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Ornithology of Northern Africa. 
the plumage of the sexes which I am not aware of having seen 
remarked, viz. that the white on the inner webs of the first ten 
primaries of the wings extends much further in the male than in 
the female. 
22. Sturnus vulgaris. (Starling.) “ Zerzour” Arab. 
Vast flocks of the Starling resort to the Date-forests in winter, 
and do incalculable damage to the ripe fruit. They are snared 
and destroyed by thousands, being prized for food; yet there 
seems no appreciable diminution of their numbers, till the Date- 
crop is gathered and spring commences, when not a straggler 
remains in Africa. They are accompanied occasionally by a few 
individuals of 
23. Sturnus unicolor. (Black Starling), which, unlike the 
other, is a resident in Algeria, breeding in solitary and retired 
spots, in holes either of trees or rocks. 
24. Passer salicarius. (Spanish Sparrow.) “ Zaouch” 
Arab. 
Abundant in vast flocks wherever there is moisture, and espe¬ 
cially among the reeds in the salt marshes. At Waregla and 
Tuggurt, where the salt lakes are never dry, the noise of these 
birds is perfectly deafening, and a hundred may be, and, I am 
told, have been, brought down at a shot. Its habits are certainly 
very different from those of its familiar congener here, though in 
boldness and activity it rivals him. I am not acquainted with 
the bird in Spain; but in Africa, as a general rule, it does not 
affect the habitations of men, and always breeds near water in 
vast colonies of many thousands. 
25. Passer italic. (Cisalpine Sparrow.) 
Though having the same chestnut head as the preceding, this 
bird is easily distinguishable by the absence of the bright black 
streaks on the flanks so conspicuous in the other. Yet, though, 
in a series of the two, it is often difficult to draw the line, in 
its habits this Sparrow agrees exactly with our own, inhabiting 
the roofs of houses and the rafters of sheds in preference to 
the more distant groves and gardens. I never found it in great 
communities at a distance from buildings; but wherever man 
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