434 Rev. J. Sibree, Jr., on the 



Like the European Starling, they are excellent eating, pro- 

 vided they are taken at the proper season. Their name of 

 Hbtsa throws no light on their habits ; neither do their other 

 names of Vbrontamomby , " Ox-dung-bird,'' and Vorontai- 

 nanbmby, " Ox-land-bird/' add much to our knowledge of 

 their peculiarities. 



The other bird of this family found in Madagascar also 

 belongs to a genus peculiar to the island {Falculia), and is 

 described as " a very aberrant form of Starling." It may be 

 termed the " Robed (or Cloaked) Starling,'' from its specific 

 name palliata. During Mr. Cowan's travels in the Bkra 

 country, he says that on the banks of a small stream joining 

 the Mananantauana, " we w^ere in search of the Falculia Star- 

 ling. This bird gave us some little trouble. Sitting quietly 

 on the branches, often high up, it kept uttering its plaintive 

 but melodious notes, while we strained our eyes to catch a 

 glimpse of it. Many times it happened to be sitting just 

 before our very noses, but even then we failed to see it. 

 This bird and the Vanga Shrike, both with bright plumage, 

 are most tantalizing in this way." 



Next to the Starlings comes one of the most curious and 

 interesting in the whole avifauna of Madagascar from its 

 abnormal structure aud remote affinities — the Euryceros 

 prevosti, or " Provost's Helmet-bird." The zoological affi- 

 nities of this remarkable genus were for a long time a puzzle 

 to ornithologists, w^io successively placed it among or near 

 the Toucans, the Hornbills, the Swallows, the Crows, and the 

 Starlings, It is, however, allied to the Starlings and the 

 Swallow- Shrikes (Artamidae), and is not far from the Drongo- 

 Shrikes, but is yet so different that MM. Grandidier and A. 

 Milne-Edwards have formed, a special family, which they 

 name Eurycerotidse, for this solitary genus and species. Dr. 

 K. B. Sharpe classes it with the Crows^ but calls it a " unique 

 and curious form.-" This bird is remarkable for a beak 

 formed like a very capacious helmet, strongly compressed 

 and swelled towards the base, which advances to just as far 

 as the eyes ; and its very convex edge is terminated by a 

 sharp hook, which projects beyond a large tooth-like point. 



