STARLING 903 



variations of a local name of the Kestrel, commonly, but according 

 to Prof. Skeat {Trans. Philolog. Soc. 1888-90, pp. 20-22) erroneously, 

 referred by guessing etymologists to " Stand-gale " (cf. Windhover) 

 — its real meaning being the bird that yells or cries from a stone 

 or rock. 



STARLING (A.-S. Stxr, Steam and Sterli/ng ; Lat. Sturmis ; 

 Fr. Etourneaii), a bird long time well known in most parts of 

 England, and now, through the extension of its range within the 

 present century, in the rest of Great Britain, as well as in Ireland, 

 Avhere, though not generally distri- 

 buted, it is very numerous in some 

 districts It is about the size of a 

 Thrush, and, though at a distance it 

 appears to be lilack, when near at 



hand its plumage is seen to be sturnus. (After Swainson.) 



brightly shot Avith purple, green and 



steel-blue, most of the feathers when freshly grown being tipped 

 with buff. These markings wear off in the course of the winter, 

 and in the breeding-season the bird is almost spotless. It is the 

 Sturnus vulgaris of ornithologists. 



To describe the habits of the Starling^ within the limits here 

 allotted is impossible. A more engaging bird scarcely exists, for 

 its familiarity during some months of the year gives opportunities 

 for observing its ways that few others afford, while its varied song, 

 its sprightly gestures, its glossy plumage, and, above all, its character 

 as an insecticide — which last makes it the friend of the agriculturist 

 and the grazier — render it an almost universal favourite. The 

 worst that can be said of it is that it occasionally pilfers fruit, and, 

 as it flocks to roost in autumn and winter among reed-beds, does 

 considex-able damage by breaking down the stems. ^ The congrega- 

 tions of Starlings are indeed very marvellous, and no less than the 

 aerial evolutions of the flocks, chiefly before settling for the night, 

 have attracted attention from early times, being mentioned by 

 Pliny {Hist. Nat. x. 24). The extraordinary precision with which 

 the crowd, often numbering several hundreds, not to say thousands, 

 of birds, wheels, closes, opens out, rises and descends, as if the 

 whole body were a single living thing— all these movements being 

 executed without a note or cry being uttered — must be seen to be 

 appreciated, and may be seen repeatedly with pleasure. For a 



•^ They are dwelt on at some length in Yarrell's British Birds, ed. 4, vol. ii. 

 pp. 229-241. 



^ A most ridiculous and unfounded charge has been, however, more than 

 once brought against it — that of destroying the eggs of Skylarks. There is little 

 real evidence of its sucking eggs, and much of its not doing so ; while, to render 

 the allegation still more absurd, it has been brought by a class of farmers who 

 generally complain that Skylarks themselves are highly injurious. 



