54 NATURAL HISTORY [Birds. 



rant. This species has the general appearance of the rock- 

 pigeon, only the size is less, the bill shorter, and the feathers 

 on the back of the head are turned up towards the head. It 

 is the jacobine pigeon of authors, and the Columba cuculla- 

 ta * of Linnaeus ; but neither does he tell us its place of resi- 

 dence. Gesner -j- calls it the Columba Anglica, s. rupica ; 

 and Mr Pennant J gives it as a variety produced from the 

 domestic pigeon, the general likeness of which it surely has, 

 especially the nearer the latter comes to its original state. 



ORDER F. PASSERINE. 

 GENUS FII. THE STARE. 



Gen. Char. Bill short, depressed ; nostrils guarded above by a prominent rim ; 

 tongue hard and cloven ; toes, the middle joined to the outmost as far as the first 

 joint. 



Species 1. The Stare. 



Stare, or Stareling, Wil. Orn. 1Q6. Raii Syn. Av. 67. Sturnus Vulgaris, Lin, 

 Sys.QQO. Brit. Zool. 231. Brit. Zool. Him. 57. tab. 6}. Jig. 2. 



THIS is a harmless, prattling, mimic bird, found in thou- 

 sands in the Orkneys ; breeds in old houses, churches, the 



* Lin. Sys. 280. f Gesner,(as quoted by Lin.) Av. 279- Brit, Zool. 1. 218. 



