56 Mr. C. A. Wright's List of the Birds 



observed it till the beginning of April, when it disappeared, 

 probably having taken its departure northward to breed. 



56. CoRVUs MONEDULA. (Jackdaw.) 

 Ciaula or Kola, Maltese. 



One of our resident birds, and is to be seen at all seasons 

 all over the island, being most plentiful on the south and south- 

 western parts, where the rugged cliffs afford it excellent and 

 secure places for nidification. It has very much increased in 

 numbers of late years. Formerly it was a rare thing to see a 

 Jackdaw within a mile of the town ; now it breeds freely in the 

 fortifications of Valletta, in company with a number of semi- 

 wild Pigeons, and may sometimes be seen resting on the tops 

 of the houses in the middle of the town. It is asserted some- 

 where that the Jackdaw is an importation of the Knights of St. 

 John ; but this appears to be rather apocryphal. I have never 

 seen Corvus daUricus of authors in Malta. 



57. Pica caudata. (Magpie.) 

 Ciaula baida, Maltese. 



Schembri informs us that one of these birds was shot on the 

 7th October, 1839, probably a straggler blown off the southern 

 coast of Sicily, where it exists in great numbers. 



58. Sturnus vulgaris. (Starling.) 

 Sturnell, Maltese. 



Common in September and October, and stays the winter. 



59. Sturnus unicolor. (Sardinian Starling.) 

 Schembri includes this species, from two specimens shot out 



of a flock of five or six many years ago. 



60. Pastor roseus. (Rose-coloured Pastor.) 



This elegant species is rare here, and visits us very irregularly. 

 Examples have been taken in spring, autumn, and winter. A 

 specimen was killed on the 7th August, 1855, at Citta Vecchia, 

 the old capital of the island ; and since then three or four others 

 have been obtained — three of them at the Marsa, at the head of 

 the Grand Harbour. The fourth was a bird of the year, which 

 I purchased in the market in the first week of November 1858. 

 Since then I have not seen any others. 



