82 THE BIRDS OF DEVON. 



in a garden at Bideford by ^Er. Willcocks, who kindlj' showed it to us. 

 This was a fine male, shot in the autumn of 1875 while feeding on some 

 hawthorn berries in comjiany with Blackbirds, Although Col. Montagu 

 described it as a " beautiful species of Thrush," and gave it the name of 

 the " Eose-coloured Ouzel," in the parts of the world where it commonly 

 resides the Bose Pastor has very much the habits of our familiar Starling, 

 assembling in vast flocks, being fond of the society of cattle (hence its 

 name of Pastor or herdsman), and building together in holes of rocks and 

 old buildings. It is about the same size as a Starling, although the crest 

 upon the head gives it the appearance of being a little larger. Unfor- 

 tunately the beautiful rose-colour in the plumage of this very handsome 

 bird is very evanescent, quickly fading in skins and mounted specimens. 



The Bose Pastor occurs often in Cornwall, as many as seven or eight 

 having been procured in one season in the neighbourhood of Penzance. 



In the Eastern Counties Mr. Stevenson has recorded that most of the 

 Bose Pastors are met with in the autumn, whereas on our S.W. coasts the 

 summer months have yielded the greatest number. This renders it likely 

 that small flocks arrive in the S.W. Counties in the spring, gradually 

 scattering themselves eastwards. It rarely happens that single specimens 

 are recorded in any one year, the rule being that, if one has been pro- 

 cured, several others will be met with in various parts of the kingdom, 

 these being some of the other members of the flock, the survivors not 

 reaching the east of the island until the autumn months. 



The Bose Pastor may be even a more common visitor than is generally 

 supposed, for, as Dr. Saxby has remarked in his ' Birds of Shetland,' in 

 the plumage of its first year it is so unattractive, and so closely resembles 

 a young Starling in the nestling dress, that in a flock of those birds it 

 might easily escape notice. The fact that these birds are sociable at the 

 nesting-time makes it difficult for us to credit that single pairs have had 

 nests in this country. 



Family CORVID^. 



THE CROWS. 



The important family of the Corvidae, or Crows, has 

 been, until very recent years, well represented in Devon- 

 shire. Comprising some of our most familiar birds, such 

 as the Eook, Jackdaw, Carrion-Crow, Magpie, and Jay, 

 which are generally distributed and common in most parts 

 of the kingdom, it also includes some rarer British re- 

 presentatives, such as the Cornish Chough and Raven, 

 very characteristic in former years of our West Country 



