XXXIV 



THE ROSY STARLING 



EVERY Anglo-Indian is acquainted with the 

 rose-coloured starling {Pastor roseus), al- 

 though some may not know what to call it. 

 Nevertheless, it is a bird of many aliases ; to 

 wit, the rosy pastor, the tillyer, the cholum bird, the 

 jowaree bird, the mulberry bird, the locust-eater, the 

 golabi maina. The head, neck, breast, wings, and tail 

 are glossy black, while the remainder of the plumage 

 is a pale salmon or faint rose-colour. The older the 

 bird the more rosy it becomes, but the great majority 

 are pale salmon, rather than pink. 



Rose-coloured starlings are sociable birds. They 

 go about in large companies, which sometimes 

 number several thousand individuals. They are 

 cold-weather visitors to India, spreading themselves 

 all over the peninsula, being most abundant in the 

 Deccan. In the north straggling flocks occur through- 

 out the winter, but it is in April that they are 

 seen in their thousands, preparatory to leaving 

 the country for breeding purposes. These great 

 gatherings tarry for a short time in Northern India 

 while the mulberries and various grain crops are 



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