STARLING 903 
J 
variations of a local name of the KESTREL, commonly, but according 
to Prof. Skeat (7rans. 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. Str, Stearn and Sterlyng; Lat. Sturnus ; 
Fr. Htournecau), 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, 
where, 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 black, when near at 
hand its plumage is seen to be 
brightly shot with 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 
considerable 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 ery being uttered—must be seen to be 
appreciated, and may be seen repeatedly with pleasure. For a 
Srurnus. (After Swainson.) 
1 They are dwelt on at some length in Yarrell’s British Birds, ed. 4, vol. ii. 
pp. 229-241. , 
2 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 mjurious. 
