116 
GRACULINiE. STURNUS. 
Tliey are said to follow cattle assiduously, and to feed on ! 
larvae and insects, especially grasshoppers and locusts. 
57. Thremmaphilus roseus. Rose-coloured Cow-bird. 
Male with the feathers of the head elongated ; the plumage j 
of the body pale rose-coloured, of the head and fore neck black, ' 
glossed with purple ; wings and tail brownish-black, glossed 
with green. Female with the colours similar but duller, the | 
crest inconspicuous. Young with the upper parts light brown, j 
the feathers edged with white. s 
Male, 9, .., 5^, li^? lyV*^ ^ | 
This beautiful bird migrates irregularly into the south of i 
Europe, and sometimes straggles into this country, it having | 
repeatedly been obtained in England, and in a few instances I 
in Scotland. According to Wagler, jt lives on insects, espe- | 
cially locusts and grasshoppers, as well as on seeds of various , 
kinds ; often mingles with flocks of Starlings, and perching | 
on the backs of cattle, extracts the larvae of oestri ; nestles in i 
holes of trees and of old buildings, laying six eggs. 
Rose-coloured Ouzel, Thrush, or Starling. 
Turdus roseus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 294. — Pastor roseus, 
Temm. Man. d’Ornith. i. 136, iii. 76. — Thremmaphilus roseus, | 
Rose-coloured Cow-bird, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 613. | 
GENUS XXXIV. STURNUS. STARLING. | 
(5 
Bill about the length of the head, straight, rather slender, 
tapering, pentagonal ; upper mandible with its dorsal line 1 
straight until near the end, the ridge very narrow at first, ;i 
then broad and convex, the edges sharp, with a very slight | 
or obsolete notch close to the depressed tip ; lower mandible j 
with the crura rather broad at the base, and sloping out- 1 
wards, the dorsal line straight, the tip narrow ; gape-line 
ascending gently at the base, then direct. Mouth of mode- 1 | 
rate width ; upper mandible concave, with a medial promi- 
nent line ; tongue sagittate, of moderate length, papillate at * 
the base, slender, horny and thin-edged toward the point, 
which is narrow and slightly lacerated ; oesophagus of mode- i 
rate width, uniform ; stomach broadly elliptical, compressed, 
muscular, the cuticular lining rugous ; intestine of moderate 
length and width ; coeca small, cylindrical. Eyes rather 
