A STUDY OF STARLINGS 



monotony the myriad notes are so thick and cease- 

 less that the whole is as one sound. It is as im- 

 possible to single out one starling and connect it 

 with a particular note or part in the hymn as to 

 single one bee out of the murmurous cluster and 

 distinguish its share in the volume of melody. Per- 

 haps there is some kindred emotion of bird-flock 

 or bee-swarm which calls forth these concerts or 

 volumes of sound. With bees, however, there are 

 swarm murmurs of pleasure and of rage, if not also 

 of some other agitation, perhaps fear. Certainly, 

 when the hive is angry, it utters a note quite 

 different from the murmur of peace and plenty ; a 

 shrill and appalling sound to the ear. Whereas the 

 murmur of the starlings at roost time is ever the 

 result of the same feeling one, it may be, of 

 pleasure that the drowsy night comes on. 



A scene in bird-life in the flock which resembles 

 this great starling hymn, save that it is a scene 

 always of the full day rather than the eve, is a 

 gathering of the linnets and the finches (mainly 

 greenfinches and chaffinches) in the trees near a rich 

 feeding-ground. In January and February one may 

 see these birds so thickly massed about the little 

 heaps of artificial manures on grass lands as to hide 

 the colour of the ground. Some thousands will 

 crowd and flutter about two or three heaps where 

 the food is most abundant. Alarmed, they fly to 

 the nearest trees and hedges, where for a while they 

 will sit, keeping up an intense chatter of indescrib- 

 able notes, of which ordinarily one hears little or 



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