' GLOSSY STARLINGS. 



VIOLET-HEADED GLOSSY STARLING (Lamprocoliut 



purpureiceps). 



Above, glossy golden-green ; upper tail-coverts black 

 at bases, edged with steel-blue and with a subterminal 

 shade of bronzy purple ; wing-coverts steel-blue ; flights 

 purplish-black, steel-blue externally ; inner secondaries 

 glossed with golden .green ; tail-feathers blue-black, 

 golden-bronze externally ; crown, sides of neck, chin, 

 throat, and front of breast violet ; the forehead and 

 sides of head purplish-black ; hinder breast, abdomen, 

 sides, and flanks steel-green, slightly glossed with 

 golden ; thighs and under tail-coverts black, washed 

 with steel-blue ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 black, edged with metallic steel-blue ; flights below 

 black; bill and feet black; irides yellow. Hab., 

 " Cameroons to the Loango Coast, and eastward to the 

 Upper White Nile." (Shelley.) 



Beyond the fact that it is a woodland species, nothing 

 seems to be recorded respecting its wild life. Russ 

 says that it is extremely rarely imported alive, and to 

 his knowledge, apart from several wholesale dealers, it 

 has only been in the collections of Messrs. Wiener and 

 Linden. 



LONG-TAILED GLOSSY STARLING (Lamprotornis 

 caudatus). 



Above with the mantle and back of a shining peacock 

 green ; the lower part of the back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts glossy steel- 

 blue and purple, the 

 feathers being spotted to- 

 wards the tip with velvety 

 black ; the scapulars, les- 

 sr and median wing- 

 coverts, bastard wing, pri- 

 mary-coverts, and quills 

 shining steely-green, shot 

 with, blue, and showing 

 black bars in certain 

 lights ; the secondaries 

 bluish, towards the tips ; 

 tail-feathers rosy purple, 

 with a faint bronze gloss 

 and more or less violet re- 

 flections, these also show 

 evanescent black bare ; 

 crown of the head metallic 

 bronze, as also the sides 

 of the face and throat, the 

 latter slightly spangled 

 with golden 'bronze ; lower 

 part of throat shading 

 into deep steely-green, 

 with a subterminal blue 

 ?hade, which merges into 

 peacockTgreen on the 

 breast; lower part of the 

 breast and abdomen 

 purple, glossed with cop- 

 per ; sides of body glossed 



it'h blue; thighs blue with a violet shade; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries steely-green, slightly 

 bluish; qudls below black; bill and legs black; 

 aris of -eye , sulphur-yellow. This seems a lar*e 

 ?u V meaSUnng u P wards of 19 in. from the tip of 

 bill to the extremity of the tail, but the latter 

 occupies 13^ in. of the total length. The female is 

 probably a trifle smaller. Hab., "Northern Tropical 

 Africa, from Senegal to the Niger, and eastward into 

 Abyssinia" (Shelley). 



LONG- TAILED STARLING. 



A bluer form, L. et/toni Fraser, which Dr. Russ 

 regards as distinct, has not been recorded farther east 

 than ^antee. Capt. Shel'ley says of it, " I doubt L. 

 eytoni being even a good sub-species, as it is known 

 only from the districts inhabited by L. caudatus, and 

 as yet we know little with regard to the moult of these 

 species.'" 



According to Von Heuglin this bird moults in 

 November and December, and breeds about August. It 

 lives in pa.irs and families of about six to eight indi- 

 viduals, which are making a noise and in motion the 

 whole day, sweeping about far into the lofty forest or 

 wcrub. One frequently observes the young, sitting 

 huddled together upon a slender branch, whilst the 

 adults dart busily from branch to branch, scuffling 

 together or with other birds, or with lifted tails like 

 Magpies run and hop hither and thither upon the earth. 

 The food, according to Von Heuglin, consists princi- 

 pally of fruits and buds, yet they also seize all kinds 

 of insects, which are often most cleverly snapped up 

 during flight. 



In Shdlev's " Birds of Africa," Vol. V., pp. 55, 56, we 

 read: "Mr. Boyd Alexander writes: "It frequents 

 the open busth-country, nesting in holes in the big 

 baoba,b trees." 



" The eggs have been described bv Mr. Kuschel as 

 glossy greenish-blue, 1.06 by 0.81, and by Mr. Nehrkern 

 as deep blue, with evenly-distributed dots of pale brown, 

 and measuring 1.12 by 6.8." 



The movements of the species on the wing are rapid 

 and graceful, as anyone who had seen the specimens in 

 the late Mr. Abrahams' aviary would at once admit. I 

 was much amused by a little experiment which we tried 

 to prove their intelligence. My friend informed me 

 that whenever he entered their room these Starlings 

 expected a mealworm, and if he went out, forgetting 

 to humour them, they were certain to remind him. 

 We then went outside and shut the door, and imme- 

 diately there was a chorus of harsh shrieks. The only 

 drawbacks to the pleasure of keeping these birds are 

 the necessity for devoting a spacious aviary to them in 

 order to exhibit them to advantage, and the noise which 

 they are apt to make when they want anything. At 

 ether times, PO far as I could judge, they appeared to 

 be exceptionally quiet. Like the other glossy Starlings, 

 fruit and insects form the natural diet of this species ; 

 in the aviary egg-food, boiled potatoes, and small worms 

 may be safely added. 



This is a familiar exhibition-bird ; it firpt appeared at 

 the Amsterdam Zoological Gardens in 1864 and the 

 London Gardens in 1866. 



PTJRPLE-BACKKD GLOSSY STARLING (Lamprotornis 



purpuropterus) . * 



Smaller than the preceding species ; above glossy 

 green, the hind-neck and upper back shaded with 

 reddish-violet ; the lower back and upper tail-coverts 

 of that colour ; tail violaceous blue, both upper tail- 

 coverts and central tail feathers with darker bars ; 

 wings green or violet ; head glossy bronze ; chin and' 

 upper throat edged with violet and blue which shades 

 into green on the lower throat ; centre of chest coppery 

 bronze shading into violet on 'the remainder of the 

 breast, thighs, and under tail-coverts ; wings and tail 

 below brownish-black ; under wing-coverts washed with 

 bluish-green ; bill and feet black ; irides straw-yellow. 



* I cannot see any reason for the adoption of the later name 

 porphyropterus for this species; it is neither adopted by Rues 

 nor Shelley, ajid therefore I do not here follow the Museum 

 Catalogue. 



