Sturnus minor, _Hume; Hume, cat._ no. 681 bis.
Mr. Scrope Doig furnishes us with the following interesting note on
the breeding of _S. minor_ in Sindh:--
"Last year I mentioned to my friend, Captain Butler, that I had
noticed Starlings going in and out of holes in trees along the 'Narra'
in the month of March, and that I thought they must be breeding there;
he said that I must be mistaken, as _S. vulgaris_ never bred so far
south. As it happens we were both correct--he in saying _S. vulgaris_
did not breed here, and I in saying that _Starlings_ did. My Starling
turns out to be the species originally described from Sindh as
_Sturnus minor_ by Mr. Hume; and as I have now sent Mr. Hume a series
of skins and eggs, I trust he will give us a note on the subject of
our Indian Starlings. In February I shot one of these birds, and on
dissection found that they were beginning to breed; later on, early in
March, I again dissected one and found that there was no doubt on the
subject, and so began to look for their nests; these I found in holes
in kundy trees growing along the banks of the Narra, and also situated
in the middle of swamps. The eggs were laid on a pad of feathers
of _Platalea leucorodia_ and _Tantalus leucocephalus_, which were
breeding on the same trees, the young birds being nearly fledged; the
greatest number of eggs in any one nest was five. The first date on
which I took eggs was the 13th March, and the last was on the 15th
May.
"The eggs are oval, broad at one end and elongated at the other; the
texture is rather waxy, with a fine gloss, and they are of a pale
delicate sea-green colour.
"The birds during the breeding-time confine themselves closely to
their breeding-ground, so much so, that except when close to their
haunts none are ever seen.
"The size of the eggs varies from 1·00 to 1·10 in length, and from ·70
to ·80 in breadth. The average of twelve eggs is 1·03 in length and
·79 in breadth."
He subsequently wrote:--"I first noticed this bird breeding on the
11th March; on the 10th, while marching, I saw some on the side of
the road and shot one, and on opening it found it was breeding.
Accordingly on the 11th, on searching, I found their breeding-ground,
which was in the middle of a Dhund thickly studded over with kundy
trees, in the holes of which they had their nests. The nest lay at
the bottom of the hole, which was generally some 18 inches deep, and
consists of a few bits of coarse sedge-grass and feathers of _T.
leucocephalus_ and _P. leucorodia_ (which were breeding close by).
Five was the maximum number of eggs, but four was the normal number in
each nest.
"I afterwards found these birds breeding in great numbers all along
the Eastern Narra wherever there were suitable trees (kundy trees). At
the place I first found them in, the young ones are now many of
them fledged and flying about, while in other places they are just
beginning to lay.
"The total length of their breeding-ground in any district must be
close on 200 miles, but entirely confined to the banks of the river.
If you looked four miles from, the river, one side or the other, you
would not see one. Can _Pastor roseus_ breed in India in some similar
secluded spot? I have been rather unlucky in getting their eggs, as at
each place which I visited personally the birds had either young ones
or were just going to lay."
The eggs of this species are moderately broad ovals, sometimes
slightly elongated, always more or less appreciably pointed towards
the small end. The shell is extremely smooth and has a fine gloss.
The colour, which is extremely uniform in all the specimens, is an
excessively delicate pale blue with a faint greenish tinge, a very
beautiful colour. They vary from 1 to 1·18 in length, and from 0·71 to
0·82 in breadth.