360 A VES ORDER PASSERIFORMES. 



forming large tufts on the mossy branches of great trees, easily bent like 

 straw, and generally about twenty inches long. The stalks had the leaves, 

 which are small and straight, still fresh and living on them which leads me 

 to conclude that this plant was selected by the bird to prevent rotting and 

 mould in the building, since it keeps alive for a long time, as is so often the 

 case with epiphytical orchids. Before the cottage there is a meadow of 

 moss. This is brought to the spot and kept free from grass, stones, or 

 anything which would offend the eye. On this green turf, flowers and 

 fruit of a pretty colour are placed so as to form an elegant little garden. 

 The greater part of the decoration is collected round the entrance to 

 the nest ; and it would appear that the husband offers there his daily 

 gifts to his wife. The objects are very various, but always of a vivid 

 colour." 



The starlings are a widely distributed group, peculiar to the Old World. 

 Our common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is an exceedingly plentiful bird in 

 England, where it stays all the. year, receiving an additional 

 The Starlings, host of migrants in the autumn and winter. Like the 

 Family crows, the starlings are walking, not hopping, birds like 

 Sturnidce. sparrows and finches. They differ from the crows, however, 

 in having a streaked nestling, and they have no rictal 

 bristles. Besides the members of the genus Sturnus, which contains the 

 true starlings of Europe and Asia, and of which our own starling is the repre- 

 sentative, the family embraces many allied 

 genera, chiefly Asiatic, such as the field-starlings 

 and mynas (Sturnia and Temenuchus), and the 

 rose-coloured pastor (Pastor roseus). The latter 

 is an extraordinary bird, on account of its nidi- 

 Kcation. It appears in certain districts of South- 

 Eastern Europe in vast swarms, hurriedly rears 

 its young, and departs again with such rapidity 

 that its absence has hardly been noticed from its 

 winter quarters. The starlings have the first 

 primary very short, and have on that account 

 been associated with the swallows and wagtails, 

 but with these families they have nothing to do. 



Fig. 95.-Tri E COMMON STAR- Their e gg s a alwa y s W 8 * 1 * white, and the 

 LINO (Sturnus vulgaris). nest is a rough structure, placed in a hole of a 

 tree or wall. The starlings are principally in- 

 sect-feeders, and they do an immense amount of good to the agriculturist, 

 though it must be admitted that at certain times they commit some depre- 

 dation among the fruit. 



This family is for the most part Indian and Moluccan, but there are 



several African and Australian forms. It contains the wattled grakles 



(Eulabes) of the Indian region, the glossy starlings of 



The Tree Star- Africa (Lamprocolius), and the genus Calomis of the Indian 



lings. Family and Australian regions. These birds are arboreal in 



EidabetidcK. their habits, and differ from the true starlings in having 



distinct rictal bristles, and in laying spotted eggs. In 



Madagascar the Eulabetidce are represented by the genus Euryceros, a 



chestnut bird with a huge bill of a blue colour. Only one species, E. 



prevosti, is known. 



The Dicruridai are black crow-like flycatchers, inhabiting Africa, India, 



