56o 



PASSERIFORMES 



CHAP. 



Most of the brighter species exhibit purple, coppery, bhie and 

 green reflexions, our famihar Starling i^Sturnv.s indgaris) being 



iridescent black, 

 with buff marks 

 above, and, after the 

 aut mnn moult , white 

 spots below. The 

 female is duller, but 

 in this Familj the 

 sexes usu.ally differ 

 little. S. unicolor is 

 unspotted. Spodio- 

 2)sar hurmanictis has 

 grey upper and 

 pinkish under parts, 

 with brownish 

 wings and tail, 

 white head, and 

 white -tipped rec- 

 trices ; Sturnojmstor 

 contra is blackish- 

 brown and white 

 above, and greyish 

 beneath, with 



green-black head 

 and throat and 

 white cheeks; Pastor 



p-j5e5 



Fig. 132. Starling. Stunms vulgaris. 

 (From E}i(jUsh Illustrated Magazine.) 



rosens, which wanders to Britain, is glossy black, with pink back 

 and abdomen ; Graculipica melanoptera is almost pure white, 

 with black or bronzy remiges and rectrices. Eulahcs religiosa, 

 the Myna, a name also popularly applied to Acridotheres (sacred 

 to the god Eam Deo) and several other Indian forms, is black, 

 with purple and green reflexions, and a white patch on the wing- 

 quills ; Cinnamopterus tenuirostris is more highly coloured, with 

 mainly chestnut primaries ; Melanopyrrhus orientalis adds to its 

 metallic black hue an orange head, neck, rump, and breast ; 

 Lam'protornis and the shorter-tailed Zamprocolius exhibit lovely 

 greens, purples, and peacock -blues, relieved by golden-bronze; 

 Coccycolius is golden-green with purple cheeks and abdomen, 

 Pholidauges hucogaster is rich purplish-violet with white belly. 



