T he genus Pastor -was proposed by M. Temminck for
several birds which exhibit various relations to the Starlings
and the Crows ; only one of these, the Rose-coloured Pastor,
is an accidental visiter to this , country.; and though-severah
years sometimes intervene frona-oaev occurrence, to ian$j?her,
the beauty of the bird attracts particular no$j'ee,-ahd its dap--
ture has probably'been more regularly -ree|jded than that of
many other birds that are equally rare.'
I t may .n q tg ^ | dtogetherpusqless pto include heret &; brief
enumeration o f th q |i| instances that have come to my knowledge,
some from the records“of theqb|Cfvers, and others from
private communications. The. bird was first noticed, as British
-by Edwards, who appears to have taken ^ -.re p re se n tation
from a specimen killed at Norwood?- Mr.,Gould,-Tmhfs
Birds of Europe, mentions ,one„ thub was-shot jb^^^s^èlehd;
John Newman at Ivêr~Court; and ShawfrècQrds^ne'that was
killed in Oxfordshire« I t has-been and
during the summer of I 8 ^ |, a p a irw e ro ^ g i^ ^ y Christchurch,
in Hampshire^ and shot a t: the
tained; the female, f thoqgh, b e l k ^ ^ p be got
away : this communication was slhb tb mie bythe. Hon. Mr.
Harris, sop of th y Earl of Mahnesbpry. > Apair, noyfin the-
British Museum, - were killed- in “DevonsHre ;‘^and. two or-
three, other instances'of thp occurrence, of dhis m .fka
same county are recorded by Dr. Edward Moore,
lished catalogue of tHe Birds of- Devonshire, in the Magazine
of Natural History , for -188$. This bird has,., been shot at
Helston in Cornwall, and also on the Scilly Islands, the
latter specimen is now in the collection Of E. II. Rodd, Esq.
of Penzanf§£. Mr. L ..L l^ iEw y ^ .y ^ p -h is-,p o sse ssio n a.
specimen shot in July 183b,,,r while eating cherries in a nur-
sery-garden, near Swansea. Mr. .Eytoq fHias jFecQrded , one^
instance that came to his knowledge about four, yf^m.ago^at
Holyhead; and it has al^q. been - kille^,v,t|^®e,^n; Lancashire. -
Mr. Thompson sends me .word that it hag^imaifow instadê^l
’occurred -in summer, in various parts of Ireland. North of
London, a ‘specimen was slipt : on the 15th of August 1830,
at Haydon House, a few miles <■ from Röyston. Mr. Hoy
has recorded a notice of one at Wöodbridge in July 1832.
On the ÏÓth-of'July 1838; a fine, specimen was shot by one
of the gam ek eep ©r sföf the1 Rev. J. Holmes, of Brooke Hall,
-Norwich. -This gentleman -very obligingly sent the bird to
L'dn^oh|i 'for,myl0se,?in this work, and the figure at the'head
of this 'Sul^fëth was drawh^from that * specimen. The Rose
Phstbrhas alsJÉÉfe obtained ih^M#|ame county more than
onc'öbCsidfée^'as reeSfdpdrBy Mesbrel'hPaget, and Mr. J . D.
Salmon. --This fepëcies "has^b'èfend obtained in Lincolnshire,
Ymfehire^’ Durham;"and Northumberland. The museum
a|:Néwcastle contains bfté; if not m$&, ’British-Skilled speci-
ihclrty; Mr.^Selby mefiatëès that a-small fiócki were -seen; in
comply.'with Starlings, near" Bamborough -Castle; in July
18J8; and two other bird’s-have-been killed within a compa-
ratÉs^Ss'hort period,’ afnd both near *AlnwicMr;r one of which
is now iir tfo Cètl^tidïi’ of the Rev. Oswald Head, of Howick
Réctory .thi^bthëSï^Mfgs^fo Mr. Moffatt; one ;of the game-
keepers^ of Earl Grey, at Howick, as’ communièat'ed;to me
:by Mr. HutChinsol, of Durham. DrAFleming has "noticed
o,Me that was killed at Dunkeld. Thomas: Macpherson
Grant,' EsqfUof- Edinburgh, has in his collection due shot m a
garden in Forfarshire, on the 29tli of September, 1831; and
Mr. Bullbck-had a female that wa§j fakeil at Hoy in Orkney: >
This bird, lik ëm U r'Stafli^ has' an extended geographical
range. It is found, thbtfgH Tarelyffin^wèden ; and is said to
havé been obtained in -Lapland'. Ifciib found in Russia and
Siberia; and I have- Seen skins from four very widely separated
localities«-®! India:1 ^Cblónel Sykes^un his Catalogue of
the Bird's of thë- Dukhün,'saysf»“. These' birds'darken the air
by*their numbers’ at the period',óf the ripening of thé bread
grains; - AndYopogon sorghum, and Panicum spicatum, in
Dukhunftifi ©ecember. F o rty ér -fifty have been killed at a