GLOSSY STARLINGS AND CRACKLES 1521 



There are numerous other genera of the family into the consider- 

 1 ation of which the limits of our space forbid our entering. Among 

 these are the true mynas (Sturnia) of India, distinguished from Sturnus by the 

 beak being more slender, shorter than the head, and narrowing to a point; and 

 differing from the allied Agropsar by the middle tail feathers being longer than 

 the outer pairs. The pied starling (Sturnopastor} of India, as well as the African 

 wattled starling (Dilophus), likewise belong to this group. 



Among the most useful of South-African birds, from their habit of 

 feeding on the parasites which infest domestic and other cattle, the 

 ox peckers are very unlike starlings in general appearance; from which they are 

 distinguished by the beak being stout, broad at the base, and nearly straight, with 

 the nostrils bare. The wings are long, with the first quill very short, and the 

 second nearly equal in length to the third; the tail being long, broad, and wedge 

 shaped; while the feet are strong, and furnished with sharp-curved claws, by means 

 of which the birds retain their hold on the slippery skin of buffaloes. One species 

 of ox pecker inhabits Northeastern Africa, Senegambia, and the Transvaal; while 

 the South- African ox pecker (Buphaga africana) is found in Natal, and the red- 

 billed species (B. erythrorhyncha] in most parts of Central Africa. 



These birds fly in small parties of six or eight, and have a somewhat labored 

 flight; they may be observed climbing over the oxen in a team, much as a wood- 

 pecker climbs a tree; and the cattle for the most part enjoy the operation of being 

 freed from the ticks and other pests with which they are infested. On the first 

 arrival of a flock of these birds, the cattle are, however, apt to be alarmed, and start 

 off as if they had been attacked by gadflies. It must not be supposed that these 

 birds confine their attention to cattle, since they perform the same kind offices for 

 rhinoceroses, elephants, antelopes, and probably almost all the larger African Mam- 

 mals. 



Although not loud, the notes of the oxpeckers are harsh and grating, and are 

 always uttered when a flock approaches cattle to feed. Nothing appears to be 

 ascertained as to the breeding habits of these birds. In the figured species the 

 general color of the upper parts is grayish brown; the wings being black, the tail 

 brown the throat gray, the under parts pale fulvous, and the beak red. 



GLOSSY STARLINGS AND CRACKLES 

 Family EULABETID^ 



Whereas the true starlings and their allies have no trace of bristles at the rictus 

 of the gape, and lay uniformly-colored eggs, the members of the present African 

 and Asiatic family possesses such bristles, and lay spotted eggs. Moreover, the 

 members of the present family are mainly or entirely arboreal, instead of hunting 

 for a large portion of their food on the ground. 



The most beautiful members of all the starling-like birds are undoubtedly the 

 African glossy starlings, of which a group of three species is represented in 

 96 



