200 THE BROWN STARLING. 



before their final departure from us, his fine plumage 

 is renewed, and they all disappear for a season. 



The brown starling, or solitary thrush (turdus 

 solitarius), is not an uncommon bird with us. It 

 breeds in the holes and hollows of old trees, and, 

 hatching early, forms small flocks in our pastures, 

 which are seen about before the arrival of the winter 

 starling, for which bird, by its manners and habits, 

 it is generally mistaken. It will occasionally, in 

 very dry seasons, enter our gardens for food, which 

 the common stares never do ; and this year (1826) 

 I had one caught in a trap, unable to resist the 

 tempting plunder of a cherry tree, in conjunction 

 with half the thrushes in the neighbourhood. I 

 have seen a few, small, thrushlike birds associate and 

 feed with the missel thrush in our summer pastures, 

 which I suspect to be solitary starlings : but, wild 

 and wary like them, they admit no approach to 

 verify the species ; and they appear likewise to 

 follow and mix with this bird, when it visits us in 

 autumn, to gather the berries of the yew and the 

 mountain ash. I am not certain where it passes its 

 winter season, but apprehend it mingles in the large 

 flights of the common species. It returns to our 

 pastures, however, for a short period in the spring, 

 in small parties of six or ten individuals. The 

 common stare, when disturbed, rises and alights 

 again at some distance, most generally on the 

 ground ; but the brown starling settles frequently 

 on some low bush, or small tree, before it returns to 

 its food. I know of no description that accords so 



