THE ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. 25 



He writes : — " The birds were feeding in the bed 

 of a dried-up swamp, along with flocks of Sturnus 

 minor, and were constantly flying in flocks 

 backwards and forwards in one direction. Un- 

 fortunately, important work called me to another 

 part of the district, and when I returned in a 

 fortnight's time, I could not find one. Where 

 can they have gone ? And they remain away 

 such a short time ! I have seen the old birds 

 return as early as the 7th of July, accompanied 

 by young birds barely fledged, and I should not 

 be at all surprised if these birds are found to breed 

 in some of the native States on the east of Sind. 

 That they could find time to migrate to the 

 Caspian Sea and Central Asia to breed, and 

 return again by the middle of July, I cannot 

 believe, especially after having found them so 

 thoroughly in breeding time, while still in the 

 east of Sind. Another suspicious circumstance 

 is the absence of females in the flocks I met with. 

 There can be no doubt that the breeding-time lies 

 between the 20th of May, and the commencement 

 of July." 



Since Mr. Doig wrote the above note, no 

 additional evidence has been obtained as to the 



