46 STURNID.E. 



and the old birds are observed to be most assiduous in their 

 attentions to their nestlings. Soon after the yovmg birds 

 leave the nest, both parents and offspring unite with other 

 families of the same species, forming large flocks, which again 

 associate, and may be seen feeding on commons and grass 

 grounds, in company with Rooks, and occasionally with other 

 birds. Their food consists of worms, insects in their various 

 stages, and snails ; in default of these they Mill eat berries 

 and grain. They are frequently seen in meadows, searching 

 for food among sheep and cattle. In the southern countries 

 of Europe they devour ripe grapes and figs. In confinement 

 they appear to prefer raw meat. 



When the young are too much grown to continue to oc- 

 cupy the nest in which they were reared, the nights of sum- 

 mer and autumn being warm, these birds roost by thousands 

 among reeds in the fenny parts of Essex, Cambridge, Hun- 

 tingdon, Lincoln, and other counties ; where alighting in 

 myriads upon this flexible plant, they crush it to the w^ater*'s 

 surface, and large patches are seen lodged and beaten down 

 like grain after a storm. 



I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. Goodenough, Dean 

 of Wells, for the following account of an extraordinary haunt 

 of Starlings on the estate of W. Miles, Esq. at King's 

 Weston : — " This locality is an evergreen plantation of 

 Arbutus, Laurustinus, &c. covering some acres, to which 

 these birds repair in an evening — I was going to say, and I 

 believe I might with truth say — by millions, from the low 

 grounds about the Severn, where their noise and stench are 

 something altogether unusual. By packing in such myriads 

 upon the evergreens, they have stripped them of their leaves, 

 except just at the tops, and have driven the Pheasants, for 

 whom the plantation was intended, quite away from the 

 ground. In the day time, when the birds arc not there, the 

 stench is still excessive. Mr. Miles was about to cut the 



