PASTOR. 19 



Genus PASTOR. 



The Rose-coloured Starling was included by Linnaeus and Brisson in 

 the genus Turdus. Scopoli removed it into the genus Sturnus ; but in 

 1815 Temminck somewhat unnecessarily placed it in a separate genus. 

 In the first edition of his ' Manuel d'Ornithologie/ p. 83, he invented the 

 genus Pastor, where the Rose-coloured Starling reigns supreme as the 

 typical and only species. The characters which distinguish this genus 

 from Sturnus are of the most frivolous kind : the upper mandible is not 

 quite as straight, the nostrils are rather more concealed by feathers, and 

 the head is furnished with a crest. In its habits, food, and nidification the 

 Rose-coloured Starling differs very little from the so-called true Starlings. 



The Rose-coloured Starling is confined to the southern portions of the 

 South Palaearctic Region during the breeding-season ; but in winter wanders 

 into the Oriental Region. 



