Birds, 



8821 



it, and met with not the slightest attention. Upon the ground the 

 pastor was certainly well able to outstrip its companions, and, like 

 them, progressed by means of a series of rapid steps ; but it differed 

 chiefly in its lighter and less stately movements, and by carrying the 

 body more horizontally ; indeed I fancied that in general appearance 

 it more closely resembled a blackbird. It was rather fond of standing 

 upon a stone or a slight eminence whenever an opportunity offered, 

 and altogether its peculiar motions, and apparently careless search 

 for food, presented a strong contrast to the sober, business-like de- 

 meanour of the starlings. Its note was a little like that of a starling, 

 and less harsh. At last, seeing that the flock was becoming more and 

 more difficult to approach, and having very little more time at my dis- 

 posal, I risked a long shot, whereupon the starlings made for the open 

 fields, but the pastor, with difficulty fluttering across the garden wall, 

 fell upon the ground within forty yards of the very tree from which I 

 shot my first specimen of the bird, in August, 1860. The present one 

 proved to be a male, only a few months' old ; the stomach contained 

 some small beetles, a few worms, and a considerable number of small 

 gnats. 



A bird so unattractive in appearance as this species, in the plumage 

 of its first autumn, might very easily be overlooked, and I have no 

 doubt that in this state it has more than once been throw T n aside, 

 under the supposition that it was a light-coloured starling or a young 

 thrush ; nor is it until a side-by-side comparison is made that an ob- 

 server (at least one equally inexperienced with myself) becomes fully 

 aware of the difference. I have just shot some first year's starlings, 

 and remark that in them the feathers upon the front of the head 

 extend no further than the posterior margin of the nostril, while in 

 both specimens of the rosecoloured pastor the feathers extend some 

 distance further, partly occupying the depression above the nostril : 

 this distinction seems to hold good at all ages. The following de- 

 scription of the rosecoloured pastor, in the plumage of its first 

 autumn, was taken before the skin was removed from the specimen. 



Whole length 8| inches. 



Wing from carpal joint to tip 5|- „ 



Bill (measured along upper ridge) ... 8^-twelfths. 



Tarsus I inch. 



Middle toe and its claw l£ „ 



Tip of upper mandible dusky brown, the remainder of the bill yel- 

 low. Eye reddish brown. Forehead and top of head light dingy 



