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Genus PASTOR. 



Turdus apud Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 294 (1766). 



Sturnus apud Scopoli, Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 130 (1769). 



Pastor, Temminck, Man. d'Orn. p. 83 (1815). 



Psaroides apud Vieillot, Nouv. Analyse, p. 42 (1816). 



Merula apud Koch, Baier. Zool. p. 242 (1816). 



Acridotheres apud Ranzani, Elem. Zool. iii. pt. v. p. 177 (1823). 



Boscis apud C. L. Brehm, Isis, 1828, p. 1282. 



Qracula apud Cuvier, Regn. Anim. i. p. 378 (1829). 



Pecuarius apud Temminck, Man. d'Orn. iii. p. 76 (1835). 



Thremmaphilus apud Macgillivray, Hist. Brit. B. i. p. 613 (1837). 



Nomadites apud Petenir, fide Bonaparte, Cat. Met. Ucc. Eur. p. 44 (1842). 



This genus contains but a single species, which, though tolerably closely allied to Sturnus, is in 

 several respects sufficiently different to entitle it to generic rank ; and this view has very generally 

 been taken, as may be seen by the above array of generic titles bestowed upon it. 



In habits the Pastor roseus resembles the Starling, being gregarious, frequenting, by choice, 

 pastures where cattle are found, and consorting with Starlings. It feeds on seeds, fruits, and 

 insects, especially, it is said, on locusts and grasshoppers. 



It breeds in colonies, and nests usually in a hole in a wall or rock, making a very slight 

 nest, and depositing glossy pale bluish-white eggs. It is somewhat remarkable that these 

 colonies do not nest regularly in the same place, but large flocks breed in a locality one season, 

 where the next season none are to be seen. 



Pastor roseus, the type of the genus, has the bill moderately long, the upper mandible 

 curved towards the tip, slightly notched, and slightly overlapping the lower mandible ; nostrils 

 oval, placed in the anterior portion of the nasal depression ; feathers on the crown elongated, 

 forming a distinct full crest ; wings rather long, broad, the first quill very short, the second 

 longest, the third being nearly equal ; tail moderate, even or slightly emarginate ; legs and feet 

 strong and stout, the tarsus covered in front with four large and three inferior scutellse ; claws 

 strong, curved, acute, laterally grooved. 



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