Pastor roseus (_Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 333; _Hume, cat._ no.
690.
The Rose-coloured Starling has not yet been discovered breeding in
India, but Mr. Doig has written the following note on the subject,
which is one of great interest. He writes from the Eastern Narra, in
Sind:--
"Though I have not as yet discovered the breeding-place of this bird,
I think it as well to put on record what little I have noticed, in the
hope that it may be of assistance in eventually finding out where it
goes to breed. I began watching the birds in the middle of April, and
every week shot one or two and dissected them, but did not perceive
any decisive signs of their breeding until the 10th May, when I shot
two males, both of which showed signs of being about to breed at an
early date. Again, on the 15th May, out of seven that I shot in a
flock, six were males with the generative organs fully developed; the
seventh was a young female in immature plumage, the ovaries being
quite undeveloped. The birds were feeding in the bed of a dried-up
swamp, along with flocks of _Sturnus minor_, and were constantly
flying in flocks, backwards and forwards, in one direction.
Unfortunately, important work called me to another part of the
district, and when I returned in a fortnight's time I could not see
one. Where can they have gone? And they remain away such a short time!
I have seen the old birds return as early as the 7th July, accompanied
by young birds barely fledged, and I should not be at all surprised
if these birds are found to breed in some of the Native States on the
_east_ of Sind. That they could find time to migrate to the Caspian
Sea and Central Asia to breed, and return again by the middle of July,
I cannot believe, especially after having found them so thoroughly in
breeding-time, while still in the east of Sind. Another suspicious
circumstance is the absence of females in the flocks I met with.
Perhaps some of my readers may have an opportunity of finding out
whether _Pastor roseus_ occurs in the districts lying to the east of
Sind in the month of June, as there is no doubt that the breeding-time
lies between the 20th May and the commencement of July."