419 



STTJBNUS PITEPTTEASCENS. 



(PURPLE -WINGED STARLING.) 



Stumus purpurascens, Gould, P. Z. S. 1868, p. 219. 



Sturnus unicolor (purpurascensi.), Severtzoff, Turk. Jevot. p. 64 (1873). 



Stumus poltaratskyi, Finsch, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 713. 



Figura unica. 

 Gould, B. of Asia, part xx. 



Sturno vulgari siinilis sed vix major, tectricibus alarum et corpore subtus purpureo uec viridi-cseruleo niten- 

 tibus facile distinguendus. 



Adult Male in summer (Erzeroom). In general appearance, at the first glance, resembling Sturnus vulgaris; 

 but the arrangement of colour is different ; head and neck glossed with greenish steel-blue ; back also 

 glossed with greenish steel-blue varied with purple; wings altogether glossed with lake-purple, whereas 

 in Sturnus vulgaris they are altogether glossed with greenish steel-blue ; breast and lower parts generally 

 glossed with purple; soft parts as in Sturnus vulgaris. Total length about 7'5 inches, culmen Tl, 

 wing 5 - 2, tail 2"7, tarsus 1*2. 



Obs. In all stages of plumage this bird resembles Sturnus vulgaris, except that the wing-coverts, scapulars, 

 and underparts are glossed with purple. 



Comparatively speaking, but little is known respecting this Starling, which, until quite lately, 

 was only known to inhabit the neighbourhood of Erzeroom and Trebizond ; but recent researches 

 have shown that it ranges from Asia Minor to the Chinese portion of the Altai range, and into 

 North-west India. First described from Erzeroom, it has since been found there in great abun- 

 dance ; and I am indebted to my friend Mr. Zohrab for several very fine specimens shot by him 

 near that town. Mr. C. G. Danford shot two out of a flock to the north of Csesarea, in Asia 

 Minor, and he also obtained several others in the Euphrates valley. Dr. Severtzoff records 

 it from Turkestan ; there are examples in the British Museum from Northern Persia and 

 Yarkand ; and Dr. Otto Finsch found it breeding at Lake Marka-kul, in the Chinese High 

 Altai, at an altitude of about 5000 feet. Dr. Finsch, who describes the specimen he obtained 

 there as distinct under the name of Sturnus poltaratskyi, makes several errors respecting its 

 range. He states that it is found in N.W. India, Persia, Baluchistan, and as far east as the 

 Yennesei, and that there are fifteen examples in the British Museum ; but he doubtless relied 

 on the coloration of the back only as a characteristic, his specimen being one which has the back 

 unusually blue-green, and did not remark the colour of the wing-coverts ; for most of the speci- 

 mens he refers to from the above localities prove to be nothing but ordinary Starlings (Stumus 

 vulgaris), though his type is certainly a Purple-winged Starling. 



Judging from the series of examples of these two species which I have examined, I find that 



6n 



