THE ROSE-COLOURED STARLING 141 



who while on the nest is assiduously fed by the cock. 1 One brood 

 appears to be the rule. It is not recorded whether both sexes 

 construct the nest, but both feed the young, and it is interesting 

 to note, as an example of the strong gregarious disposition of 

 these birds, that, when searching for the food of their young, they 

 scour the country in flocks of ten, twenty, forty, or even more, 

 and return in flocks to their nests. 2 As is the case with the 

 common starling, flocks of non-breeding birds may be seen in 

 summer. 3 



Of the sex displays of the species there is no record. There 

 is, of course, the usual quarrelling among the males, who "may 

 be seen pursuing one another and exchanging blows with their 

 bills while in the most curious attitudes, and with their long black 

 crests elevated and expanded." 4 This crest, which is longer in 

 the male than the female, is, when not erected, carried lying 

 flat, so as to be scarcely remarked. 



The young grow quickly, leaving the nest, according to one 

 observer, in from ten to twelve days. They depart with their 

 parents in flocks in July, but in August are said to form separate 

 flocks. 5 Their movements have yet to be more fully studied. 



The song of the rosy-pastor has been described as " a continual 

 chatter mixed with harsh and disagreeable sounds," 6 as " insignificant, 

 not loud, and composed of sibilant, harsh, and for the most part 

 ill-modulated, monotonous notes," not unlike the starling's, but yet 

 clearly to be distinguished from it, and with a resemblance to the 

 song of the corn-bunting or of a flight of sand-martins. 7 If, accord- 

 ing to Naumann, all the pleasing, piping, harping, flute-like notes 

 are taken from the song of the common starling, what is left re- 

 sembles the song of the rosy-pastor. He then syllables its various 



1 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. p. 21. 



2 Zoologist, 1878, p. 20 ; O. Reiser, Ornis balcanica, ii. Bulgarien, p. 82. 



3 Naumann, op. cit., p. 24. 



4 Zoologist, 1878, p. 20. See also Mr. Goodchild's drawing, Plate 59. 



s Naumann, op. cit., p. 25. 6 Zoologist, 1878, p. 20. 



7 Petenyi, OrnithologiscJw Fragmente. 



