140 THE S 



wild-cats and other beasts and birds of prey. Speaking relics of their 

 fate lay strewn about the ground. In a space of only five yards square 

 fourteen pairs of wings were picked up. The hill-slope, in fact, was 

 both a nursery and a slaughter-house. 



Xaumann states further that the rosy-starling nests in holes in 

 trees. If this is so, it would be interesting to know to what extent 

 the bird then remains gregarious, for it would be scarcely possible 

 for them to find a number of suitable sites close together. 1 



The nest is made of much the same material as that of the common 

 starling, with the addition, occasionally at least, of sticks and twi_- 

 Those built in the holes of the Castle of Villafranca were large shape- 

 less structures, occupying both the length and breadth of the whole 

 available site. They were composed of twigs, sticks -ti-aws. dry 

 grasses, and the like, and each had a small hollow for the eggs lined 

 with fibres, leaves, mosses and feathers. The nests on the hillside by 

 the Gulf of Smyrna were very different, a few dead stalks, or in some 

 cases a lining of grass, hi others a bare depression in the ground. 

 The nests of the rosy-pastor probably vary more than those of most 

 species owing to its habit of changing its breeding - place, which 

 may actually be hi different countries in two succeeding yeais. 

 The occurrence of unlined or thinly lined nests on the open ground 

 is possibly due to overcrowding, the less fortunate pairs, after 

 wasting time in fruitless strife, finding themselves without time 

 to prepare a proper bed for their eggs. 



The eggs, 4 to 6 in number, sometimes as many as 8, and 

 even 9, differ from those of the starling in being decidedly paler in 

 colour and possessing more gloss. They vary from very pale blue or 

 bluish grey to practically white. Traces of rusty brown spots have 

 been known to occur. In size the eggs do not differ appreciably 

 from those of the starling. 2 



According to all accounts, the eggs are laid either in May 

 or June, rarely earlier. They are incubated by the hen only. 



1 Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. p. 26. * F. C. R Jourdain (m Ktt.). 



