TJnw t became a Lover of Birds. 23 



from the house, all in a lump, trying to get some comfort 

 from the warming rays of the sun. Plowever, by the end 

 of March the gardener became busy among the rose -beds, 

 uncovering the dwarfs and standards protected by mattiag' 

 against the severity of winter, and deliglitedly I watched the 

 Starlings busy among- the litter, securing bountiful supplies 

 i)f grubs and worms. The male bird particularly rivette^d. 

 my attention, for he would i)ick up a lon^ piece of bass, 

 JIutter up to the bo.x;, and disappear with it inside, then he 

 would come out and from the top of the box, utter all 

 sorts of unmusical notes and calls and dap his wings, etc., to 

 attract his mate. She was not responsive, but after a time, 

 joined him, but even then, with the inborn shyness of hofr' 

 sex, would not immediately follow him into the dark unknown 

 of the interior. She would perch at the furthest end of the 

 stick, gradually drawing nearer, and then before entering, 

 measure carefully with her beak the circumference of the! 

 hole to make certain it was just ri^ht, and the box safe 

 against intruders. 



Having convinced herself that all seemed safe, and 

 approved of the nesting site, chosen by her lord and ma^ster, 

 she would follow him into the box, there would be a scramble 

 and noise going on inside, then out would dart the hen, the 

 male in hot pursuit, they would rise in the air, there would 

 be some a^^parent lighting, and they were mated. Now a 

 busy time commenced, and both were soon busy in carrying 

 nesting material into the box. By the end of April or early 

 May the first eg^, of lovely bluish tint, would appear, and by 

 the middle of May there would be the first signs — eg'g-shells 

 on the ground — of family cares. From morn till night both 

 the parents would come and go to fill the gaping mouths 

 with caterpillars and worms, and I wondered where they found 

 all the supply of insect food. On leaving the box I noticed 

 that the old birds carried out something white in their beaks, 

 wmch they dropped outside, and my curiosity being aroused, 

 I e xamined it and found it to be the excreta of the young — 

 one of Nature's sanitary lessons. On being fed, the clamour- 

 ing of the youngsters, as they gi'ew, could \x( heard quitej 

 a distance oft", and one fine morning, after a fortnight's rearing 

 there would appear at the hole the head of a mouse -coloured 



