418 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THE BEUNION STARLING. 

 By Graham Renshaw, M.B., F.Z.S. 



" Before the paper is decayed on which this animal has 

 been figured it will be ranked amongst those species which have 

 perished from the face of the earth." So wrote Darwin in 

 1839 of the Falkland. Island Wolf. His prediction, unhappily 

 fulfilled by the destruction of the last survivor at Shallow Bay 

 in 1876, might have been safely made of many other species, 

 especially amongst birds. The White-winged Sandpiper of 

 Tahiti, the Black Emeu, the Norfolk Island Parrot, the Philip 

 Island Parrot, and the Mamo of the Sandwich Islands instance 

 but too clearly the ease with which a species — and especially an 

 island species— may be exterminated. Upon the fauna of the 

 Mascarene Islands this disaster has fallen heavily, if one may 

 judge from the list of vanished birds. The Rodriguez Owl 

 (Athene murivora), the Mauritius Dove (Alectortenas nitidissima) , 

 and the Mauritius Crested Parrot (Lophopsittacus mauritianus) 

 are cases in point, though less familiar instances than the Dodo 

 and Solitaire. On Reunion there formerly abounded a very 

 curious bird, the Fregilupus, or Crested Starling. 



The Reunion Starling (Fregilupus varius) measured about 

 twelve inches in total length. It was remarkable for its some- 

 what elongated, slightly curved, and sharply pointed beak ; for 

 the compressed, Hoopoe-like crest on its head ; and. for the 

 strong curvature of the claws on its large feet. The head was 

 of a light ashy grey colour, and the feathers of the crest had 

 white shafts ; the cheeks, throat, and under parts being white. 

 The mantle, wings, and tail were ashy brown, the two latter 

 being tinged with grey, as if they had been powdered ; the lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts were faintly washed with 

 rufous. There was a large white spot or speculum on each wing. 

 The beak was orange ; the claws were citron-yellow. The iris 

 has been figured as red or orange, and also as blue and brownish 



