30 STUENID^ SPEEO 



-. 



9. Spreo bicolor. Pied Starling. 



Turdus bicolor, Gm. Syst. Nat. i, p. 385 (1788). 



Le Spreo, Levaill. Ois. ft Afr. ii, p. 155, pi. 88 (1800). 



Spreo bicolor, Less. Traite, p. 407 (1831) ; Gurney in Andersson's 



B. Damara Land, p. 161 (1872) ; Holub and Pelzeln, Orn. Siidafr. p. 



112 (1882) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 429, 846 (1884) ; id. 



Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 187 (1890) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 44 (1896). 

 Jidda bicolor, Gray, Gen. B. ii, p. 327 (1846) ; Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 



172 (1867). 



Pied Starling and White-rumped Starling of the English. 

 Witgat (White -vent) and Witgat Spreeuw of the Dutch. 



Spreo bicolor. 



Description. Adult male. Head, body, and wings, brown, with 

 reflections of bronze-green in certain lights ; lower abdomen and 

 under tail-coverts white. Tail bronze-green above, brown below. 



Iris pale yellow ; bill black, the base, and a small wattle at the 

 gape, yellow ; feet black. 



Length 10-25 ; wing 5'75 ; tail 4-20 ; tarsus 1-45 ; culmen 0-90. 



Adult female. Kesembles the adult male in plumage. 



Young of the year. The base of the bill is buff-colour, and there 

 is no wattle at the gape. 



Distribution. Confined to South Africa : it is somewhat locally 

 distributed over Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and Upper 

 Natal, but is not found on the coast of the latter country. It 

 ranges over the Southern Transvaal, but becomes rarer towards 

 the north; and although it occurs in the Lake N' Garni district, it 

 has not been recorded from Great Nainaqua or Damara Land. 



Habits. This Starling is an abundant and well-known species 

 in many parts of South Africa, but from some districts is 



