STAELINGS. 



513 



they roost among the reeds. Before retiring to rest they perform 

 numerous manoauvres in the air, the whole colony frequently 

 describing rapid counter-flights round a common centre. They 

 will sometimes continue repeating the eccentric evolutions for half 

 an hour before they finally settle for the night." Their favourite 

 food is seeds and berries, and occasionally insects, worms, and small 

 terrestrial mollusks. They choose for their nests well-protected 

 places, such as the hollows of decaying trees, crevices of walls, 

 the belfries of old churches, the ledges of roofs, and sometimes even 

 the interior of pigeon-houses. The nest is formed of dry grass, 

 in which it lays five light blue eggs. The Starling is accused of 

 seeking the shelter of the dovecot for the purpose of sucking the 

 inhabitants' eggs, but this is now found to be a calumnious 

 error." They are diffused over all quarters of the globe. There 

 are two species described among European birds Sturnus vulgaris 



Fig. 222. The Pensile or Baltimore Oriole ( Icterus bultimorus, Wood). 



(the Common Starling), and Sturnus unicolor (the Sardinian Star- 

 ling), which is black, and without spots, with the anterior feathers 

 very long, tapering, and drooping from the base of the neck. It 

 is found in Algeria among the rocks, where it builds. It passes 

 the winter on the African coast of the Mediterranean, in company 

 with the Common Starling. Its flesh is bitter, and consequently 

 unpleasant to the taste, but it is sought after for its docility, and 

 for the ease with which it is taught to speak. 



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