114 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
chin ; bill, legs and feet as in O. adpestris. Length 7 inches ; 
culmen 0°55; wing 4°5; tail 3; tarsus o°8. 
Adult Female (Sumnmggr): Duller and browner than 
male ;,erectile feathers of head shorter; ear-coverts mottled 
with brown, which also takes the place of black on the forehead ; 
area covered by black on chest a little less than in male. That 
on sides of face less pronounced. 
Adult Male (Winter): Somewhat duller and paler than 
in summer ; several of the head feathers being margined with 
brown. It is, however, easily distinguishable from the pre- 
ceding species by the black on cheeks joining that on chest. 
Distribution : Resident from Asia Minor eastward to the 
Altai mountains. Found on the steppes of South-eastern 
Russia. 
Habitat: Similar to that of O. alsestris. 
Section OSCINES CULTRIROSTRES. 
Family STURNIDZ. 
Genus STURNUS. 
STARLING. JS 
Sturnus vulgaris Lez. 
Adult Male (Summer): L£xtire plumage black, shot 
with purple, green or stecl-blue ; feathers of upper parts chiefly 
marked with terminal ¢7vangular spots of cream-colour ; wings 
and tail blackish, with pale brown margins, glossed here and 
there with green or purple like the back; d7// yellow, blue at 
base ; legs and feet dark reddish-brown ; irides hazel-brown. 
Length 7°5 toS mehes; ‘culmen «5 wine 5 tow15 5. tale ae 
fatsus, 1°15, 
Adult Female: Resembles the male, but is duller 
throughout, including the bill, and more freely spotted. 
Adult Male (Winter): Feathers on the back, scapulars 
and rump more conspicuously spotted with whitish or pale 
buff; bill dull horn-colour ; under parts also more conspicu- 
ously spotted, but with much smaller spots than the back 
feathers. 
“6a:~ ee <a = 
ee 
