22 THE ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. 



of trees or buildings. The Starlings are rather a 

 numerous family, and are entirely confined to the 

 old world. All the birds called " Starlings " in 

 the American continents are not really Starlings, 

 but belong to the family Icteridce, which is 

 peculiar to the New World. 



The Starlings of the old world may be divided 

 into two main groups, the true Starlings (SturnidcB) 

 and the forest Starlings (Eulahetidce). The former 

 have rather a flattened bill, without rictal bristles, 

 which are like spiny hairs at th^ edge of the 

 mouth on each side ; they lay, moreover, an 

 uniformily coloured blue or white egg, without 

 spots. The forest Starlings, on the other hand, 

 have no bristles on the gape, and they always 

 lay spotted eggs. To this second family belong 

 all the Mynas (Eulabes) and the glossy Starlings 

 (Calornis, Lamprocolius, etc.) 



The typical Starlings (Sturnus), of which our 

 English Starling (S. vulgaris) is the best known 

 representative, are found chiefly in the northern 

 parts of the old world. The two principal forms 

 are S. vulgaris of Europe, and the Siberian Star- 

 ling, S. menzbieri. Both are migratory, the 

 common Starling leaving its nesting home in the 



