DESCRIPTION 
OF THE 
NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 
Ow1nce to want of space in the Bird Gallery it has been found impossible 
to arrange the Cases containing the Nesting-series of British Birds in 
exact scientific order. The following descriptions of the species 
exhibited are therefore arranged in the same sequence as the Cases, 
which bear a special set of numbers. 
“ Nesting-series No. 1” is placed close to the entrance to the Bird 
Gallery, and the last Case (No. 159) will be found in the Pavilion, at 
the further end. 
No. 1. STARLING or STARE. (Sturnus vulgaris.) 
The most widely distributed of our indigenous birds and very 
numerous in cultivated districts, where it destroys an immense number 
of noxious grubs and insects, and thus proves to be a great friend of 
the farmer. It places its nest, a large untidy structure of dry grass 
or straw, sometimes lined with wool or feathers, in a tree or in masonry, 
and readily attaches itself to the habitation of man, breeding under the 
roofs of houses. It is very prolific, rearing two broods of from four 
to seven young ones each. The eggs are pale greenish-blue. 
Norfolk, June. 
Presented by Lord Walsingham. 
No. 2. JAY. (Garrulus glandarius.) 
This beautiful bird is resident in the British Islands and was formerly 
more common than at the present time, having been persecuted in 
many localities on account of its egg-stealing propensities and the 
depredations which it occasionally commits in orchards and gardens. 
It inhabits thickly-wooded districts, and builds its nest at a height of 
Lu 
