180 BIRDS. 



ferred with more reason against the magpie and jay, is 

 probably fanciful. At times, especially towards the end 

 of summer, these birds are observed to fly at a great 

 altitude, and we are told on respectable authority that 

 their object is to course certain high-flying insects. I 

 have no means of denying this, though it would be of 

 interest to learn how the information, unless acquired 

 from a balloon, was arrived at ; but I have repeatedly 

 watched these lofty starlings through powerful glasses 

 without observing any of the somersaults and other antics 

 that usually accompany the capture of winged insects. It 

 seems therefore more reasonable to assume, in the absence 

 at any rate of stronger evidence, that the birds prefer 

 performing their considerable journeys in the purer, lighter 

 medium above. The starling is a hardy and not unpopular 

 cage-bird, its imitative faculty and occasional soft notes 

 compensating for the more usual shrillness of its voice; 

 and it is also used, by those who have a fancy for so 

 remarkable a form of sport, as a substitute for the more 

 costly trap-pigeon. The nest, which is often stowed away 

 in eaves or in the top of a drain-pipe, but is also found in 

 holes in the earth or in trees, less frequently open to the 

 sky, is not, as a rule, an elegant structure, being loosely 

 put together with grasses, paper, string, w^ool, and any 

 other debris that is available. I never found one with an 

 elaborate lining, though such are recorded. Fjgr/i^, 5 or 6, 

 I inch ; pale blue, glossy, and elongated. 



Rose-coloured Starling. — A rare autumn visitor from 

 the South. It is a gaily-coloured bird with a large black 

 crest; and is also known as the "Hose-coloured Pastor." 



18. The Crow Tribe. 



[Somewhat large birds, mostly of gregarious hal)its, and 

 almost omnivorous. Eight residents ; one straggler.] 



The liook, already widely distril)uted in Great Britain 

 and Ireland, is extending its range in Scotland, where it 



