on the White-bellied Amethyst Starling. 275


plumaged males, some having coppery or golden reflections on

the rich puce colour of the feathers, whilst others decidedly

incline to a deep violet blue of equal beauty. Their habits

appear to be similar to the Shining Grackles’ in general, and did

not present anything noteworthy to my observation.”


“ Mr. Hartert met with the species at Loko, on the Niger,

in May and July, feeding on fruit.” “On the eastern side of

the continent, the most southern range known for the species

is Nandi”; here Mr. Jackson met with a flock of five or six,

“attracted by the small fruit of a large tree in the garden.”


Lord Lovat writes: “Met with only in the valley of the

Blue Nile and its tributaries. I once observed this Starling

hawking for flies like a Bee-eater.”


“Heuglin found them in the lowlands of Semien, along

the Mareb and Takase Rivers, and in Bergemeder up to 9,000

feet. In May and June they were abundant on the low ground

of the Samhar coast, at the Anseba and in Bogosland in families

of young and old birds. Early in summer he found them assem¬

bled in large flocks, consisting of both old and young birds in

the thick forests between the Gazelle and Kosanga Rivers.”


Although the above account gives us very little information

respecting the wild life of this beautiful Starling, there can be

no doubt that it would differ very little indeed from the closely

related P. verreanxi of which we read “ Small fruits form their

principal diet, although they sometimes feed on flies and the

winged females of the white ant, rising and taking them on the

wing similarly to Flycatchers.”


Stark and Sclater observe of P. verreanxi (which they

regard as merely a subspecies of P. leiicogaster) Birds of South

Africa, vol. I., pp. 46, 47 :—“These beautiful Starlings although

not so common as some of the other Glossy Starlings in Natal,

are by no means rare in Autumn and Winter. At this season

they are almost invariabN in flocks, consisting entirely of either

male or female birds. Towards Spring they appear to migrate

northwards, sometimes after they have paired.


During their stay in Natal they feed chiefly on berries and

small fruit, but also on insects, and particularly upon the flying

termites which they take on the wing, darting upon them from



