sturnidjE. 283 



In the fur-countries it frequents open plains and meadows, hiding itself in the 

 grass. It rises on the approach of a sportsman, flies heavily, though quickly, 

 for about two hundred yards, and then alights on the ground, where it will 

 generally remain until it is almost trodden upon, before it takes a second flight. 

 It often perches on the top of a low bush, and utters a loud, mellow, and plaintive 

 whistle, which its Cree appellation is intended to express. The crops of the 

 individuals we killed were filled with fragments of coleopterous insects*. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a male, killed May 8, 1827, on the plains of the Saskatchewan. 



Colour. — Upper plumage liver-brown, bordered with pale-brown, the darker colour 

 assuming the form of narrow bars on the posterior part of the back, lesser quills, and middle 

 tail feathers. Greater quills greyish-brown, slightly barred externally : edge of the wing 

 yellow. Three exterior pairs of tail feathers white, their outer tips and inner borders barred 

 and coloured like the three central pairs f. Three white stripes on the upper surface of 

 the head, the lateral ones changing to bright yellow before the eyes. Sides of the neck, 

 breast, flanks, and under tail coverts whitish, with blackish-brown central spots, which are 

 rare on the latter. Under plumage rich king's-yellow : a large pitch-black, horse-shoe 

 shaped mark on the breast, its limbs rising on the sides of the neck and cut by a white spot. 

 Bill dark-brown above; its sides and under surface bluish-grey. Legs flesh-coloured. 



The female differs merely in the black crescent on the breast being skirted with grey. — R. 



Form, typical. The bill, like that of the Starling, is considerably depressed on its outer 

 half, and there is a faintly marked indenture on each side of the upper mandible ; indicating 

 the first development of the notched bill by which the true Starlings are known. The lesser 

 quills are truncate, but the shaft projects sufficiently to form a mucro or little point. — Sw. 













Dimensions 







Of a Saskatch 



ewan 



and a 



Georgian male specimei 







Saskatch. 



Georgian. 









Incb. 



Lin. 



Inch. 



Lin. 





]gt 



b total 



. 11 







8 



6 



Length of tarsus . 



5, 



of tail 



. 3 







3 







,, of middle toe . 



„ 



of wing 



5 







4 



31 



,, of middle nail 



,, 



of bill on its ridge 



. 1 



3 



1 



2f 



,, of hind toe 



,, 



of bill to rictus 



1 



4i 



^2 



I 



3-1 



,, of hind nail 



Saskatch. 



Georgian. 



nch. Lid. 



Inch. Lin. 



5 



1 7* 



1 



i H 



4i 



4£ 



9 



8? 



5 



6 



Some of the Saskatchewan male specimens measure only nine inches and a half in length. 



* This species is subject to very considerable variation, not only in its colour, but in its size and in the proportionate 

 length of the bill. The northern specimens are larger and much paler than those we possess from Georgia ; while the 

 Pennsylvanian ones are intermediate between the two, proving the influence of climate, or the prevalence of parti- 

 cular races. — Sw. 



f In some specimens the white extends to four pairs of feathers. 



2 O 2 



