712 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



The gray-backed, or Chinese, starling has been taken in the Philip- 

 pines but rarely; in addition to the specimens recorded by me from 

 Calayan and Luzon, we have two specimens that were killed near 

 Manila. 



727. STURNIA PHILIPPENSIS (Forster). 



VIOLET-BACKED STARLING. 



Motacilla philippensis FOBSTEB, Ind. Zool. (1781), 41. 

 Motacilla violacea BODDAEBT, Tabl. PL Enl. (1783), 11. 

 Sturnia violacea SHABPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 70. 

 Sturnia philippensis McGREGOB, Bur. Govt. Laboratories, Manila (1905), 

 25, 30; McGBEGOBand WOBCESTEB, Hand-List (1906), 108. 



Bi-lit' chi-na, Calayan. 



Calayan (McGregor)-, Luzon (Heriot, McGregor)', Mindanao (Steere) ; Min- 

 doro (Bourns & Worcester) ; Negros (Steere) ; Palawan (Platen, Bourns & 

 Worcester, White)-, Tawi Tawi (Bourns d Worcester). Japan; in winter to 

 Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas. 



Adult male (Calayan Island, October). Forehead, crown, lores, chin, 

 middle of throat, and area about eye white, dingy on top of head ; necl^ 

 scapulars, and back black, glossed with purple; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts white; chest, sides of neck, and ear-coverts vinous-chestnut or 

 bay, extending as a narrow band onto each side of hind neck and formini: 

 a nearly complete collar; sides of breast, sides of body, and flanks ash- 

 gray; middle of breast, abdomen, thighs, and crissum white; wings black, 

 glossed with green; outer primaries edged with white; some of tin- 

 secondaries edged with white toward the base; middle and lesser second- 

 ary-coverts, edge of wing, axillars, and wing-lining white; tail black, 

 glossed with green; outermost pair of rectrices with outer webs white 

 except near tips. Bill black, base of lower mandible white; iris brown : 

 legs and feet dark green ; nails brown. Length, 180 ; wing, 105 ; tail, 50 ; 

 culmen from base, 18 ; bill from nostril, 12 ; tarsus, 24. 



Adult female (Calayan, October). Resembles somewhat the female 

 of Sturnia sinensis. Upper parts dingy brown with no gloss except on 

 wings and tail; head, rump, and tail-coverts dirty whitish; under parts 

 white, sides of breast and of abdomen faintly gray; ear-coverts and 

 sides of neck washed with chestnut-brown ; primaries and primary-coverts 

 black, glossed with green on the outer edges; second, third, and fourth 

 primaries edged with white or whitish on outer webs; secondaries glossy 

 brown, the three outer ones widely edged with white except at tips; 

 secondary-coverts brown, the median coverts with broad white tips ; alula 

 quills black, edged with white; tail glossy blackish, outermost rectrices 

 with whitish edges. Wing, 105 ; tail, 48 ; culmen from base, 18 ; tarsus, 24. 



Immature (Calayan, October). Resembles the adult female, but the 

 upper parts more earthy brown; secondary-coverts all brown, the median 

 series with whitish tips; under parts whitish, ashy on the sides; throat 

 and chest streaked with dull earthy brown. 



