ROSE-COLOURED PASTOR OR STARLING. 4 1 



The Starling resident in the Shetlands has been separated as 

 an insular race, S. v. setlandicus Hart., on account of a 

 slightly longer wing and wider bill. 



Rose-coloured Pastor or Starling. Pastor roseus 

 (Linn.). 



Certain birds apparently suffer from overcrowding in their 

 usual breeding area, and migrate in hordes westward in a vain 

 effort to extend the range ; the movements of the Rose-coloured 

 Pastor (Plate 14) are, however, even more erratic and un- 

 certain. In its normal range in south-eastern Europe and 

 western Asia it will swarm for a period in one district and 

 suddenly leave it for no apparent reason. From time to time 

 parties come wandering north and west, and not infrequently 

 a few birds appear in Britain ; indeed, throughout our islands, 

 there are few counties without records of vagrants. As a rule 

 the birds are on their first autumnal migration, and may have 

 lost their bearings and come west instead of joining the east- 

 ward stream which peoples India in winter. There is another 

 explanation of some westward movements of the Pastor ; it is 

 particularly fond of grasshoppers and locusts, and follows the 

 flights of these erratic insects, serving a useful purpose as a 

 destroyer of destroyers. 



The Pastor is even more sociable in its habits than the 

 Starling, for it nests in colonies, occupying holes in rocks or 

 masonry. In food, habits, notes, and to some extent in appear- 

 ance, it is a Starling, and it is not surprising that when 

 wanderers reach our islands they generally consort with our 

 birds. It is largely a feeder on insects, but is not free from the 

 charge of fruit destruction. The eggs are spotless blue or 

 white, paler than those of our Starling. In spite of its similar 

 flight and behaviour an adult bird can be detected by its crest 

 and colour when flying with Starlings, but with the young it is 



