STARLING. 37 



every prospect of being duly hatched. This was near 

 Kilwinning-, on the Androssan line, in 1853, and the 

 circumstance was recorded in the 'Dumfries Courier.' 

 The hen sits very close, is fed by her mate, and has 

 been known to allow herself to be taken by the hand 

 from the nest. 



The eggs, four or five in number, are of a delicate 

 pale blue or blue green colour: some have a few black 

 dots. R. J. Davidson, Esq., of Muirhouse, informs me 

 of a nest of five perfectly white eggs, which he found 

 in a hollow tree at Dedham, in Essex, in 1862. G. 

 Warren, Esq., of Witnesham Vicarage, near Abingdon, 

 found a nest, with the eggs all but pure white, and 

 forwarded me two of them as specimens. 



Incubation lasts about sixteen days; both birds 

 feed the young. Two or three broods may be raised 

 in the year in some places, but ordinarily one, or at 

 the most two. 



J. R. Fisher, Esq. states that Mr. Gurney told him 

 of a Starling, the young of which having been taken 

 from the nest and placed in a cage which was hung 

 upon a wall, were discovered and fed by the old bird 

 until they were able to fly, at which time, and not 

 before, she unfastened the door of the cage and let 

 them out. 



