116 GRACULINJ?. STURNUS. 



They are said to follow cattle assiduously, and to feed on 

 larvaB and insects, especially grasshoppers and locusts. 



57. THREMMAPHILUS ROSEUS. ROSE-COLOURED COW-BIRD. 



Male with the feathers of the head elongated ; the plumage 

 of the body pale rose-coloured, of the head and fore neck black, 

 glossed with purple ; wings and tail brownish-black, glossed 

 with green. Female with the colours similar but duller, the 

 crest inconspicuous. Young with the upper parts light brown, 

 the feathers edged with white. 



Male, 9, .., 5j, T 9 , 1^, 1, 1 T V 



This beautiful bird migrates irregularly into the south of 

 Europe, and sometimes straggles into this country, it having 

 repeatedly been obtained in England, and in a few instances 

 in Scotland. According to Wagler, it lives on insects, espe- 

 cially locusts and grasshoppers, as well as on seeds of various 

 kinds ; often mingles with flocks of Starlings, and perching 

 on the backs of cattle, extracts the larvae of oastri ; nestles in 

 holes of trees and of old buildings, laying six eggs. 



Rose-coloured Ouzel, Thrush, or Starling. 



Turdus roseus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 294. Pastor roseus, 

 Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 136, iii. 76. Thremmaphilus roseus, 

 Rose-coloured Cow-bird, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 613. 



GENUS XXXIV. STURNUS. STARLING. 



Bill about the length of the head, straight, rather slender, 

 tapering, pentagonal ; upper mandible with its dorsal line 

 straight until near the end, the ridge very narrow at first, 

 then broad and convex, the edges sharp, with a very slight 

 or obsolete notch close to the depressed tip ; lower mandible 

 with the crura rather broad at the base, and sloping out- 

 wards, the dorsal line straight, the tip narrow ; gape-line 

 ascending gently at the base, then direct. Mouth of mode- 

 rate width ; upper mandible concave, with a medial promi- 

 nent line ; tongue sagittate, of moderate length, papillate at 

 the base, slender, horny and thin-edged toward the point, 

 which is narrow and slightly lacerated ; oesophagus of mode- 

 rate width, uniform ; stomach broadly elliptical, compressed, 

 muscular, the cuticular lining rugous ; intestine of moderate 

 length and width ; coeca small, cylindrical. Eyes rather 



