ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. 



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neglecta. It frequents pasture-lands^ being very rarely found in woods. 

 It is celebrated for the sweetness of its song. The nest is domed, and 

 always built on the ground. This bird lays four or five eggs, white in 

 ground-colour, spotted all over, but principally at the large end, with 

 conspicuous reddish-brown blotches ; the underlying spots are generally 

 somewhat indistinct, but occasionally they form an important feature in 

 the egg and are slate-grey (Plate 11) . They vary in length from 1"2 to '95 

 inch, and in breadth from "9 to •&% inch. It is said, to feed both on insects 

 and seeds. The male Meadow-Starling is pale brown, spotted and barred 

 with dark brown and reddish brown ; the lores, the breast, and belly are 

 yellow, with a conspicuous black crescent below the throat. The female is 

 slightly duller in colour. 



