summer visitant and common.  Appears about the 1st of May.  Nest with three eggs hard-set, taken 8th of June; several other nests taken later on.”

Writing from near Rohtuk, Mr. F.R.  Blewitt says:—­“The breeding-season is from the middle of May to July.  The nest is made on large trees, and always suspended between the fork of a branch.  I have certainly obtained more nests from the tamarind than any other kind of tree.

“The nest is cup-shaped, light, neat, and compact.  The average outer diameter is 4.8 inches; the inner or cup-cavity about 3.6.  Hemp-like fibre is almost exclusively used in the exterior structure of the nest, and by this it is firmly secured to the two limbs of the fork.  Cleverly indeed is this work performed, the hemp being well wrapped round the stems and then brought again into the outer framework.  Occasionally bits of cloth, thread pieces, vegetable fibres, &c. are introduced.  On one occasion I got a nest with a cast-off snake-skin neatly worked into the outer material.