GLOSSY STARLINGS. 



35 



spotted at the larger end with pale brown.* The cries 

 are harsh, with the exception of a pleasing whistle 

 uttered by the male. 



I believe Mr. E. Hopkinson secured two males of this 

 lovely Starling, one of which he presented to the London 

 Zoological Society in 1906. 



WESTERN SPLENDID GLOSSY STARLING (Lamprocolius 

 chrysonotis). 



Above, metallic golden-green ; scapulars and middle of 

 back steel-blue, the former with a subterminal black 

 spot ; median and greater wing-coverte tipped with 

 blue, and with a subterminal black transverse spot ; 

 secondaries similar in colouring, but with a broad belt 

 of black ; primaries steel-blue, greenish externally ; 

 tail black, purplish towards base, the tip 'broadly steel- 

 green, washed with blue ; lores velvet black ; sides of 

 face metallic steel-blue ; a triangular spot of coppery 

 bronze behind the ear -coverts on sides of neck ; throat 

 violaceous steel-blue ; breast reddish-purple, slightly 

 coppery ; abdomen and flanks purplish-blue, changing 

 to steel-green on lower flanks, vent, and under tail- 

 coverts ; under wing-coverts and axillaries purplish 

 blue ; flights below black ; bill and feet black ; irides 

 pale yellow. Female smaller, with no, or hardly any. 



PURPLE-HEADED GLOSSY STARLING. 

 (Head of male.) 



coppery -reddish on the breast ; the triangular spot be- 

 hind the ear-coverts violet, with scarcely any coppery 

 tint. Hab., Senegambia to Fernando Po. 



Captain 'Shelley places this and the other species of 

 Lamprocolius with the long-tailed species under 

 Lamprotornis ; he refers the name splendidus 

 (applied by Dr. Sharpe to this species) to its Eastern 

 representative. 



According to Fraser ("Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society/' 1843, p. 52), this species is " very shy, "caws 

 somewhat like a Crow ; makes a burring noise like 

 a parrot when .beginning to fly ; lives in the loftiest 

 trees. The gizzard contained small seeds and red 

 berries." 



Without doubt, like its Eastern representative (to 

 which it is very closely related), it nests in holes in 

 trees at from twenty to thirty feet from the ground, 

 using dry grass for the purpose. The eggs of neither 

 species appear to have been described. 



Buss says that in 1863 a living specimen reached the 

 Amsterdam Zoological Gardens, and it was also to be 

 seen in the Berlin Gardens ; otherwise it appears not 

 to have been imported. Being a common West African 



species there is not the least reason why it should not 

 be brought home in quantities if there were a demand 

 for it. Russ confounds the Western and 'Eastern forms, 

 but the former would be the species most likely to be 

 imported. 



PURPLE-HEADED GLOSSY STARLING 

 (Lamprocolius purpureus). 



Shining metallic golden green above, shading into 

 steel blue on nape and back of neck and again on lower 

 back ; upper tail-coverts violaceous blue shaded with, 

 violet ; lesser wing-coverts steel blue ; median and 

 greater coverts golden-green with blue reflections and 

 a subterminal black spot ; flights golden-green becoming 

 bluish at the extremities and fringed with black ; tail 

 steel blue, sliarhtly greenish at sides and tip, the central 

 feathers reddish violaceous ; head glossy reddish violet, 

 as well as most of the under surface ; sides and flanks 

 less reddish ; under tail-coverts deep steel blue ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillanes purple ; edge of wing blue ; 

 flights below blackish ; ibill and feet black ; irides golden 

 yellow. Female not differentiated, tut doubtless 

 smaller. Hab., Senegambia to the Niger and through 

 Equatorial Africa to Kavirondo. 



Shelley observes (" Birds of Africa," Vol. V., p. 79) : 

 " Buckley and I met with them in flocks on the open 

 country which surrounds Accra. . . . Mr. Boyd 

 Alexander found it in large flocks inland near the Volta, 

 and these Starlings have been obtained at many places 

 in Togoland. In Dahomey, according to Mr. F. New- 

 ton, it is known to the natives as the 'Ago-he.'" 

 Nothing, however, seems to have ibeen published 

 respecting its wild life. It reached the London 

 Zoological Gardens first in 1856, and those of Amster- 

 dam in 1871 ; in the London Gardens, according to 

 Russ, it was bred in 1874 * ; the late Mr. Wiener also 

 had a pair which built a nest in a hollow branch. Mr. 

 von Schlechtendal had one for nine years ; when feeding 

 it would let no other birds approach the food or water 

 vessels. This is one of the Glossy Starlings most 

 frequently met with at bird shows. 



GREEN GLOSSY STARLING (Lamprocolius chalybeus). 



The general colour of this species is a metallic, 

 steely green, especially on the mantle, upper part of 

 back, and shoulders ; the lower part of the back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts are deep steel-blue, slightly tinted 

 with violet and green ; the wing-coverts are coloured 

 like the back, the median and greater coverts with, a 

 subterminal velvety-black spot ; the inner lesser coverts 

 are deep ipurple and violet, forming a distinct shoulder- 

 patch ; the bastard wing, primary coverts, and quills 

 black, steely-green externally and tinted with blue ; 

 secondaries with a terminal velvety-black spot ; tail- 

 feathers violet-blue, the outer webs with slight steely- 

 green reflections ; crown of the head deep steel -iblue, the 

 nape and back of neck shaded with violet ; lores velvety 

 black ; sides of the face deep steel-blue ; the ear coverts 

 and sides of neck suffused with violet ; cheeks, throat, 

 front of neck, and breast steely-green, slightly shaded 

 with blue : back of breast, sides, and abdomen purplish 

 blue ; flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts steel-blue ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries rosy purple ; the edge 

 of the wing steel-blue ; under side of quills blackish ; 

 bill and legs black; iris of eye golden yellow. Hab., 

 North-Eastern Africa and Senegambia. 



