402 PASTOR SPODIOPSAR 



Martin rosclin, French ; Storno marino, Ital. ; Mosenstaar, 

 German ; Rosovoi skvoretz, Russ.; Golaii maina, Tilyer, Hindu. 



ad. (Italy). Head, neck, fore-breast, wings, tail, and thighs black, 

 glossed with purple and green ; head heavily crested ; back, rump, breast, 

 and abdomen rich pale rose colour ; beak rose colour, brown at the base ; 

 legs dull brownish ; iris reddish brown. Culmen 0'95, wing 5'0, tail 2*7, 

 tarsus 1 '3 inch. The female is duller in colour than the male. In the winter 

 the rose colour is obscured to some extent with brownish, and the feathers 

 on the head, throat, and neck are tipped with buff. The young bird is 

 sandy grey above, whitish below ; the head and fore-neck striped with 

 brown ; wings and tail dark brown, the feathers edged with rufous buff ; 

 beak yellowish brown ; legs brown. 



Hob. Southern Europe, rare or accidental in Great Britain, 

 Scandinavia, Northern, Central, . and Western Europe; 

 commoner in Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and Central Asia ; 

 winters in India as far east as Sikhim, and south as Ceylon and 

 the Andamans ; of rare or accidental occurrence in N. Africa. 



Though in general habits this bird much resembles the 

 Starling it is usually found in large flocks, which appear 

 regularly in a most irregular manner as at Villafranca in 1875. 

 Its food consists in the summer of insects of various kinds, 

 grasshoppers, locusts, &c., otherwise of grain, seeds, and fruit, 

 and it is said to be very partial to mulberries. It rarely 

 breeds further west than Turkey, but is nearly always found 

 nesting in vast communities. The nest is a very loose structure 

 of grass-bents, &c., and maybe placed in the ground or amongst 

 stones or on buildings, often but little concealed. The eggs 3 

 to 5 in number are usually deposited in June, and are glossy 

 white, faintly tinged with pale blue, sometimes pure white, 

 and measure about 1*12 by O81. 



SPODIOPSAR, Sharpe, 1889. 



573. GREY STARLING. 

 SPODIOPSAR CINERACEUS. 



Spodiopsar cineraceus (Temm.), PI. col. ii. pi. 556 (1827) ; (id. and 

 Schlegel), Faun. Jap. Aves, p. 85, pi. 45 ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. 

 xiii. p. 41 ; (Tacz.) F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 544 ; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, 

 i. p. 524. 



Muku-dori, Jap. 



