CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 2. PASSERES. 181 



the occiput. It is found in Java, Sumatra, and the great Eastern Islands. Insects and fruits form 

 its food ; it is easily tamed, and learns to whistle and talk with facility. It is fond of cherries 

 and grapes. If a cherry be brought and shown to it, and not given to it immediately, it will crv 

 like a child. It will also sing and chatter like a parrot. With the natives it is a special favorite; 

 it is sent to China in great numbers ; it is also sometimes brought to I^uropc and America, and is 

 kept as a pet in cages. Marsden says that it has the faculty of imitating Imman speech in greater 

 perfection than any other of the feathered tribe: Bontius tells the following story: there was, 

 when he was in Batavia, an old Javanese woman, the servant of a Chinese gardener, who kept 

 one of these birds, which was very loquacious. Bontius was very anxious to buy it, but this the 

 old woman would not listen to. He then begged that she would at least lend it to him that its 

 picture might be taken, a request which was at last granted with no very good grace, the ancient 

 Mohammedan dame being under great apprehension that Bontius would offer the abomination 

 pork to her beloved bird. This he promised not to do, and had the loan of the Mino, which 

 kept continually saying, " Orang JSfamrani Catjor Macan BabiT This, being interpreted, means, 

 "Christian Dog, Eater of Pork;" and Bontius came to the conclusion that the unwillingness of 

 the old woman arose not only from the fear of her bird being desecrated by an offer of swine's 

 flesh, but also from the apprehension that he or his servants, irritated by its contumelies, would 

 wring its neck. M. Lesson gives an account of one he saw at Java which knew whole phrases 

 of the Malay language. The Javanese call this bird Mco and Mancho ; another species Eulabes 

 IndiciiSy is said to exist, of the size of the European blackbird. 



THE BUPHAGINiE OR OX-PECKERS. 



This group includes only a few species of birds, inhabiting the warmer parts of Africa, and be- 

 longing to the genus BUPHAGO. The best known is that of the Common Ox-Pecker or Beef- 

 Eater, so called from its habit of perching on the backs of cattle, and extracting the larvaj of the 

 bot-flies, by which those quadrupeds are commonly infested. The French call it Pique Boeuf ; 

 the scientific name is B. Africana. Singular as the diet we have mentioned may seem, it is said 

 to constitute the principal nourishment of these birds, and the bill is certainly peculiarly adapted 

 for gently squeezing the parasites out of the tumors caused by their presence. The cattle are 

 said to allow the birds to perch upon them without any signs of unwillingness, which is indeed 

 the case in respect to several other species which devour the insects found there. The Com- 

 mon Ox-Pecker is a small bird, about eight or nitie inches in length ; its plumage is reddish-brown 

 above and yellowish-white beneath ; the legs are brown and the bill yellowish, with the tips of 

 both mandibles red. It is generally seen associated in small flocks of seven or eight individuals, 



and is exceedingly shy. 



THE STURNINiE OR TRUE STARLINGS. 



The True Starlings are for the most part inhabitants of the eastern hemisphere, only the genus 

 Sturnella belonging to America. In these the bill is usually elongated, rather slender, and taper- 

 ing, the wings and tail rather short, the toes long and stout, and furnished with acute claws. 



Geiius STURNUS : Sturrius. — This includes the Common Stare or Starling of Europe, S. 

 vulgaris — Etonrneau of the French — a well-known, handsome, sprightly bird, often tamed, and as 

 it can be taught to whistle tunes and articulate a few words, it is a fiivorite pet. It nestles in holes 

 of rocks and buildings, and in hollow trees; the nest is composed of twigs, straws, grass, and roots; 

 the eggs are four, of a pale blue tint. It is eight and a half inches long, of a black color, with 

 violet and green reflections, and spotted with buff. After breeding time, the starlings assemble, 

 often in immense flocks, and roost among the reeds in fenny districts, sometimes crushing them 

 down by their weight, like grass after a storm. They are common in Europe, and we often see 

 them mentioned as familiar birds in English books. They are stationary, except that in severe 

 winters they move for a short distance southward. They have particular haunts, where they as- 

 semble in vast multitudes. From October to March, many thousands of them roost in a mass of 

 thorn-trees in the Zoological Gardens of Dublin. 



Genus PASTOR : Pastor. — This includes the Rose-colored Pastor— J/ar/m Bosclin of the 

 French— P. roscus, resembling the starlings, and, like them, found living in the vicinity of cattle and 



