THE STARLING 



275 



four to seven in number, and pale greenish-blue in 

 colour, without markings of any kind. The Starling 

 will continue to lay ^^<g after egg in the nest as 

 regularly as they are removed. After the young are 

 hatched the parents are most assiduous in supply- 

 ing them with food. They are very noisy in the 

 nest, and the arrival of the parent with food is usually 

 the signal for a loud outburst of clamouring cries. 



The food of the Starling is very varied. In all 

 the open months the bird seeks for worms, slugs, and 

 various insects ; in the autumn it consumes berries 

 and fruits ; whilst during long-continued severe 

 weather it will visit houses and manure-heaps to 

 pick up anything likely to satisfy its hunger. The 

 bird is sometimes seen hawking for insects in the air 

 almost like a Swallow. The call-note of the Starling 

 is a long-drawn mellow whistle, whilst its alarm-notes 

 are almost as harsh and rapidly repeated as those of 

 the Mistle-Thrush. 



In breeding plumage the adult male Starling has 

 the general colour of the plumage black glossed with 

 metallic green, purple and violet ; the back shows 

 bronze reflections, the head green, the flanks purple 

 ones; the wings and the tail are dark brown, with 

 broad glossy black margins ; the under tail-coverts 

 have broad buff margins. The female somewhat 

 closely resembles the male in colour, but less metallic 

 and more spotted, and the feathers on the throat 

 are less elongated. The nestling plumage is nearly 



