STARLINGS. 235 



another moment, the cloud might be seen descending in 

 a graceful sweep, so as almost to brush the earth as they 

 glanced along. Then once more they were seen spiring 

 in wide circles on high; till at length, with one simulta- 

 neous rush, down they glide, with a roaring noise of 

 wing, till the vast mass buried itself unseen, but not un- 

 heard, amidst a bed of reeds, projecting from the bank 

 adjacent to the wood. For no sooner were they perched 

 than every throat seemed to open itself, forming one 

 incessant confusion of tongues. 



If nothing disturbed them, there they would most 

 likely remain : but if a stone was thrown, a shout raised, 

 or more especially, if a gun was fired, up again would 

 rise the mass with one unbroken, rushing sound, as if 

 the whole body were possessed but of one wing to bear 

 them in their upward flight. In the fens of Cambridge- 

 shire and Lincolnshire, where reeds are of considerable 

 value for various purposes, the mischief they occasion is 

 often very considerable, by beating down and breaking 

 them, as many as can find a grasping hold clinging to 

 the same slender stem, which, of course, bends and 

 plunges them in the water, from whence they rise to 

 join some other neighbours, whose reed is still able to 

 bear their weight. This perpetual jostling and breaking 

 down is the probable cause of the incessant clatter, which 

 continues for a considerable time; indeed, till all have 

 procured dry beds, and a firm footing. 



It has been remarked, that the flights of these birds 

 have of late years much diminished, a fact to which we 

 can speak from our own experience, for the assemblages 

 which we have just described, as forming so interesting 

 a feature in autumnal evening walks have long ago 

 ceased ; and it is now a rare thing to see a passing flock 

 of even fifty, where, in years gone by, they mustered in 

 myriads. 



Their favourite dormitory of reeds, indeed, has 

 dwindled gradually away, since the dam was raised, and 

 the depth of water increased, which may partly account 



