10 BIRDS OF FATROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 



STURNID^. 



Wing with lo primaries, ist very short. No rictal bristles ; 

 nostrils not covered by feathers. 



Sturnus. 



Wings long and pointed, ist primary small but visible; 

 bill wide, flat and straight; gregarious birds of metallic 

 plumage; food, worms, insects, larvae, etc.; nest in holes 

 in trees, walls, or cliffs ; eggs greenish blue. 



Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris L. Starling. Ft. 

 Etourneau ; Get: Star ; Ital. Storno ; Swcd. Stare. 



^ 9 summer. Black with metallic reflections of purple or 

 green or steel blue, generally with a few buff apical spots ; head 

 and neck dark green with or without purple reflections ; ear 

 coverts green ; under wing coverts brown with buff margins ; 

 flanks purple. In winter, plumage above spotted with buff and 

 below with white tips. Bill yellow in summer, dark brown in 

 winter. Legs and feet red brown. Wing $ 125-137, $ 123-131. 

 Tarsus 28-30. Bill 20-24. Young ; brown, throat and streaks on 

 underparts white, margins of quills and tail rufous. 



Breeds. — ^Europe, including British Isles, from N. Norway and 

 about 64° in Russia to Pyrenees and Italy. Partial migrant ; 

 occurs in winter south to Spain, Portugal, Madeira, Canaries, and 

 all N. Africa from Morocco to Egypt. 



S. vulgaris faroensis Fielden. Larger; ist primary longer 

 and broader, wing and tail somewhat longer, bill larger. Wing 

 133-134. Bill 24-25. Young are darker, less marked with 

 white below. 



Rcsidejti. — Faroe Islands. 



S. vulgaris zetlandicus Hartert. Nearer "faroensis" than 

 "vulgaris"; young distinctly darker than in "vulgaris"; bill 

 not so broad and long as in "faroensis" but broader than in 

 "vulgaris"; 1st primary not so broad as in "faroensis." Wing 

 I3i-I38(H.). 



Resident. — Shetland Isles. 



