BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 281 



Genus STURNUS Linnaeus. 



Stnrnus Linn.eus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, i, 1758, 167. (Typo, by elimination, S. 

 vulgaris Linnaeus.) 



Bill elongate-conical, mucli depressed, especially toward tip, with 

 nearh" straight outlines; culmen flattened, about three-fourths as long 

 as tarsus; base of gonys decidedly anterior to anterior end of nostril; 

 nostril wholly exposed, longitudinal, overhung by a conspicuous, some- 

 what tumid and wholly unfeathered, operculum. Wing long (about 

 four and a half times as long as tarsus), pointed, the tenth (outer- 

 most) primary rudimentary and acuminate, ninth longest, the rest 

 rapidly graduated in length from the eighth; primaries exceeding 

 longest secondaries by much more than length of tarsus. Tail about 

 half as long as wing, even or very slightly emarginated. Feathers of 

 head, neck, chest, and breast narrow, elongate, those of the under 

 parts acuminate; plumage of adults more or less metallic. 



Six species, with three additional subspecies, are recognized in the 

 British ]\luseum catalogue, all of them belonging to the Paliearctic 

 or Indian regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. 



STURNUS VULGARIS Linnaeus. 

 STARLING, 



Adult male in summer. — General color glossy black, the head and 

 neck glossed with purple, the wing-coverts with blue or violet, other 

 parts (including auricular region) with green, becoming bluish, or 

 even sometimes violet, on posterior under parts; feathers of occiput, 

 hindneck, back, scapidars, and rump tipped with pale brown, produc- 

 ing conspicuous, more or less triangular, specks, the lesser, middle, 

 and greater wing-coverts, primary-coverts, remiges, rectrices, and 

 upper tail-coverts margined with the same; feathers of under parts 

 of the body tipped with white, forming narrow wedge-shaped or 

 sagittate spots, growing gradually larger posteriorly, the under tail- 

 coverts broadly margined with brownish white; tertials, primaries, 

 and rectrices with a more or less extensive central area of brownish 

 gray, bounded by a submarginal border of dull black; bill yellowish, 

 with the sides of the mandibular rami dusky; iris brown; legs and 

 feet brownish. 



Adult male in winter. — Similar to the summer plumage, l^ut the 

 l)rown tips to the feathers of the u])per part more extensive as well as 

 deeper in color, the white tips to feathers of the lower parts alsolarger, 

 and the bill dusky. 



Adult female. — Similar to the male, \\\t\\ the same seasonal difl'er- 

 ences, but slightly smaller and didler in coloration. 



Young in first winter. — Similar (o winter adults, but the l)rown tips 

 to feathers of upper parts and white tips to those of the lower surface 



