STURNID/F,. 



217 



THE STARLING. 



Sturnus vulgaris. Linnreus. 



The Starling, which is now so generally distributed throughout 

 Great Britain and Ireland, has during the last thirty years materially 

 increased both in numbers and range in Wales and the west and 

 north of England. In many parts of Scotland where it is now com- 

 mon it was either rare or unknown within the memory of persons 

 hardly past middle-age, though in some of the islands it had long 

 been a resident. Large flocks arrive on our east coasts in autumn, 

 at which season there is also a marked migration westward, localities 

 in the interior of this country which have been frequented during 

 the sunmier being then almost deserted, while great numbers visit 

 the south of Ireland. 



Examples from the Faeroes, where this species is common and 

 resident, have, as a rule, large and particularly broad beaks. In 

 Iceland a solitary specimen was obtained in December 187S, and as 



