COMMON STARLING. 47 



whole plantation down to get rid of them, two years ago, 

 but I begged him not to do so on account of the curiosity of 

 the scene, and he has since been Avell pleased that he ab- 

 stained." 



In Avinter, for the sake of the warmer temperature, Star- 

 lings frequently roost in pigeon-houses, and are accused of 

 destroying both eggs and young Pigeons. This has been 

 doubted ; and as I can substantiate no charge on my own 

 knowledge, I leave the cause of the accused Starlings in the 

 hands of a very able advocate, who has much better oppor- 

 tunities of personal observation than I have. Colonel Mon- 

 tagu, when residing near Kingsbridge, observed that in very 

 hard w^eathcr large flocks of Starlings flew towards West 

 Devon and Cornwall, returning when the frost broke up ; and 

 Mr. Couch, at Polperro, and Mr. E. H. Rodd, at Penzance, 

 have observed that large flocks of these birds visit Cornwall 

 in autumn and winter, but that few remain to breed ; they 

 even depai-t, Mr. Couch says, in his Cornish Fauna, much 

 earlier than the migratory birds that go to the northern 

 parts of Europe. 



The Starling is found in almost every part of the United 

 Kingdom. In the Hebrides, according to Mr. Macgillivray, 

 and in Orkney, it is found in thousands : Avhere, Mr. Low 

 says, it is also a favourite, as few houses are built, but se- 

 veral holes are left in the wall for its convenience, of which it 

 always, as if sensible of the favour, avails itself, and repays it 

 with a song, and an occasional display of its antic mimicry. 

 In the winter, Mr. Low observes, when the earth is locked 

 up with frost, and worms or insects no longer to be obtained, 

 the Starling visits the sea side, where it lives upon marine 

 animals, insinuating the point of its beak under stones, turn- 

 ing them over with a jerk, and immediately seizing what may 

 be underneath. A feeling in favour of this bird exists also 

 in Shetland. Mr. Dunn says it frequently builds its nest in 



