SILKY STARLING.
- Sturnus sericeus Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, 805.
- Heterornis sericea Cassin, Ornith. Perry Japan Exped., Washington (1856), 2, 238, pl. 5.
- Poliopsar sericeus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 44 (generic name emended to Spodiopsar, addenda, p. 665).
- Spodiopsar sericeus McGregor, Bull. Philippine Mus. (1904), 4, 24; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 108.
Calayan (McGregor). Central and southern China.
“Adult.—General color above light ashy gray, a little darker on the hind neck, where the feathers are long and lanceolate; scapulars like the back, externally white, with a subterminal shade of black; rump and upper tail-coverts a little lighter gray, with ashy whitish margins; lesser wing-coverts blackish, edged with slaty gray; median coverts glossy purplish black; greater coverts black, externally glossy green, with purple reflections, velvety black interiorly; alula-feathers black, externally white; primary-coverts white, black near the center of the tips of the feathers; quills black, the primaries externally glossy purple, and white at the extreme base; the secondaries externally glossy green, like the greater coverts, bluish or purple toward the ends; center tail-feathers glossy green, the remainder black, externally bluish green or purple; crown of head and nape, sides of face, ear-coverts, cheeks, throat, sides of neck, and fore neck white, followed by an ashy gray breast; abdomen white; sides of body and flanks pale ashy gray tinged with brown; thighs white, ashy gray posteriorly; under tail-coverts white; under wing-coverts and axillars white; quills below dusky, ashy brown along the inner edge, the base of the quills white. ‘Bill bright red, with the tips white; feet orange; iris black, with a light circle.’ (David.) Length, 198; culmen, 25; wing, 120; tail, 61; tarsus, 29.
“All the males [in the British Museum], so marked, are of a delicate gray, and vary very slightly in the direction of a whiter or a browner head. A female collected by Mr. Reeves at Ningpo is altogether browner, rather more ashy on the rump; the gloss on the wings and tail less distinct; primary-coverts blackish brown near the base, white at the ends, with a central black streak; head whitish, ashy gray on sides of crown and hind neck; sides of face whitish, ashy on the cheeks; under surface of body as in the male, but light brown instead of gray. This specimen is apparently immature.” (Sharpe.)
A solitary female of the silky starling was obtained on Calayan Island in November, 1903. Iris dirty white; legs bright yellow; nails yellowish brown; basal one-half of bill reddish yellow; terminal half dusky. Length, 216; wing, 118; tail, 71; culmen from base, 24; bill from nostril, 16; tarsus, 29; middle toe with claw, 30.
729. SPODIOPSAR CINERACEUS (Temminck).
ASHY STARLING.
- Sturnus cineraceus Temminck, Pl. Col. (1827), 2, pl. 556.
- Poliopsar cineraceus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 41 and addenda, 665.
- Spodiopsar cineraceus Oates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Birds (1889), 1, 524; Mearns, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 353.
Luzon (Mearns). Eastern Siberia, Japan, China, Formosa, Upper Burma.