Glossy black plumage, with iridescent purple and green; plumage spotted with buff and white; hackled feathers on head, neck and breast; yellowish beak and red-brown legs. Summer (breeding) plumage mostly blackish. Several races winter in N India, with head purple or bronze-green, but field identification of races  not very easy in winter. Gregarious, restless birds; feeds on ground, moving hurriedly, digging with beak in soil; entire flock may often take off from ground; flies around erratically or circles, but soon settles on trees or returns to ground.