TfcED-WTN'GEE STARLING. 
159 
or even, and not unfrequently, on the ground. It is composed 
of rushes and long tough grass, and lined with finer portions 
of the latter; the rushes are interlaced among the surround¬ 
ing twigs if in a tree, or among the rushes if on the ground, 
m which latter case the whole structure is less elaborate than 
in the former. Several nests are often buUt in immediate 
neighbourhood to each other. 
Tfhe eggs, about five in number, are of a pale bluish white 
colour, encircled at the larger end with spots and streaks of 
dark reddish brown, with a few others scattered here and 
there, and some faint blots of purple grey and lines and 
dashes of black. 
Male; length, nine inches; bill, shining black; ins, dark 
brown; head, crown, neck on the back, and nape, black; chin, 
throat, and breast, black; back black. The wings expand to 
the width of one foot two inches; the feathers covering the 
bend are red; greater wing coverts, black; lesser wing coverts, 
orange yellow; primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, black; 
greater and lesser under wing coverts, black. Tail, black, 
rounded in form, the three outer feathers on each side being 
graduated. Legs, toes, and claws, shining black. 
The female is considerably smaller than the male; length, 
seven inches and a quarter; bill, glossy black; it runs a 
considerable distance off the forehead, and is rather prominent 
there; the tip is sharp, but rather flattened; over and under 
the eye run two streaks of pale reddish cream-colour, and 
behind it is a streak of brownish black. Head, crown, neck 
on the back, and nape, black, each feather edged with pale 
brown or whitish; chin, pale reddish cream-colour; throat and 
breast, thickly streaked with black and white, inclining to 
cream-colour on the latter; back, black, each feather edged with 
pale brown or wdiitish, giving it a mottled appearance. The 
wings extend to one foot in width; they are without the red; 
lesser wing coverts, black, each feather edged with pale brown 
or whitish; primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, blackish brown. 
Tail, blackish brown. Legs, toes, and claws, glossy black. 
The young birds at first resemble the female, but have the 
plumage more broadly margined with brown, which gradually, 
but only gradually, wears out, it being only very old males 
that are without any remains of it. The lesser wing coverts 
in the males soon shew the red, but at first pale, inclining 
to orange, and only partially diffused; it becomes complete 
by the following spring. 
