Starlings 787 



bill of fare grain, seeds, and certain fruits, especially mulberries, cherries, and 

 occasionally ripe pears and apples, which latter cause it at times to be regarded 

 as somewhat of a pest. It begins nesting in April and May, usually placing 

 its loosely constructed nest in crevices in buildings, but to some extent in holes 

 in cliffs, in company with Rock Doves and Guillemots, or in Martins' holes in 

 banks. The five to seven eggs are light greenish blue; often two broods are 

 reared in a season. After the young are able to care for themselves they con- 

 gregate with the parents in vast flocks, which resort each evening to some chosen 

 roosting place where they congregate in tens and even hundreds of thousands, 

 resembling, as they whirl and turn, a gigantic black cloud. For an hour they 

 may alternately alight and circle about before they finally settle for the night, 

 with the accompaniment of multitudinous and almost deafening calls. The 

 Starling enjoys the reputation of being an accomplished singer and great mimic, 

 producing, it is said, with astonishing fidelity, the call notes of Goldfinches 

 and other birds, or even the sounds of human activity, but Mr. Hudson insists 

 that its supposed accomplishment is due, not so much to conscious imitation 

 as to the fact that it naturally possesses a great variety and range of call notes 

 from which it is possible to select ones resembling those of other birds. Its 

 own more distinctive notes, which are most frequently heard during the breed- 

 ing season, are clear whistled calls. 



About 1890 some sixty of these Starlings were liberated in Central Park, 

 New York City. They took kindly to their new surroundings, nested in near-by 

 buildings, and having passed several of our severe winters may be considered 

 as successfully introduced. They have spread to other parts of the city, es- 

 pecially to the Zoological Gardens and the Bronx and to Staten Island. Dr. 

 Beebe, of the New York Zoological Park, states that they are becoming very 

 numerous there, and are displacing many native birds by appropriating their 

 nesting boxes, etc. They were introduced into Australia in 1863 and are now 

 abundant in Victoria and Tasmania. 



Purple-winged Starling. Extending from southeastern Europe through 

 Asia Minor to Afghanistan is the Purple-winged Starling (5. purpurascens], 

 which differs from the last in having the wing-coverts, shoulders, and rump 

 purplish, the throat bronze, and the abdomen purple or bronze-purple, while in 

 southern Europe and northwest Africa the place is taken by the Black or Sar- 

 dinian Starling (S. unicolor), which is black, glossed with violet-purple; the 

 habits of these are in the main identical with those of the common species. 



Rose-colored Starling. One of the handsomest members of the family is 

 the Rose-colored Starling (Pastor roseus), which occurs principally in eastern 

 Europe, Asia Minor, and central Asia, or occasionally and erratically in other 

 parts of Europe, and retires to India and Ceylon in winter. It differs from 

 the true Starlings in possessing a shorter bill, very long, pointed wings, and an 

 extremely long and full crest, the feathers of which are sharp pointed. The 

 sexes are practically similar, the adult in summer having the head, neck, fore 

 breast, wings, tail, and thighs glossy black, while the back, rump, breast, and 

 abdomen are rich pale rose-color; during the winter the black feathers of the 



