PASTOE EOSEUS. 
675 
westerly winds. It appears to avoid tlie districts immediately to the west of the Indus, not being found 
anywhere in that direction, save in the north-east of Persia. It is a visitor to Palestine, breeding there. It 
arrives in India about August (indeed Mr. Ball saw them in the Suliman hills at the end of July), and during 
the interval between that and the following month, myriads, says Mr. Hume, pass through the plains of India. 
They make their appearance in the Carnatic and the Deccan about November, and they quit the south of India 
in March, passing through Sindh in April on their way back. The Rev. Dr. Fairbank writes tliat it visits tbe 
Deccan in vast flocks, and remains until April. In Chota Nagpur it is, according to Mr. Ball, a regular visitor 
in February, remaining as late as April. In that district he records it from Manbhum, Sirguja, and Gangpur, 
and also from Sambalpur and other places north of the Godaveri river, so that it would appear not to visit the 
eastern portions of the empire until near its time for leaving India. I And no recoi’d of its occurience to the 
eastward of the Bay of Bengal; but Col. fl’ytler mentions its having visited the Andamans in January; 
since this, however, the bird has not been seen by any subsequent observer. Finally, as regards its wanderings 
to the south, Siiiidevall records two young individuals coming on board the ship he was sailing in while 
ci’ossing the Indian Ocean, one of which alighted on the vessel “halfway between Ceylon and the north 
point of Sumatra, at least 100 geographical miles from each, and 80 or 90 miles from the Andaman Islands.” 
The strangest feature in its distribution is its avoiding the African continent while it visits the opposite 
shores of the Mediterranean in such numbers. But one instance of its capture on the soil of Africa is recorded, 
and this is by Von Heuglin, who mentions a young bird being killed at Cairo in 1864. 
Habits . — This handsome bird frequents open land, interspersed with bushes and low jungle, grain-flelds, 
and cultivated country, in which it commits devastations at crop-time. It feeds on seeds of grass and plants, 
fruit, grain, and also, according to Jerdon, on insects. Concerning its habits in South India, a writer 
(Mr. Elliot) quoted by J erdon remarks that it “ is very voracious and injurious to the crops of white 
‘ Jowaree ■’ {Andropogon sorghus), in the flelds of which the farmer is obliged to station numerous watchers, 
who, with slings and a long rope or thong, which they crack dexterously, making a loud report, endeavmur to 
drive the depredators away. The moment the sun appears above the horizon they are on the wing ; and at 
the same instant shouts, cries, and the cracking of the long whips resound from every side. The ' Tillyers,^ 
however, are so active, that, if they are able to alight on the stalks for an instant, they can pick out several 
grains. About 9 or 10 o’clock a.m. the exertions of the w'atchmen cease; and the Tillyers do not renew their 
plundering until evening. After sunset they are seen in flocks of many thousands retiring to the trees and 
jungles for the night.” Layard found the young birds at Pt. Pedro very wary; but those which appeared in 
the cinnamon-gardens in 1876 were far from shy ; they settled on the tops of low trees and were easy of 
approach. It is very omnivorous in diet, feeding much on insects, fruit, and even flowers, as well as on grain. 
“According to Chesney,” says Dr. Jerdon, “they are called locust-eaters in Persia;” and they have been 
said by other writers to devour large quantities of these pests. In the north of India they devour large 
quantities of mulberries, being there called the “ Mulberry- bird ” in consequence. Hutton relates the same 
of it at Candahar. Both Mr. Blyth and later writers in ^ Stray Feathers ’ observe that they are much in 
the habit of frequenting the cotton-tree when it is in flower, feeding, no doubt, upon its flowers. Sundevall 
relates that the two captured on the ship above mentioned fed on cockroaches. 
The Rose-coloured Starling has a steady straight-on-end flight, and proceeds in closely-packed flocks 
from place to place. The note of the male bird is described by Sig. de Betta as being a continuous babble, 
mixed with harsh and disagreeable notes ; and the cry of the female is equally stridulous and peevish. 
Nidijication. — April, May, and June are the months during which the “Pastor” has been found to breed 
in Europe. It nests in company, vast flocks laying their eggs on the ground in nests made of sticks, straw, 
wool, and whatever other miscellaneous material the locality besieged by the invading horde can afford. 
Von Nordmann says the nest is a largish, round, bowl-shaped structure, neither firm nor very neat, the 
materials being gathered assiduously by both cock and hen. In writing of a vast breeding-colony which 
he visited in 1844 near Odessa, he says that the birds “ took possession of every wall or heap of stones 
that offered a chink for the nest,” and that stone-quarries were equally inhabited throughout the whole 
neighbourhood. The eggs were from six to nine in number, but generally there were six or seven in 
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