J.Gouh/Lk W.Hart J tJrtiiih /
STxrmus humh, GouM.
STURNUS HUMII, Gould.
Hume’s Starling*.
Sturnus unicolor auct. from N.W. India (nec De La Marmora).
— nitens, Hume, Ibis, 1871, p. 410.—Hume & Henders. Lahore to Yark. p. 250, pi. xxiv.—Brooks, Pr.
A. S. B. 1871, p. 210.
•— -----, sp., Blanf. E a s t Persia, p. 267.
I have already explained my reasons for figuring the true Sturnus unicolor in the present work, and I now
give an illustration o f the bird which has for so long done duty for that species with Indian writers. Mr.
Hume has so succinctly stated the differences of the Cashmere Starling that I do not think I can do better
than quote bis remarks when he described it as S. nitens (/. c .) I t appears to be the species that has
hitherto been identified with S. unicolor of Southern E u ro p e ; but it differs most markedly in its brighter
tints and smaller size from the only European example with which I have had an opportunity o f comparing
it. It is this species which is not uncommon in the Peshawer valley, and which breeds in May in the holes
o f trees in the compounds of the cantonments. I t is equally common, I believe, in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
Compared with the European bird, the bills are less compressed towards the tips, and looked at
from above seem more spatulate towards the end. The birds are slighter and smaller, the wings ranging
from 4 ‘6 to 4 ‘9 inches, against 5*2 in the only European specimen I have to compare it with, and the total
length being 7'25 to 8'0, against 9 ‘0 inches in the Sardinian Starling. The colours are brighter (recalling
the coloration of Juida) , and the plumage more glossy, while the breast-hackles are narrower and
shorter.
“ Learning that Gould had figured a new eastern Starling under the name of S. purpurascens, I concluded
tliat this must be my S. nitens; but having at last had an opportunity of consulting his twenty-second
Part of the ‘ Birds of Asia,’ I see that both in plumage and dimensions they differ toto coslo. S. nitens is
absolutely speckless, and is much smaller.” Mr. Hume then quotes the description given by me in the
present work, and he adds a diagnosis of his proposed new species as follows
“ Plumage.—Face, head, throat, a deep ¿/«e-purple, the ear-coverts alone having in some lights greenish
reflections. Neck all round, upper back and breast a bright ruddy purple. Lower portion o f back and
upper tail-coverts with a coppery and green gloss. Abdomen black, with a green metallic gloss. Wing-
coverts dark green, with, in some lights, a slight golden tinge. Wings with the primaries and their greater
coverts and the earlier secondaries towards their bases very narrowly but very distinctly edged with white.
Quills greyish brown, outer webs of primaries inside the white edging black, with a narrow band of the
same colour a t the t ip ; secondaries and tertiaries similar, but only about the outer half of the outer web
black, and the greater portion of this, in fact all but the tips, overlaid with metallic green, the black band
at the tips more conspicuous than in the primaries. Under tail-coverts black, with a faint purple and green
gloss. The whole bird absolutely spotless.
“ I think no one can well doubt that S. nitens and S. purpurascens are distinct. From S. vulgaris as well
as the Indian race of this latter no one, again, can well question the distinctness of my new Starling. As to
S. unicolor, the only specimen I possess, besides being much larger, having a more compressed bill, much
longer breast-hackles, larger feet, and stronger claws, altogether lacks the brilliant contrasts of colour so
conspicuous in S. nitens. My specimen might have been faded ; but there is no indication of these contrasts
in La Marmora’s original description, or in Degland and Gerbe. I really think this is a good species; and I
have seen at least fifty specimens o f it, all identical.
Mr. Blanford, in his lately published work on the zoology of Eastern Persia, mentions having found this
species on two occasions, at Shiraz in June and in the Jaji Rud valley in the Elburz Mountains in August;
and Major St. John says it is confined to wooded and garden districts, while the ordinary species is common
all over Persia, frequenting the high bare plateaux during summer in large numbers. Mr. Blanford is not
convinced of the specific distinctness of the present b ird ; but he points out that in any case the name nitens
cannot be maintained, as this title has already been given by Brelim to the Common Starling. I therefore
dedicate the species to Mr. Hume, who has done so much to enrich our knowledge o f Indian birds.
As far as can be determined at present, the range of the present bird seems to be from Cashmere and
Afghanistan, where it is common, to Persia, where it is rarer, being replaced in Armenia by my Sturnus
pwpurascens.