415 



STURNUS UNICOLOR. 



(SARDINIAN STARLING.) 



Sturnus unicolor, " De la Marm." Temm. Man. d'Orn. ed. 2, i. p. 133 (1820). 

 Sturnus vulgaris unicolor, Schlegel, Kev. Crit. Ois. d'Eur. p. 57 (1844). 



Etourneau unicolore, French ; Tordo, Spanish ; Estorninho, Portuguese ; Storno nero, Stur- 

 neddu, Italian ; Zerzour, Arabic ; Zarzor Jcehal, Moorish. 



Figurce notabiles. 



Temm. PI. Col. Ill ; Bonap. Icon. Faun. Ital. tab. 33. fig. 1 ; Vieill. Gal. des Ois. pi. 91 ; 

 Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 211. 



6 ad. niger : corpore supra et subtus, remigibus versus apicem et secundariis in pogonio externo pulchre 

 violaceo nitentibus : dorsi plumis et plumis in corpore inferiore elongatis et lanceolatis : rostro flavi- 

 cante, ad basin cserulescente : pedibus pallide brunnescentibus : iride brunnea. 



2 ad. bnmnescenti-fuliginosa, nee nigra, vix purpurascente violaceo nitens : cauda, et alis ut in mare sed 

 brunnescentibus nee nigris. 



Adult Male (Madrid, 19th May). Entire plumage unspotted, jet-black, glossed with rich violet-purple, not 

 reddish purple, as in portions of the plumage of Sturnus vulgaris ; wings and tail velvety black, glossed 

 with purple only on the outer webs and apical portions of the feathers ; feathers on the underparts 

 especially much more elongated and lanceolate than in Sturnus vulgaris; bill yellow, bluish at the 

 base; legs brownish flesh-colour; iris dark brown. Total length about 7'5 inches, culmen l - 05, 

 wing 5 - 0, tail 2'5, tarsus 1*2. 



Adult Female (Seville, May) . Resembles the male, but is much duller and paler in colour, lacking to a 

 large extent the rich purple gloss, and the general ground-colour of the plumage is sooty brown, 

 instead of jet-black. 



Winter plumage. I do not possess a specimen in winter dress ; but, according to Loche, at this season of 

 the year both sexes have a few small white spots on the back and abdomen, and it doubtless has the 

 beak blackish and not yellow. 



Young. Resembles the young of Sturnus vulgaris, but is darker in colour. 



Obs. An adult female sent to me from Sardinia by Count Salvadori is far richer-coloured than any of the 

 other specimens from Spain, and is nearly as bright in colour as the adult male. 



The Sardinian or Unspotted Starling inhabits Southern, and more especially South-western 

 Europe, North-western Africa, and has been met with by Canon Tristram in Palestine. It has 

 been in error recorded from Scinde, the Punjab, and Cashmere, Sturnus nitens, Hume, having 

 been mistaken for it. 



