THE STARLINGS. 23 



lat. 58 . It extends throughout the mountainous parts of 

 Europe to Central Asia and Persia, as far as North-eastern 

 China, while in the Himalayas a slightly larger race occurs. 



Nest. — Generally placed in holes in cliffs or in caves, and 

 always difficult to visit. It is made of sticks and stems of 

 heather, and is lined with wool and hair. 



Eggs. — Three to six in number, creamy white in colour, with 

 grey underlying marks and brown spots, varying considerably 

 in the extent and character of the latter. Axis, 1*5 inch; 

 diam., i'i. 



THE ALPINE CHOUGHS. GENUS PYRRHOCORAX. 



Pyrrhocorax, Vieill., N. Diet., vi., p. 568 (18 16). 



Type, P. pyrrlwcorax (Linn.). 



Only one species of the genus is known, differing from the 

 true Choughs in its shorter bill, and in having the base of the 

 cheeks bare, not feathered as in the genus Graculus. 



I. THE ALPINE CHOUGH. PYRRHOCORAX PYRRHOCORAX. 



Corvus pyrrhoccrax, Linn., S. N., i., p. 158 (1766). 



Pyrrhocorax alpinus, Dresser, B. Eur., iv., p. 445, pi. 251, 

 fig. 2 (1875); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., hi., p. 148 

 (1877); Seeb., Hist. Br. B., i., p. 580, note (1883); 

 Saunders, Man., p. 222 (1889). 



Only one specimen has ever been captured in England, as 

 recorded and figured by Messrs. Aplin, in their "Birds of 

 Oxfordshire." It may very probably have been an imported 

 individual that had escaped. The range of the Alpine Chough 

 outside the British Islands is very similar to that of the 

 foregoing species, and it apparently extends as far east. The 

 yellow bill will always serve to distinguish it from the 

 Red-billed Chough. 



THE STARLINGS. FAMILY STURNID^. 



The Starlings, like the Crows, are " Ambulatores," or "Walk- 

 ers," progressing over the ground by a walking step, instead of 

 by hops, like the Thrushes, Sparrows, and most "Passerine" 

 birds. Though possessing a perfection of form little inferior 



