676 PASTOR ROSEUS. 



each nest ... So soon as the broods were flown, they repaired to the nearest gardens, where they clustered on 

 the trees by thousands, while their parents fed them with locusts brought from the neighbouring steppes ; 

 and these assemblages were scenes of the greatest noise and confusion imaginable." The Marquis O. 

 Antinori gives an interesting account in * Naumannia,' 185G, p. 407, of a wonderful breeding-assemblage at 

 Smyrna, where the nests were by thousands in the neighbouring hills, "some quite open and uncovered, 

 others so hidden under blocks of stone that these needed turning to examine them ; some were at the depth 

 of about a foot, others could not be reached by the arm." In this case the nests were built without 

 any skill, " the bird being content with a cavity scraped in the soil, in which were to be found sundry 

 straws or leaves of the agnocasto, and very seldom a border of grass-stalks." Wonderful as must have 

 been these colonies of the Rose-coloured Starling, they must have been outdone by another established 

 so late as June 1875 at Villafranca, and concerning which Signor de Betta has written in the ' Atti del R. 

 Istituto Veueto,' ser. 5. I append the following extract of his account, taken from Professor Newton's 

 edition of Yarrell's 'British Birds': — "In the afternoon of June 3rd, 1875, a flock of about twenty birds 

 alighted on the high ruins of the castle at that place, and was presently followed by another of about a 

 hundred, which by their cries attracted the notice of the inhabitants. Later in the evening there arrived 

 many thousands more, which joined the first comers, and at dusk all dispersed in numerous troops over the 

 country. Before daybreak the next morning, however, the people were awakened by the cries of some 12,000 

 to 14,000 Starlings, which met at the castle and completely took possession of it, ejecting, after a sharp 

 struggle, the other birds which were its ordinary occupants, and, since its walls did not then even afford 

 sufficient accommodation, overflowed to the neighbouring housetops. The new arrivals at once set to work 

 clearing out the rubbish from the holes and fissures they had thus gained, and, that done, on the morning of 

 the 5th they began to build their own nests of twigs, straw, hay, and other dry plants, leaving a hollow, lined 

 with roots, leaves, moss, and feathers, in the middle for the eggs. The next few clays were occupied by 

 constant strife for sites and fierce contests between the males, who showed, however, the most ardent attach- 

 ment for their partners ; and it was not until the 17th that Sig. de Betta (who made several visits to 

 Villafranca at this interesting period) was able to ascertain that eggs, five or six in number, were laid ; yet 

 by July 10th the young, having been most assiduously fed with locusts by their parents, were able to take 

 flight with them on the 12th. On the 1 1th all the remainder were seen to depart, and Villafranca, to the 

 great regret of its inhabitants, was absolutely deserted by its unusual visitors." 



The eggs are like those of the Common Starling, but more glossy and of a paler blue ; they are described 

 in Yarrell's ' British Birds ' as being of a glossy french white, with a very faint tinge of bluish green or greenish 

 blue, measuring from 112 to T08 bv 0-85 to - 81 inch. 



Genus STURNIA. 



Bill rather small, compressed, moderately straight ; nostrils exposed ; gonys-angle imper- 

 ceptible. Wings with the 1st quill very minute, the 2nd and 3rd subequal and longest, the 4th 

 scarcely shorter. Tail short, the tips of the feathers pointed ; under tail-coverts lengthened. 

 Legs and feet not so stout as in the last genus ; tarsus covered with stout scutes, and equal to 

 the middle toe with its claw. 



Of light form ; head usually highly crested. Of mostly arboreal habit. 



