OLOSSY STARLINGS. 



37 



VioLET-HEADKD Glossy Starling \Lamj^roi-olhis 

 piirpiireireps). 



Above, glossy golden-green ; upper ■tail-coverts black 

 at bases, edged with steel-blue and with a subterminal 

 shade of bronzy purple ; wing-coverts steel-blue ; flighte 

 purplish-black, steel-blue externally; inner secondaries 

 glossed with golden gi-een ; tail-feathers blue-black, 

 golden-bronze externally ; crown, sides of neck, chin, 

 throat, and front, of bre.ast violet; the forehead and 

 sides of head purplisli-black ; hinder breast, abdomen, 

 sides, and flanks steel-green, slightly glossed with 

 golden ; thighs and under tail-coverts black, washed 

 with steel-blue : under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 black, edged witli metallic steel-blue ; flights below 

 black; bill and feet black; irides yellow. Hab., 

 " Cameroons to the Loango Coast, and eastward to the 

 Upper White Nile." (Shelley.) 



B«yond the fact that it is a woodland species, nothing 

 seems to be recorded respecting its wild life. Russ 

 says that it is ex'tremely rarely imported alive, and to 

 his knowledge, apart from several wholesale dealers, it 

 has only been in the collections of Messrs. Wiener and 

 Linden. 



Long-tailed Glossy Staeling {Lamprotornis 

 caudatus). 



Above with the mantle and back of a shining peacock 



green : the lower part of the back, rump, and upper 



tail-covei-ts glossy steel- 



(^^^^^^ blue and purple. the 

 ^^^^^H feathei'6 being sjxitted to- 

 ^^^M wards the tip with velvety 

 _^^^(^ "^S black ; the ecapulars, les- 



"^^HB' '--^is '^^ ^"^ median wLng- 

 ^^^BTii- —s-JHiil toverts, bastai'd wing, pri- 

 iriiiry-coverts, and quills 

 shining steely-green, shot 

 with blue, and .showing 

 black bars in cei-tain 

 lights; the secondaries 

 hluisli towards the tips ; 

 tail-feathers rosy pm-ple, 

 with a faint bronze gloss 

 and more or less violet re- 

 flections. the.se also show 

 evanescent black bare ; 

 • lown of the head metallic 

 liionze, as also the sides 

 ■ 't' the face and throat, the 

 liitter slightly spangled 

 M ith golden bixtnze ; lower 

 l>art of throat shading 

 into deep steely-green, 

 with a subterminal blue 

 >-hade, which merges into 

 peacock-green on the 

 Ijreast ; lower part of the 

 breast and abdomen 

 purple, glossed with cop- 

 ,, ,, . , , per; .sidtes of body glossed 



blue; thighs blue with a violet" shade; 

 nnder wing-coverts and a.xillaries steelv-green, slightly 

 bluish; quills below black; bill and lefs black"- 

 Jris of eye sulphur-yellow. This seems a lar^e 

 lurd measuring upwards of 19 in. from the tip of 

 the biU to the extremity of the tail, but the latter 

 occupies 13i in. of the total length. The female i.'s 

 probably a trifle smaller. Hab., "Northern Tropical 

 Africa, from Senegal to the Niger, and eastward into 

 Abysania ' (Shelley). 



Long-tailed Starlino. 



witJh 



A bluer fomi, L. ei/loiil Fraser, which Dr. Russ 

 regards as distinct, has not been recorded farther east 

 than Fantee. t'apt. Shel'ley says of it, "I doubt L. 

 ei/lo>ii. being even a good sub-species, as it is known 

 only from the districts inhabited by L. caudatus. and 

 as yet we know little with regard to the moult of these 

 si>ecies." 



According to Von Heuglin this bird moults in 

 November and December, and breeds about August. It 

 lives in pairs and families of alxjut six to eight indi- 

 viduals, which are making a noise and in motion tho 

 whole day, sweeping about far into the lofty forest or 

 ycrub. One frequently observes the young, sitting 

 huddled together upon a ."^lender branch, whilst the 

 adults dart busily from branch to branch, scuffling 

 together or with other birds, or with lifted tails like 

 Magpies run and hop hither and thither upon the earth. 



The food, according to Von Heuglin, consists princi- 

 pally of fruits and buds, yet they also seize all kinds 

 of insects, which are often mo.st cleverly snapped up 

 during flight. 



In Shf llev's " Birds of Africa," Vol. V., pp. 55, 56, we 

 read: — "Mr. Boyd Alexander writes: — ''It frequents 

 the open buA-country, nesting in holes in the big 

 baobab trees." 



" The eggs have heen d6.scribed bv Mr. Kuschel as 

 glos.sy greenish-blue, 1.06 by 0.81, and by Mr. Nehrkem 

 as deep blue, with evenly-distributed dots of pale brown, 

 and measuring 1.12 by 6.8." 



The movements of the species on the wing are rapid 

 and gi'aceful, as anyone who had seen the specimens in 

 the late Mr. Abrahams' aviary would at once admit. I 

 was much amused by a little experiment which we tried 

 to prove their intelligence. My friend informed me 

 that whenever he entered their room these Starlings 

 expected a mealworm, and if he went out, forgetting 

 to humour them, they were certain to remind him. 

 We then went outside and shut the door, and imme- 

 diately there was a chorus of harsh shrieks. The only 

 drawbacks to the pleasure of keeping these birds are 

 the nece.'^ity for devoting a spacious aviary to them in 

 order to exhibit them to advantage, and the noi.se which 

 they are apt to make when they want anything. At 

 ether times, /sn far as I cnuld judfe, they appeared to 

 be exceptionally quiet. Like the other glossy Starlings, 

 fruit and insects form the natural diet of this species ; 

 in the aviary egg-food, boiled potatoes, and small worms 

 mav be safely added. 



This is a familiar exhibition-bird ; it fir=' appeared at 

 the Amsterdam Zoological Gardens in 1864 and the 

 London Gardens in 1866. 



PrRPLE-BACKKD (jLOSSY St.\RLING (Lcilll piotOrilU 



2nirpii ropterus) . * 



Smaller than the preceding species ; above glossj? 

 green, the hind-neck and upper back shaded with 

 reddish-violet; the lower back and upper tail-coverts 

 of that coloui'; tail violaceous blue, both upper tail- 

 coverts and central tail feathers ivith darker bars ; 

 wings green or violet ; head glossy 'bronze ; chin and 

 upper throat edged with violet and blue which sliadas 

 into green on the lower throat ; centre of chest coppery 

 bronze shading into violet on the remainder of the 

 breast, thighs, and under tail-coveits ; wings and tail 

 below brownish-black ; under wing-coverts washed with 

 bluish-green ; bill and feet black ; irides straw- veUow. 



' I cannot s«« any reason for the adoption of the later name 

 porphyroptertis for this species; it is neither adopted by Rti£S 

 nor Shelley, and therefore I do not here fodlow the Museuai 

 Catalogue. 



