182 



VERTEBRATA, 





r;,Ti r.i 



THE ROSE-COLORED PASTOR. 



sheep, and frequently mounts on their backs to find the insects imbedded in their hair and wool. 

 It is a great destroyer of locusts, and on that account is held almost sacred in some parts; found 

 in Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe. The Pastor tristis is a closely allied species, found in the 

 Philippine Islands, and having been transported thence to the Mauritius by the colonists, has de- 

 stroyed nearly all the insects of the island. 



Genus PHILESTURNUS : Philesturnus. — This includes the Carunculated Philesturnus, 

 P. carunculatus, a New Zealand species, brown above and dirty white below. It is very bold, 

 and a great babbler. 



THE MEADOW-LARK. 



Gemis STURNELLA : Stnrnella. — This includes one of our handsomest and most familiar 

 birds, the Meadow-Lark — in Virginia the Old Field-Lark — S. Ludoviciana, ten and a half inches 

 long; body above varied with chestnut, deep brown, and black; neck and breast of a bright yel- 

 low, with a large cravat of black. It is migratory, coming to us in summer, and breeding in the 

 meadows as far north as 56°. Its nest is carefully concealed beneath a tuft of grass, being arclie(} 

 over level with the ground. The eggs are from four to five, and white, spotted. It lives or; 

 seeds and insects. It is a shy, suspicious bird, and being very alert and swift of flight is shot with 

 some difficulty. It is tough, but is esteemed for the table. It has none of the docility of the 

 European starling, but has a tender and plaintive song during the breeding season, usually uttered 

 at morning and evening from the top of some tall tree. The *S^. ncglecta inhabits Western America. 



Genus QUISCALUS: Quiscalus. — This includes the Common Crow-Blackbird, Q. versicolor 



