FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



CHAPTER II. 



OLD WORLD STARLINGS (Siurnida). 



These birds undoubtedly are related to the Icteridoe. 

 and to the Crows (Cormdoe). The Hill-Mynaihs or 

 Grackles, which in many respects resemble the Crows, 

 have been separated as a distinct family, on account 

 of their possession of rictal bristles, by Mr. E. Gates. 

 Professor Ridgway, however, savs (" Birds of North 

 and Middle America," Vol. IV., p. 280) that his diag- 

 nosis of the Sturnidce " is identical, almost word for 

 word, 'with that given for the ' Euldbetidce' .... 

 except as to the xictal bristles, which are said to be 

 ' present ' in the Eulabetidce, while in the Sturnidce 

 there are ' no rictal bristles nor vestige of any ' cer- 

 tainly a very slight distinction." 



In addition to this character, however, as T have 

 pointed out in my little book, " How to Sex Cage-Birds," 

 :pp. 76 and 78, the bills of the sexes in the true Star- 

 lings are more or less slender and much alike, the slight 

 difference which exists being of the same character as 

 in the Thrushes, the male bill being, when noticeably 

 different from that of the female, slightly longer and 

 more slender, whereas in the true Grackles the bills are 

 broad and heavy, that of the female being considerably 

 narrower, weaker, and rather shorter (though not con- 

 spicuously so) than that of the male : I think, therefore, 

 that the family distinction is justified. On the other 

 hand, one might well say of the Sturnidce, as Ridgway 

 does of the Ploceidas (i.e., p. 283), " Whether the single 

 character of possessing one more obvious primary quill 

 than the Fringillidce and Icteridce be considered as 

 sufficient to warrant the separation of the present group 

 as a distinct family is perhaps a matter admitting of 

 difference of opinion." Nevertheless, it is a very con- 

 venient distinction.* 



The Glossy Starlings of the genus Calornis are most 

 nearly related to the Icteridoe, inasmuch as they build 

 pensile nests similar in character to many of those of 

 the Cassiques and Hangnests, and lay spotted eggs like 

 the majority of those birds. 



Glossy Starlings (Sub-family Sturnince). 



SHINING CALORNIS (Calornis metallica). 



" The general plumage is a mixture of dark rich 

 bronzy green and purple, the green hue predominating 

 on the lower part of the throat and the upper part of 

 the back : wing and tail bluish black, washed on the 

 margins with bronzy green ; bill and feet black ; irides 

 vermilion" (Gould); female smaller and probably with 

 a slightly shorter bill. Young duller, wings brown, 

 narrowly edged with sordid white ; under surface white, 

 streaked on the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts 

 with blackish. Dr. Finsch, however, doubts whether 

 all the birds with -white under surface are young, as 

 they breed in this plumage. Hab., "Northern Aus- 

 tralia, New Guinea, and Papuan Islands from the Solo- 

 mons to the Arn group, as well as the Moluccas." 



Gould says (" Handbook to the Birds of Australia," 

 Vol. I., pp. 477, 478), quoting from Macgillivray : 

 " During the early part of our last sojourn at Cape 

 York, this bird was often seen passing rapidly over the 

 tops of the trees in small flocks of a dozen or more. 

 In their flight they reminded me of the Starlings, and, 



* By the way, in his notes on the Ploceidae, Ridgway incorrectly 

 eays that " terrestrial forma are apparently wanting'"; he 

 overlooks the Quail Finch (Ortygospiza potyzona), which not 

 only spends nearly its whole existence on the ground, but nets 

 there. 



like them, made a chattering noise while on the wing. 

 One day a native took me to a breeding-place in the 

 centre of a dense scrub, where I found a gigantic cotton- 

 tree standing alone, with its branches literally hung 

 with the pensile nests of the bird : the nests, averaging: 

 two feet in length and one in breadth, are of a some- 

 what oval form, slightly compressed, rounded below 

 and above, tapering to a neck, by the end of which they 

 are suspended ; the opening is situated in the centre 

 of the widest part ; they are almost entirely composed 

 of portions of the stem and the long tendrils of a climb- 

 ing-plant (Cissus) matted and woven together, and lined 

 with finer pieces of the same, a few leaves (generally 

 strips of Pandanus leaf), the hair-like fibres of a pain 1 

 (Caryota, cereus), and similar materials : the eggs,, 

 usually two, but often three in number, are an inch long 

 by eight-tenths of an inch broad, and of a bluish grey, 

 speckled with reddish pink, chiefly at the larger end ; 

 some have scarcely any markings, others a few minute- 

 dots' only. The note of the bird is short, sharp, and 

 shrill, .and resembles ' twee-twee,' repeated, as if angrily, 

 several times in quick succession." " On the tree above 

 mentioned the nests were about fifty in number, often 

 solitary, but usually three or four together in a cluster 

 sometimes so closely placed as to touch each other." 

 " The stomachs of those examined contained triturated 

 seeds and other vegetable matter." 



This charming bird was exhibited by Mr. Townsend 

 in 1907. 



WHITE-BELLIED AMETHYST STARLING (Pholidauges 

 leucogaster) . 



General colour above, violet ; many of the feathers on. 

 the back with subterminal steel-blue bars ; wings, ex- 

 cepting the coverts and inner secondaries, blackish- 

 brown ; the outer secondaries edged with violet ; the- 

 two central tail-feathere violet, with others blackish- 

 brown, with violet outer margins ; head, throat, and- 

 chest violet, the lores blackish ; remainder of under sur- 

 face pure white ; thighs dusky at base of feathers ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries blackish ; bill and 

 feet black ; irides yellow. Female above brown, with' 

 pale margins to the feathers ; inner webs of flights 

 mostly suffused with pale cinnamon ; cheeks white, 

 streaked 'with brown ; under surface white, slightly 

 sandy on throat ; the hind throat and breast with de- 

 fined triangular dark brown spote, which become rounder 

 at back of breast and sides of vent and longer on the 

 eides of the abdomen, where there is a brownish wash ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries brown with r eddish i 

 edges ; quills below rufescent on inner webs. Hab., 

 "Tropical Africa from 17 deg. N. lat. to Gaboon, on- 

 the west, and to the equator in Central and Eastern 

 Africa." (Shelley.) 



Shelley observes (" Birds of Africa," Vol. V., pp. 39, 

 40) : " In Liberia, Mr. Biittikofer met with it most fre- 

 quently in the open country, the females and young, 

 birds perching together on the bushes, while the full- 

 plumaged males kept by themselves at some little dis- 

 tance. During my visit to the Gold Coast I met with. 

 the species on a few occasions in February, between 

 Accra and Abokobi, always in fairly large flocks of" 

 about a score." 



According to Ussher and Hartert, this species feeds 

 upon berries and fruit. The nesting babite appear to 

 be unrecorded, but they probably differ little from those 

 of the southern representative of the species P. ver- 

 reauxi, which is said 'to build in holes in trees, lining 

 some natural hollow, or the old nest-hole of a Barbet,. 

 with wool and feathers, over which green leaves are 

 placed and removed from time to time. The eggs 

 usually number four, and are pale blue, sparingly 



