shot. They prove a calamity to the husbandman, as they
are as destructive as locusts, and not much less numerous.” ..
I t inhabits Syria, Egypt, and Africa, passing occasionally
in summer to breed in the warmer countries north of the
Mediterranean. At Aleppo it—is held sacred, because .dt
feeds on the locust. Specimens hay§ been .obtained, .several
times in the neighbourhood of Geneva; and in the translation
of M. Bechstein’s work on Cage Birds, it is stated
that “ a sportsman discovered in 1774, in the environs of
Meiningen-in Suabia, a flight of eight or ten Rose Ouzels,
moving leisurely from south-west to north-east, and passing
from one cherry-tree to another. He fired on these birds*
only one fell, which was fortunately very slightly wounded,
so that it soon recovered. Being immediately carried to M.
Von Wachter, the rector of Frickenhausen, this, clergyman
took the greatest care of i t ; he gave ita'-spaGious cage; and
found that barley meal, moistened with milk, was. as-wholesome
as agreeable to it. His kindness-tamed ;it in a short
time so far that it would come and take from; his hand the
insects which he offered it.. I t soon sang} also; but its
warbling consisted at first of but a few harsh sounds^, pretty
well connected, however; and this became at' lengtfi mord
clear and smooth. I Connoisseurs in the songs of birds discover
in this song a mixture of many others: one o lih e s e
connoisseurs, who had not discovered the bird, -but heard its
voice, thought he was listening to a concert of two Starlings,
two Goldfinches, and perhaps a Siskin; and when he saw
that it was a single bird, he could not conceive how all this
music proceeded from the same throat. This, bird was still
alive in 1802, and the delight of its possessor.”
A dealer in birds, residing in Oxford Street, had three
living specimens of the Rose-coloured Pastor for sale, in the
summer of 1837 or 1838. This bird flies in flocks like the
Starling, and in other habits and peculiarities also resembles
that species; it feeds about and among flocks and herds, and
frequently mounts on the backs of sheep and cattle to search
for the insects, or their grubs, which are known to occupy such
situations. Insects appear to form a principal portion of
their food but they are also partial to fruit, and have been
frequently found in gardens.| They build in holes of trees,
and in cavities o^olftwalls; the eggs are six in number, but
1 have not found any recorded .notice of their colour.
In the adult male the beak is of a yellowish rose colour,
except at the base ofothe under mandible, where it is almost
black ; the irides intense red brown ; the head, neck, wings
Mnd tail, black, glossed with violet blue the feathers on the
head'elongated; If f as to form a flowing crest; the back, scapulars,
1 and rump, of a delicate rose colour; the chin, throat,
and front of the heck, black; breast, sides, and abdomen,
like th e h a c k ,o f rose colour; thighs and under tail-coverts
black ; legs, and toes*yellowish brown ; claws darker brown.
Whole length of the bird eight inches and a half. From
the carpal joint to th e® d of the wing, five inches: the first
featherTery sho®4;* the second the longest in the wing; the
third feather a little shorter than the second; the fourth a
quarter of an inch shorter than the third.
In its second year the male has not so full a crest; the
dark portions of the plumage have not the brilliancy of the
same parts in the older male birds ; the rose colour is pale or
dull,v and occasionally mixed with brown.
■Hp young birds of the year,'the beak is yellow at the
base, brown at the point; no indication of a crest on the
head ; the whole of the upper surface of the body is of a uniform
dull brown; the feathers of the wings and tail of a
darker brown tint, edged with white, or greyish ash colour;
throat and abdomen , pure white ; the rest of the under parts
ash brown ; legs, toes, and claws brown.