STUENUS. 369 



flocks I met with. Perhaps some of my readers may have an 

 opportunity of finding out whether Pastor roseus occurs in the 

 districts lying to the east of Sind in the month of June, as there is 

 no doubt that the breeding-time lies between the 20th May and the 

 commencement of July." 



529. Stumus humii, Brooks. The Himalayan Starling. 



Sturnus unicolor, Marm., apud Jerd. B. hid. ii, p. 322. 

 Sturnus nitens, Hume ; Hume, Rough Draft N. q E. no. 682. 



The Himalayan Starling breeds in Candahar, Cashmere, and the 

 extreme north-west of the Punjab. It is the bird which Dr. Jerdon 

 includes in his work as S. unicolor (a very different bird, which does 

 not occur within our limits), and which Mr. Theobald referred to 

 as breeding in Cashmere as Sturnus vulgaris, which bird does not, 

 as far as I can learn, occur in the Valley of Cashmere, though it 

 may in Yarkand. 



This Starling lays towards the end of April at Peshawur, where 

 I found it nesting in holes in willow-trees in the cantonment com- 

 pounds. In Candahar it lays somewhat earlier, and in the Valley 

 of Cashmere somewhat later, viz. in the month of May. 



It builds in holes of trees, in river-banks, and in old buildings 

 and bridges, constructing a loose nest of grass and grass-roots, with 

 sometimes a few thin sticks ; it is perhaps more of a lining to the 

 hole than a true nest. It lays five or six eggs. 



Mr. Brooks says : — •" It is like S. unicolor, but smaller, with 

 shorter wing and. more beautiful reflections. It is excessively 

 abundant in Cashmere, at moderate elevations, and in the Valley, 

 and breeds in holes of trees and in river-banks. The eggs are like 

 those of S. vulgaris, but rather smaller. The latter bird * occurs 

 plentifully in the plums of India in the cold weather, and is as pro- 

 fusely spotted as English specimens. The bills vary in length, and 

 are not longer, as a rule, than those of British birds. I did not 

 meet with S. vulgaris in Cashmere. It appears to migrate more to 

 the west, for it is said to be common in Afghanistan. S. nitens 

 also occurs in the plains in the cold season. I have Etawah 

 specimens. They are at that time slightly spotted, but can always 

 be very easily distinguished from S. vulgaris." 



Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remark on its nidification 

 in the Valley of Cashmere : — " Lays in the second and third weeks 

 of May; eggs ovato-pyriform ; size 1 - 15 by 085 ; colour, pale clear 

 bluish green ; valley generally, in holes of bridges, tall trees, &c, 

 in company with Corvus monedula." 



Captain Hutton records that " S. vulgaris remains only during 

 the coldest months, and departs as spring approaches ; whereas the 

 present species builds in the spring at Candahar, laying seven or 

 eight blue eggs, and the young are fledged about the first week in 

 May." 



* Mr. Brooks here refers to S. membieri. — Ed. 

 TOL. I. 24 



