The Starling 



haunts takes place, but the immense flocks of the autumn 

 are never seen, and we can but suspect that Nature has in 

 some way or other taken heavy toll of them. 



Any hole in a tree or wall, the roof of a house, drain-pipes, 

 church towers, or cliffs suit this species for a nesting-site. 

 An untidy mass of straw, grass, and rubbish is collected to 

 form a nest, and a few feathers, or wool, are added as lining. 

 Five eggs of a uniform pale blue form the clutch, and two 

 broods are reared in the season. The young when fledged 

 begin at once to join with those from other nests and thus 

 form the nucleus of the immense flocks which are, perhaps, 

 one of the main characteristics of this species. 



It feeds chiefly on insects, worms, and slugs, which are 

 sought for in damp meadows and pasture-lands. It walks 

 in a curious deliberate way, and on seeing a likely worm 

 casting, it pushes in its closed beak, and after drawing it 

 back with open mandibles, the hole, thus enlarged, is 

 examined for the grub it may contain. It is also very 

 partial to sheep runs, settling on the sheep's backs and 

 relieving them of many and various ticks and parasites. 



The sexes are practically alike and in winter the whole 

 of the plumage is glossy black, with metallic reflections, the 

 feathers of the upper parts being tipped with buff and those 

 of the under parts with white. In summer it loses almost 

 all the spots on the under parts and a large proportion of 

 those on the back. The bill is lemon yellow in summer and 

 blackish in winter. The young are greyish brown all over, 

 rather lighter on the chin and under parts. In very old birds 

 the feathers round the base of the bill wear off, leaving a 

 bare patch as in the Eook. Length 8' 5 in. ; wing 5*2 in. 



153 20 



