THE STARLINGS 



1519 



the following day from twelve to fourteen thousand rose-colored starlings arrived 

 and took entire possession of the castle; driving away, by the force of superior num- 

 bers, the common starlings, pigeons, and all other birds that nested in the ruins, and 

 proceeding to fill every available hole and fissure. The birds began to lay about 

 the seventeenth of June, the eggs being of a uniform white color with a greenish 

 tinge. The young were hatched about the tenth of July, and were fed exclusively 

 upon locusts. The old birds foraged in the country in flights of from ten to twenty, 

 or even forty, returning in the same united fashion to their offspring. The rose- 



ROSE-COI^ORED STARLING. 



(Three-fifths natural size.) 



colored starling is one of the most sociable and cheerful of birds. ' ' Always busy 

 and restless," says Signer de Betta, "it may be seen running here and there, ac- 

 companying every movement with its cries. The song of the male is a continual 

 chatter, mixed with harsh and disagreeable sounds; both one and the other begin 

 in the early morning, continuing for a length of time, and renewed at intervals 

 after feeding. The males, always at strife, may be seen pursuing one another and 

 exchanging blows with their bills, while in the most curious attitudes and with 

 their long black crests elevated and expanded. They exhibit great affection for 

 the hen' birds which, never leaving the nest during the period of incubation, are 



