STURNUS UNICOLOR. 131 
common Starlings, half adult and half immature birds, as I 
never saw the two species migrating or consorting together. 
In Andalucia, the common Starling may be said, roughly 
speaking, to come and. go with the Golden Plover. The earliest 
date on which I noticed their arrival was the 15th of October, 
the latest date on which I saw any being the 1st of March. 
I have a note of seeing many thousands passing southwards 
in successive flights on the 28th of October. During the 
winter months they are seen in swarms about low ground ; and 
the Spaniards shoot immense numbers at their roosting-places 
in the reed-beds near Veger and Casa Vieja. Consequently, 
during their stay. Starlings form a very cheap and, I may 
fairly say, nasty dish in all the ventas and ventorillas in the 
vicinity. 
187. Sturnus UNICOLOR, Marm. The Sardinian Starling. 
Moorish. Zarzor kahal (Black Starling). Spanish. Tordo. 
"This Starling is very abundant around Tangier, passing 
north in March and returning during the month of September, 
many, however, remaining to breed. ^^ — Favier. 
The Sardinian Starling, as it has been termed (Spotless 
Starling would be, perhaps, a more appropriate and distinctive 
name) , is almost entirely migratory in Andalucia ; but I have 
seen them there in December. Not so abundant as the common 
Starling, they resemble that bird in their habits and note, 
nesting about the end of April in roofs of houses in towns, 
and they make much use of the old Moorish towers, besides 
building in holes of trees ; the eggs exactly resemble those of >S^. 
vulgaris. They are more common some sixty miles north of 
Gibraltar than in the immediate vicinity. Three or four pairs 
used to frequent the Venta at Casa Vieja, and during November 
and December, when I was there, nearly every morning as- 
sembled on the roof, whistling and pluming themselves before 
going forth for the day. The amo, or landlord, well known as 
" old Bernardo," begged me not to kill them — a request I most 
scrupulously complied with; but on my return there in 1874, 
they were absent, probably killed by some of the shooting 
visitors from Gibraltar. Whether the death of the old man 
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