210 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



disposed to think that the real reason of the almost 

 invariable victory of the Starling in such cases is that 

 alluded to at p. 232 of the fourth edition of Yarrell's 

 ' British Birds,' viz. the intruders carrying in their 

 nesting materials. In many parts of Southern 

 Europe the place of the Starling as a resident species 

 is occupied by a very closely allied species, the so- 

 called Sardinian Starling, Sturmis unicolor, whose 

 habits are almost identical v^ith those of our common 

 bird. 



93. ROSE-COLOURED PASTOR. 



Pastor roseus. 



The only occurrence of this species within our 

 limits that has come to my knowledge was recorded 

 in the ^Field' of October 6th, 1888, by Colonel E. 

 E. Cottingham, R.A., who shot it in his garden at 

 Weedon on the 10th of September in that year, sent 

 it to me at my request for identification, and sub- 

 sequently was kind enough to make me a present of 

 it. It is, I think, an adult male, but it had been 

 " set up " (by some very indifferent artist) before I 

 received it. This beautiful bird is a rare and acci- 

 dental visitor to our country, and its visits are 

 generally put in at a season when its favourite fruits, 

 cherries or mulberries, are at their best. In general 

 habits this species closely resembles the Starling, 

 g,nd its principal diet consists of insects. Vast 

 flocks follow the armies of locusts in Western Asia, 

 India, and South-eastern Europe, and occasionally 

 remain to breed in colonies in localities where they 

 were previously only known as scarce and iiTegular 

 migrants. They generally nest in the crannies of 



