3 oo AUTUMN AND WINTER 



In the same way robins will now and again learn to take 

 a precarious stand on a swinging cocoa-nut ; but they do 

 not often repeat the attempt. A starling is of all birds 

 perhaps the most deliberate imitator ; imitative in his songs 

 and sounds, imitative in all his ways. It is, for example, by 

 no means uncommon to see starlings, short though their 

 wings are, pick up food off the surface of the Thames. They 

 have learnt the art, though they remain clumsy in the 

 technique, from the gulls, who do not mind a wetting and 

 have wings suited for the purpose. 



