2/2 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



most conspicuous after the breeding season is over. 

 A flock of Starlings are always an interesting sight, 

 whetlier engaged searching for food on the fields, 

 running hither and thither in scattered order, occa- 

 sionally flying short distances ; or when flushed and 

 wheeling and gyrating in the air previous to settling 

 again. No matter how scattered the birds may be, 

 when disturbed they quickly bunch together into a 

 compact mass, whose movements seem governed by 

 a common impulse. These flocks are wonderfully 

 regular in their movements. We remember a vast 

 flock that used to pass over a certain spot on their 

 way to the roosting-place every evening at twenty 

 minutes past four, and during a whole winter this 

 regularity was maintained, the birds passing to time 

 with amazing punctuality. These roosting-places 

 of the Starlino- are animated sio;hts at sundown. 

 From various points flock after flock of birds arrive 

 and settle in the trees or osier-beds, keeping up a 

 deafening chatter which soon becomes a perfect roar. 

 Then, if startled, the entire throng of birds will rise 

 in silence and perhaps ascend to a considerable 

 height The most wonderful part of the proceed- 

 ings now begins as the mighty throng of birds spread 

 out like a vast net, close up again, wheel to the 

 right or left, swoop down with amazing speed as if 

 about to settle, but rise again, repeating the manoeuvre 

 several times, until at last the vast sable host alight 

 with the precision of drilled troops, and almost 



