THE STARLING 271 



are very probably resident, but in autumn vast flights 

 of this species invade our area from the Continent, 

 sweeping across the North Sea in numbers that are 

 literally amazing. Our sedentary population also 

 appear to be subject to a certain amount of intern il 

 migration or local movement. From the easy 

 manner in which the Starling's ways may be 

 observed the bird is one of our best known species. 

 Its habits are exceptionally entertaining, whether in 

 spring and summer when the bird is bringing up 

 its brood near our dwellings, or in autumn and 

 winter when it lives for the most part in large 

 compact flocks whose movements are exceptionally 

 regular. The Starling has a happy knack of adapt- 

 ing itself to circumstances, and of accommodating 

 itself to its surroundings in a way that few other 

 birds are capable of. Owing to this r«ady adapta- 

 bility the bird may be met with in a vast variety of 

 haunts, both in the vicinity of human dwellings — 

 whether cities, villages, or scattered homesteads — 

 or in wild and remote districts. It is difficult to say 

 when the Starling is most interesting. In spring 

 his lively ways and merry notes, his impudence in 

 regard to nesting-places, and his regular habits are 

 entertaining enough ; in autumn and winter his vast 

 gatherings, his noisy clamour when assembling at 

 the well-known roosting-places, his wonderful aerial 

 gyrations are none the less attractive. At all seasons 

 the Starling is a gregarious bird, but its flocks are 



