178 



STURNIN^. 



SturnuS vulgaris, Lin.j Gould. B. Eur. pi. 210 ; P. E. 75; Naum. 

 vogt. t. 62. — The Common Starling. 



Head, neck, nape, chin, throat, breast and back black, glossed with 

 purple, bronze, and green in different lights, the latter predomi- 

 nating ou the head and neck, each feather tipped with a small brown- 

 ish white triangular or round spot, which, in very old birds, wear out 

 on the head and neck chiefly. Greater and lesser wing-coverts dusky, 

 edged with pale reddish brown ; primaries, secondaries and tertiaries 

 also dusky, their outer webs glossed with green, and margined with 

 light reddish brown ; tail short, du$ky, their outer webs more or 

 less glossed with green and edged , with pale reddish brown or 

 huffish ; under tail-coverts black, edged with white ; bill black ; legs 

 dark brownish red. 



Length. — 9 inches, wing 5, tail 3, bill at front r25. 



Hab. — Europe, Asia, and India generally during winter, to the 

 Himalayas. 



Sturnus minor, Hame, Str. F. i. 207; v. 328; Murray, Hdbk., 

 ZooL, ^c, SinJ, p. 175. — The Lesser Starling. 



" The general character of the plumage is like that of the ordinary 

 Starling, but in the first place, whereas in the common Starling the 

 reflections of the head are purple and of the back green; in these birds, 

 the head is green and the back purple; secondly, whereas in the 

 common Starling the wing varies from 5 to 6'35 and the tarsus from 

 I'l to 1 '2; in these birds the wing is only 4"3 and the tarsus barely 1 ; 

 the bills are about the same length as the common Starling, measuring 

 exactly an inch in front, but they are .more pointed, have a more 

 decided culmen ridge, and are less broad at the base." — {Hume). 



Hab. — Sind ; breeding from March to June. 



Eggs not unlike in shape those of the common Starling, but 

 decidedly smaller, a light pale bluish green, the shell finely pitted. 



Gen. Acridotheris, — Viell.j Gracula, Ciiv. 



Bill stouter and shorter than in Sturnus. Culmen deflected at tip; 

 nostrils concealed by the frontal plumes; tail rounded; tarsi stout; a 

 naked space usually behind the eye ; head crested or sub-crested ; Ist 

 quill rudimentary. 



Acridotheris tristis, Lira. ; P. E. 219; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 325, 

 No. 684; Murray, Hdbk., Zool., Sfc, Sind, p. 175. — The Common 

 Mtna. 



Head sub-crested ; nape, neck behind, chin, throat and breast glossy 

 black; back, scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts brown; wing- 

 coverts, primaries and secondaries black ; edge of the wing and the 

 base of the primaries white, forming a conspicuous wing patch ; tail 

 black, the feathers tipped white ; lower abdomen, vent and under tail- 

 coverts white ; bill and orbits deep yellow ; legs dull yellow ; iridea 

 reddish. 



Lenyth.—9-^ to 10 inches, wing 5-25, tail 3-5, bill at front 0-8 to 0-9. 



