Order PASSERIFORMES. 
No. 37. 
Family EULABETIDM. 
APLONIS FUSCUS. 
(fuscus.) 
NORFOLK ISLAND STARLING. 
(Plate 28.) 
Aplonis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1836, p. 73, Oct. 18th. Type (by subsequent 
designation, Gray, 1840, p. 40): Aplonis fuscus Gould. 
Aplonis fuscus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1837, p. 73, Oct. 18th : Murrumbidgee River 
error=Norfolk Island. 
Aplonis fuscus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1836, p. 73, Oct. 18th : Murrumbidgee 
River error=Norfolk Island ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XIII., p. 133, 1890 
(pref. May 14th); Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 104, Jan. 1908 ; Mathews and 
Iredale, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. IV., pp. 109-110, Dec. 16th, 1920. 
Aplonis fuscus fuscus Mathews, Nor. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 451, Jan. 1912 : id., List Birds Austr., 
p. 325, Dec. 1913. 
Distribution. Norfolk Island. 
Adult male. Crown of the head, occiput, nape, hind-neck and lores, dark grey, glossed with 
bottle-green; scapulars, lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts and wing-coverts dark 
grey, glossed with dull bottle-green ; primary-quills dark ash-brown with black shafts ; 
cheeks, chin and throat blackish-grey, glossed with bottle-green; sides of the neck, 
fore-neck, chest, breast, abdomen, sides of the body, flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts 
dark grey, tinged with blackish, producing a sooty appearance ; under wing-coverts and 
axillaries dark ash-grey; quills below ash-grey, with the inner margins greyish-buff. 
Bill black, eyes reddish-orange, feet black, slightly tinged with grey. Total length 196 mm.: 
culmen 13, wing 103, tail 68, tarsus 25. Figured. Collected at the Cascades, Norfolk 
Island, on the 28th of May, 1913. 
Adult female. Crown of head, occiput, nape, hind-neck, fore-head and lores dark grey, glossed 
with bottle-green ; scapulars, lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts, wing-coverts, primary- 
quills and tail-feathers uniform dark ash-grey ; sides of face, ear-coverts, cheeks, chin 
and throat dark greyish-ash, very faintly glossed with dull green ; sides of the neck, 
fore-neck and chest dark greyish-ash, faintly tinged with fawn-colour; breast, abdomen, 
sides of the body, flanks and thighs yellowish fawn-colour ; under tail-coverts yellowish- 
w'hite ; under wing-coverts and axillaries vliite, tinged with grey; quills below dark 
ash, margined on the inner web with greyish-buff. Bill black, eyes light orange, feet 
greyish-black. Total length 198 mm.: culmen 13, wing 98, tail 63, tarsus 25. Collected 
at the Cascades on the 15th of April, 1913. 
Young bird. Fore-head and crown dark greyish-black ; back of the neck and upper mantle 
dark grey, with whitish shaft-streaks to the feathers, producing a striated appearance; 
lower mantle, back, rump and upper tail-coverts dark grey; wing-coverts, primaries, 
secondaries and tail like the back ; throat, sides of the neck, chest and upper breast leaden- 
grey, with very indistinct whitish shaft-streaks ; lower breast, belly, sides of the body 
and under tail-coverts light buff ; under wing-coverts and axillaries bullish-white ; under¬ 
surface of wings ash, becoming whiter towards the margins of the inner w 7 ebs. Bill black, 
eyes greenish-yellow, feet blackish-grey. Collected at the Cascades on the 4th of April, 
1913. 
Nest and eggs. The nest is built of sticks and lined with dry leaves. The eggs are like those of 
other species of the genus and allies, pale blue with rufous spots. Four clutches of 2 
and 3 eggs were taken on the 23rd of November, 25th of November, 8th of December 
and the 21st of December, 1912. They measure : 26’1 X 19, 25 5 X 17’5, 25 X 18; 
26-6 X 18-6, 25-5 X 19‘3, 255 X 18'7 ; 26 X 18, 26 X 19 ; 26 X 19 1, 27‘2 X 18-7mm. 
Breeding-season. November and December. 
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