STTJRNIA.. 525 



secondaries more broadly, margined with white on the outer webs ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries white, a few feathers of the 

 former partially margined with brown. 



The youngest bird I have seen has the whole plumage russet- 

 1) row n, the inner webs of the tail-feathers tipped white, the quills 

 of the wing edged with paler brown ; the ear-coverts whitish ; the 

 chin nearly pure white. 



Between this young bird and the adult above described there is 

 every possible gradation of plumage. The nestling is probably 

 streaked below. 



Iris brown surrounded by white ; bill orange, the tip horny ; the 

 base of the lower mandible and the angle of the mouth brownish 

 green ; legs yellow (David <$f Oustalet). 



Length about 9 ; tail 2-8; wing 5'2 ; tarsus 1'25; bill from 

 gape 1*3. 



Distribution. A collector I employed at Bhaino in Upper Burma 

 in 1880 procured one specimen of this bird about November. I 

 omitted to notice this species in my list of the Birds of Bhamo 

 (Ibis, 1888, p. 70). 



The Grey Starling is a common winter visitor to Southern China. 

 It passes the summer in Eastern Siberia, Japan, and Northern China. 



S. colletti is an allied form without the white rump-band and 

 wanting the white tips to the tail-feathers. The habitat of this 

 species is unknown. 



Genus STURNIA, Lesson, 1837. 



The genus Sturnia contains six Indian species with soft silky 

 plumage. They are more arboreal than the true Starlings, being 

 found constantly on trees, feeding on insects and the nectar con- 

 tained in flowers ; but they also feed on the ground a good deal. 

 They go in flocks and have chattering notes. 



In Sturnia the sexes are alike, and the young are brown till the 

 first autumn. The bill is shorter than the head, slender, with the 

 cultnen slightly curved ; the nasal membrane is plumed ; the tail 

 is wedge-shaped, the middle pair of feathers being longer than 

 the others. 



Five of the species which I include in this genus are placed by 

 Sharpe in the genus Spodiopsar, but they appear to me to be abso- 

 lutely congeneric with the sixth species, S. sinensis, which is the type 

 of the genus Sturnia. 



The Mynas of this genus make their nests in holes of trees, and 

 one species also in the roofs of houses. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Lower plumage more or less rufous. 



a'. Upper wing-coverts and scapulars white 



tinged rosy, contrasting with grey back. S. sinensis, p. 526. 

 I 1 . Upper wing-coverts and scapulars not 

 white but closely resembling back. 



