2 12 THROUGH GASA LAND. 



eminent South African naturalist, whose description 

 of them is well worth quoting. " Like our European 

 starling, which it very much resembles in manner 

 and habits, it frequently collects in large flocks ; it 

 is comparatively tame and easy to approach, and is 

 often met with near villages. Its food is very 

 various, consisting of berries, seeds, and insects, and 

 it is very destructive to fruit gardens. . . . This 

 species forms its nest in the hollows of trees, lining 

 the cavity well with feathers. The eggs are four in 

 number, of a long oval shape, but tapering much 

 more at one end than at the other ; they are of a 

 pale bluish-green, spotted all over with small dots of 

 light brown. The iris is bright reddish-orange, the 

 bill, legs, and toes more or less black." 



Such is the Nabirop glossy starling {JLampro- 

 colius phcenicopterus), the Latin synonym doubtless 

 being taken from Sharpe's catalogue. 



