434 THE COMMON OR SPOTTED STARLING. 



1864 Dr Trail and another landed proprietor there told me 

 they were in immense numbers. This gentleman took seven 

 bushels of old starlings out of his pigeon -house at one time. 

 Another time he took 47 dozen, and sent them, along with a lot 

 of pigeons, to his friends, who thanked him for the pigeons and 

 snipes. On seeing his friends, he asked how they liked the 

 snipes. Very well, they said, only they were a little bitter. 

 He once, along with others, landed on one of the small 

 uninhabited islands, and kindled a fire in an old kelp-burning 

 hut. The starlings fell down amongst the smoke in great 

 numbers, on which they made a hearty meal. It is said where 

 starlings accumulate larks decrease by the starlings preying on 

 their eggs. Wishing to ascertain this, a manufacturer told me 

 that in an old unused loft of his factory there were over 300 

 starlings' nests, and on the meadows close by 50 larks' nests were 

 counted, and none of the nests or young were taken by the 

 starlings, which searched the meadows constantly for worms. 

 So, convinced of this fallacy, he protected both birds. Neither 

 do they touch the eggs or young of pigeons. They rather 

 fraternise, for I have found them breeding together by the 

 seashore, as the Orkney gentleman proved by his snip>es. 



Starlings skim and hawk for flies like swallows. On 

 October 8th, 1888, I saw many wheeling and curving up and 

 down, now and again alighting on chimneys and ridges in 

 groups, all over the city, from the Square Tower on the east to 

 the Marine Hotel on the west. I saw them from 10 a.m. till 

 5 at night. The day was close and mild. I have often seen 

 them hawking for flies after the swallows had left. They fly 

 slower, and are more distinctly seen catching the flies. I 

 watched them on the 10th of October and 14th November 

 1890, at noon both days — clear sunshine. On November 11th, 

 1888, on my way, by Eden, to see the wreck of the Norwegian 

 barque " Sofia Maria," on Kinshaldy sands, I saw hundreds on 

 the telegraph wires, and large flocks of lapwings along with 

 them on the solum in Eden — the tide ebb, proof that both 

 birds winter here. There were myriads of flies above the 

 seaweed lying on the beach — the day fine after the recent 

 storm. I have seen flocks of starlings, gulls, lapwings, and 

 larks all mingled together on pasture fields near our seashore ;. 

 and seen dozens on the backs of cattle and sheep, feeding on 

 the parasites. So, shepherds should befriend the starlings. 

 On August 28th, 1893, I saw about one hundred eating 

 my ripe jargonelles on the trees, being expert thieves as well as. 



