42 Bird-keeping. 



JACK a little ash-coloured bird, a great favourite 

 among the settlers, who say that wherever they go, 

 whisky and Whisky Jack invariably follow. These 

 Jays are so tame that they will hop about by the fire, 

 pick up crumbs, and perch on the logs, as if born and 

 bred in a shanty ; and even the Indian children will 

 not kill them, though they often tease the poor little 

 birds till they die of worry. 



The STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris).1h.Q Starling 

 much resembles the birds of the Crow tribe both in 

 structure and habits. It is a beautiful bird, with a 

 bright, glossy plumage black varied with purple and 

 green, reflected with great brilliancy in different lights, 

 and spotted with buff; often called from its mottlings 

 the Speckled Stare. It is a well-known bird in 

 Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is common in all parts 

 of the British Islands, assembling in flocks of many 

 thousands, each flock appearing to be under the com- 

 mand of one single bird, whose guidance it obeys in- 

 stantaneously. They migrate to West Devon and 

 Cornwall, and other warm parts of the British Islands, 

 in October, and generally come northward again in 

 March, building in the clefts of rocks, in church towers, 

 and in holes in decayed trees ; sometimes in pigeon- 

 cotes. The Starling feeds chiefly on insects, worms, 

 grubs, and grasshoppers, and is often to be seen perched 

 upon the backs of sheep, ridding them of their para- 

 sites. In confinement it will eat raw and cooked meat, 



