676 
PASTOB EOSEUS. 
each nest ... So soon as the broods were flown, they repaired to the nearest gardens, where they clustered on 
the trees hy thousands, while their parents fed them with locusts brought from the neighbouring steppes ■, 
and these assemblages were scenes of the greatest noise and confusion imaginable/^ The Marquis 0. 
Antinori gives an interesting account in ‘ Naumannia,’ 1856, p. 407, of a wonderful breeding- assemblage at 
Smyrna, where the nests were by thousands in the neighbouring hills, " some quite open and uncovered, 
others so hidden under blocks of stone that these needed turning to examine them ; some were at the depth 
of about a foot, others could not be reached by the arm/' In this case the nests were built without 
any skill, “ the bird being content with a cavity scraped in the soil, in which were to be found sundry 
straws or leaves of the agnocasto, and very seldom a border of grass-stalks/' Wonderful as must have 
been these colonies of the Eose-coloured Starling, they must have been outdone by another established 
so late as June 1875 at Villafranca, and concerning which Signor de Betta has written in the ‘ Atti del E. 
Istituto Veneto,’ ser. 5. I append the following extract of his account, taken from Professor Newton's 
edition of Yarrell's 'British Birds': — “In the afternoon of June 3rd, 1875, a flock of about twenty birds 
alighted on the high ruins of the castle at that place, and was presently followed by another of about a 
hundred, which by their cries attracted the notice of the inhabitants. Later in the evening there arrived 
many thousands more, which joined the first comers, and at dusk all dispersed in numerous troops over the 
country. Before daybreak the next morning, however, the people were awakened by the cries of some 12,000 
to 14,000 Starlings, which met at the castle and completely took possession of it, ejecting, after a sharp 
struggle, the other birds which were its ordinary occupants, and, since its walls did not then even afford 
sufficient accommodation, overflowed to the neighbouring housetops. The new arrivals at once set to work 
clearing out the rubbish from the holes and fissures they had thus gained, and, that done, on the morning of 
the 5th they began to build their own nests of twigs, straw, hay, and other dry jflants, leaving a hollow, lined 
with roots, leaves, moss, and feathers, in the middle for the eggs. The next few days were occupied by 
constant strife for sites and fierce contests between the males, who showed, however, the most ardent attach- 
ment for their partners ; and it was not until the 17th that Sig. de Betta (who made several visits to 
Villafranca at this interesting period) was able to ascertain that eggs, five or six in number, were laid ; yet 
by July 10th the young, having been most assiduously fed with locusts by their parents, were able to take 
flight with them on the 12th. On the 14th all the remainder were seen to depart, and Villafranca, to the 
great regret of its inhabitants, was absolutely deserted by its unusual visitors." 
The eggs are like those of the Common Starling, but more glossy and of a paler blue ; they are described 
in Yarrell's ' British Birds ' as being of a glossy french white, with a very faint tinge of bluish green or greenish 
blue, measuring from 1T2 to 1'08 by 0'85 to 0'81 inch. 
Genus STUENIA. 
Bill rather small, compressed, moderately straight; nostrils exposed; gonys-angle imper- 
ceptible. Wings with the 1st quill very minute, the 2nd and 3rd subequal and longest, the 4th 
scarcely shorter. Tail short, the tips of the feathers pointed; under tail-coverts lengthened. 
Legs and feet not so stout as in the last genus ; tarsus covered with stout scutes, and equal to 
the middle toe with its claw. 
Of light form ; head usually highly crested. Of mostly arboreal habit. 
