1919-] Birds of the Canary Islands. lOl 



Von Thauuer does not record the Starling from Tenerife 

 or elsewhere, although he has been writing on the birds of 

 these islands since 1903. This is very curious. 



I give herewith the opinions of the authorities mentioned 

 above : — 



Ledru (1810). Noted it in his List of the Birds of Tenerife. 



Webb & Berthelot (1841, p. 11). " Arrives sometimes in winter with 



the Thrushes, but never in great flocks. It is usually in the 



piue-region that one meets with some.'' 

 Belle (J. f. 0. 1854, p. 452). "Seen every winter in the pine forests 



of Tenerife ; also now and again in Fuerteventura, where it 



is rare." 

 Koenig (J. f. 0. 1890, p. 354). "The Common Starling was not met 



with by myself in Tenerife, but I believe from examples in the 



possession of Don Ramon [Gomez — the Orotava chemist] that 



it is a fairly regular visitor to Tenerife. Possibly it does not 



appear every year." 

 Meade- Waldo (Ibis, 1893, p. 194). " A regular winter visitor, but in 



no great numbers, to all islands." He notes that Common 



Starlings frequented the cactus fields in Fuerteventura in 



February 1889 (Ibis, 1889, p. 507). 



[He saw a flock at Tuineje, Fuerteventura, on 2 March, 1889 



(extract from private diary), and shot a specimen which I have 



examined in the British Museum. — 1). A. B.] 

 Cabrera (Catalogo, 1893, p. 48). " Met with on passage every year in 



the autumn." 

 [There are specimens in the Cabrera collection preserved at 



Laguua. — D. A. B.] 

 Hartert (Nov. Zool. 1901, p. 305) quotes Meade- Waldo (supra), and 



adds : — " If it really comes across from the African continent 



as Koenig (from the reports of others) aflirms, it is, in spite 



of that, a European migratory bird, for only Sturnus unicolor 



breeds in Morocco." 

 Polatzek (Orn. Jahrb, 1909, p. 122). "Annually in autumn; appears 



also in the eastern islands, where I have observed it." 

 Bannerman (Ibis, 1914, p. 62). Saw one in the Gonzalez collection 



at Arrecife, Lanzarute, which had been shot recently near that 



town. 



Range. The Starling breeds in Europe generally and 

 migrates in winter to north Africa, the Canary Islands 

 being the most southerly point from which it has been 

 recorded. 



