STARLING. 17 
always be seen, no matter how hard the frost; but the great majority of 
birds retreat before it. 
In this country the Starling may be fairly considered a resident bird ; 
but there is no doubt that it receives large additions to its numbers from 
Northern Europe every season. It is also a well-known bird at Heligo- 
land, and passes that isolated rock yearly on its migrations. Flocks of 
Starlings are also believed to cross over from the south-west of Scotland 
to Ireland, where, as previously stated, the bird is best known as a winter 
visitor. On our coasts during the period of migration the Starling is 
often seen at the lighthouses, and numbers perish by dashing against 
the lantern, dazzled by its glare. 
The adult male Starling in full breeding-plumage is a very handsome 
bird. Almost all the small feathers are dark metallic purple or green, 
those on the upper parts below the nape having arrow-shaped buff tips, 
most conspicuous on the sides of the rump, but almost obsolete on the 
centre of the back. The underparts are unspotted, but the under tail- 
coverts have broad buff edges. The wings and tail-feathers are brown, 
with broad glossy black margins. The distribution of the purple and 
green on the small feathers is subject to some variation; but generally 
the entire head except the ear-coverts, the nape, upper breast and upper 
back, and the flanks are purple—the ear-coverts, scapulars, lower back, 
rump and upper tail-coverts, the lower breast, and belly being green; but 
by altering the position in which the bird is held, green reflections to a 
limited extent may often be seen on the purple feathers and purple re- 
flections on the green ones. Examples, however, occur, even in the British 
Islands, in which this distribution of colour is exactly reversed, except that 
the greater and median wing-coverts always show some green reflections. 
The wing-coverts occasionally show bluish-purple reflections, but are never 
iridescent bronze like those of S. purpurascens. There seems to be no 
reason to suppose that any of these variations in the colour of the plumage 
are produced by interbreeding with the latter species, as they appear to 
occur irrespective of geographical distribution. The Starling’s bill is lemon- 
yellow; legs and feet reddish brown; irides hazel. After the autumn 
moult, the bird presents quite a different appearance. All the metallic 
colours of the plumage are half concealed, in consequence of each feather 
of the upper parts having a buff tip and those of the underparts a white 
tip, whilst the wing and tail-feathers have buff margins; the bill has 
changed to dark brown. As the spring approaches, these margins are 
almost entirely cast from the head of the male, and usually completely so 
from the underparts. The female somewhat closely resembles the male ; 
but the tints are usually not so purple, the spots are much larger and do 
not abrade so much, and the long hackle-like feathers on the throat are less 
developed. In the female the bill is yellow, tipped with blackish brown. 
VOL. II. c 
