THE STARLINGS 



[ORDER : Pdsseriformes. FAMILY : Sturnidce] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. F. B. KIRKMAN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



STARLING [Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus. Stare, shepster or sheepstare, starnel, 

 gyp ; brown starling (juv.). French, etourneau; German, gemeiner Star or 

 Sprehe ; Italian, storno.} 



I . Description . The pointed, somewhat flattened beak, glossy black and white- 

 spangled plumage, and the dull reddish-brown legs serve to distinguish the adult 

 starling from all other British birds. The sexes scarcely differ. There is a seasonal 

 change of plumage due to abrasion. (PI. 58.) Length 8'6 ins. (218mm.). The male, 

 in spring, has the black ground-colour burnished with metallic reflections green on 

 the head and scapulars, purple on the interscapulars. The throat, fore-neck, and 

 breast of a rich dark metallic purple changing to steel-blue, and steel-green on the 

 lower breast, abdomen, and flanks. The feathers of the crown and nape are lanceo- 

 late, those of the hind-neck and interscapulars and rump are tipped with buff, while 

 the scapular feathers have V-shaped buff tips. The feathers of the under surface 

 are more or less conspicuously tipped with white : on the under tail-coverts these 

 white spots give place to cream-coloured margins. As the season advances these 

 buff and white markings are gradually lost by abrasion. The wing-coverts are dark 

 metallic green and narrowly margined with buff. The primaries are black with 

 a narrow edge of buff along the outer web, and a spot of brownish-grey near the tip, 

 while the inner secondaries have a mole-grey tinge broadly margined with metallic 

 green, and a narrow line of buff along the free edge. Tail feathers mole-grey, 

 margined black, and with a narrow line of buff along the free edge. The beak is 

 yellow, the iris hazel, legs brownish-red. After the autumn moult the brown mark- 

 ings above and the white below, by then- greatly increased development, tend to 

 obscure the metallic hues of spring and summer, and the beak assumes a dusky hue. 



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