STARLING. 233 



will share with the Sparrow* any convenient site that an 

 ordinary dwelling-house affords, and will frequently occupy a 

 niche in a Dove-cote — but very seldom to the detriment of 

 the Pigeons, with which it generally lives in perfect harmony. 

 To the majority of us it is most familiar as our fellow-lodger 

 under the same roof, and it freely enters the precincts of our 

 largest and smokiest cities — even London and Glasgow, at 

 the breeding-season, when a disused chimney, a disj)laced 

 slate or tile, a defective cornice or any of the numerous 

 faults of a building, will give it the accommodation it needs. 

 But it is seen to best advantage in the country, and nowhere 

 better than around the gabled manor-house and battlemented 

 church steeple, bosomed in stately elms, or the snug home- 

 stead and thatched cottage, surrounded by trim crofts and 

 meadows — where each eave, coping, buttress and gurgoyle 

 offers a nursing-chamber for the young, and every turret, 

 weather-cock, pinnacle and finial a footing for the old. The 

 ivy that clothes so many old walls and trees adds yet more 

 to its convenience, and their summits resound, especially on 

 sunny mornings and evenings, with the never-ending varia- 

 tions of its song — the chattering harshness of some of its 

 notes making the long drawn out sweetness of others, to 

 which they are linked, all the more acceptable to the ear. 

 Very early in the year the Starling resorts to the breeding- 

 place of its choice, at first for only a short time in each day, 

 but as the season advances its visits are of longer duration, 

 until the needs of getting food or building-material alone 

 cause its absence. The nest, which is generally the joint work 

 of both sexes, consists of a large mass of dry grass or straw, 

 with a few roots and slender twigs, arranged without much 

 art. A little moss, wool and occasionally feathers are also 

 used. These are rudely disposed cup-fashion, and therein 

 are laid the eggs, from four to seven in number, of a delicate 



* It must be admitted that Mr. Gray's evidence tells ill for the Starling. On 

 one occasion he says he saw it drag five newly-batched Sparrows in succession 

 from their hole, and leisurely swallow them on the roof of the house. It is to 

 be hoped that this murderous disposition is very exceptional : it is certainly 

 uncommon, and most people will agree in stating, as the result of close observa- 

 tion, that Sparrows shew no jealousy of Starlings being near them. 



