34 IIYl'OCOLIUS AMPELINUS 



Hypocolius ampelinus. 



Hypocolius ampelinus, Bp. Consp. i. p. 336 (1850) ; Heugl. Ibis, 1868, 

 p. 181, pi. 5 ; Hartl. Bericht. p. 125 (18G8) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. 

 p. 316 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 578 (1896); Sharpe, Haudl. 

 B. iv. p. 275 (1903) ; Keichen. Yog. Afr. iii. p. 677 (1905). 



Ceblepyris isabellina, Heugl. Syst. Uebers. p. 32 (1855). 



Adult male. Upper parts mostly uniform pale pearl grey, of a more 

 sandy buff shade on the top of the head, which is surrounded with black, 

 very narrow in front and on the side of the foi-ehead, but widens out over 

 the sides of the head, witli the exception of the cheeks, and extends in a 

 broad band across the back of the head ; tail-feathers with broad black ends, 

 primaries black with broad white ends to the nine long feathers ; most of 

 the secondaries have a laige amount of black on their inner webs, which 

 cause the under surface of the wing to be blackish in the middle, white 

 towards the end and pale grey on the coverts which incline to buff near the 

 bend of the wing ; cheeks, chin, throat, centre of breast and under tail- 

 coverts pale sandy buff of a greyer shade on the lower throat, front of chest 

 and the flanks. Iris brown ; bill pink with the end black ; tarsi, feet and 

 claws pink. Total length 96 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 395, tail 4-6, 

 tarsus 0-95. <? , 30. 3. 91. Fao (Camming). 



Adult female. Differs in being uniform sandy buff, darker above than 

 below, with no black on the head aud less black at end of tail ; primaries 

 pale ashy brown, shading into blackish brown towards the ends of the 

 feathers, which have narrow white terminal margins. Wing 39, tail 4-1. 

 J , 29. 6. 86. Fao (Cumming). 



Immature. Eesemble in colouring the sex to which they belong, with 

 the exception of the black on the head being absent in the males as well as 

 in the females. Fao (Gumming). 



The Pink-billed Starling ranges from the White Nile east- 

 ward into Southern Central Asia. 



In the British Museum there is a specimen labelled 

 "White Nile" (Verreaux), and I doubt the species ranging 

 further west, for Count Salvador! ("Ibis," 1870, p. 539) 

 observes that the specimen in the Turin Museum is one of 

 Botta's collecting, and was not obtained in the Niam-Niam 

 country, by Piaggia, as stated by Hartlaul). 



The species was discovered by Botta in l<S3i), and three 



I 



