NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



morning, whilst on my way to a railway 

 station in the north of London, I heard, 

 to my surprise, the familiar notes of a 

 Golden Plover, and immediately began 

 to examine the heavens for a member of 

 that species flying overhead. To my 

 surprise, I discovered that the sounds 

 were coming from a Starling delightedly 

 flapping its wings on a chimney-pot 

 not far away. On another occasion, 

 whilst hunting for a much-desired Sand- 

 piper's nest on the shores of a small loch 

 in the Outer Hebrides, I said to my 

 brother, " Hark ! I hear one calling ! " 

 But that Sandpiper proved to be a Star- 

 ling standing on a rock not far off imi- 

 tating to perfection the soft call notes of 

 the little wader. I have heard different 

 members of this species mimicking the 

 cries and call notes of the Curlew, Whim- 

 brel, Lapwing, Common Partridge, Red- 

 shank, Ringed Plover, House Sparrow, 

 and other small birds. 



Tame Starlings have been taught to 

 imitate the human voice so well that one 

 has been said to repeat the Lord's Prayer 

 from beginning to end, and Pliny, the 

 historian, mentions one that was able 

 to speak in both Greek and Latin. 



The harsh alarm cry of the species 



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