THE PERCHING BIRDS 



123 



Photo by J. T. Newman 



COMMON STARLING 



Starlings appear to he on the increase in Scot/and) "whilst larks 

 are said to be on the decrease, diving to the destruction of their 

 eggt by the former 



known as the Ox-PECKER would seem at first sight 

 to have little to recommend it; yet it is one of 

 the benefactors of the larger African mammals, 

 clearing them of flies and other insect-pests. 

 Buffaloes, rhinoceroses, elephants, are alike grateful 

 for its services, as it climbs about their huge 

 bodies, picking off the liliputian enemies by which 

 they are beset. But little appears to be known 

 of the breeding-habits of these birds. 



In strong contrast to the dull-looking Ox-birds 

 arethebeautifulGLOSSYSTARLlNGS and CRACKLES. 

 The AFRICAN GLOSSY STARLINGS, indeed, repre- 

 sent the most beautiful of all the members of the 

 Starling Tribe. In one of the handsomest and 

 best-known species the LONG-TAILED GLOSSY 

 STARLING metallic green and purple-violet are 

 the predominating tones in the plumage, glossed 

 with copper reflections, and relieved by black or 

 darker bars of green and purple. In another 

 species the GREEN GLOSSY STARLING of East- 

 ern Africa the shimmer of the plumage is so 

 wonderful that the exact shades of colour are diffi- 

 cult to describe, in that they change completely, 

 according to the light in which the bird is held. 



The CRACKLES, or HILL-MYNAS, are Indian 

 birds, with glossy black plumage, relieved by 

 bare flaps of yellow skin projecting backwards 

 These birds make excellent pets, learning both to 



from the head immediately behind the eye. 

 whistle and talk. 



We come ROW to the beautiful ORIOLES -birds belonging to the temperate and tropical 

 parts of the Old World. The males, as a rule, are clad in a vestment of brilliant yellow and 

 black, but in some species the under-parts are relieved by rich crimson. One species the 

 GOLDEN ORIOLE has on several occasions visited the British Islands, and even in one or two 

 instances has nested there. But, as with all brightly plumaged birds in England, no sooner 

 is their presence discovered than they are doomed to fall to the gun of some local collector. 



We pass now to a group of exceedingly interesting birds, some of which are remarkable 

 on account of the beauty of their plumage, others from their wonderful nesting-habits. The 

 group includes many faroiliar as cage-birds, such as the LONG-TAILED WIDOW-BIRDS, the RED- 

 BEAKED WAXBILLS, AMADAVATS, JAVA SPARROW, GRASS-FINCHES, MUNIAS, and so on, all of 

 which are embraced under the general title of WEAVER-BIRDS, a name bestowed on account of 

 their peculiar nests. 



Abundant in Africa, and well represented in South-eastern Asia and Australia, these birds 

 bear a strong family resemblance to the Finches, from which they differ in having ten primary 

 quills in the wings. 



One of the most peculiar is the South African LONG-TAILED WHYDAH- or WIDOW-BIRD. 

 Strikingly coloured, this bird is rendered still more attractive by the extremely elongated tail- 

 feathers, which are many times longer than the body, so long, indeed, as to impede its flight, 

 which is so laboured that children commonly amuse themselves by running the bird down. 

 Kaffir children stretch lines coated with bird-lime near the ground across fields of millet and 

 Kaffir corn, and thereby capture many whose tails have become entangled among the threads. 



In brilliancy of coloration the Whydah-birds for there are several species are pressed hard 



