BIRD ACTORS AND THEATRES 227 



even a snowstorm has little effect upon this philoso- 

 pher who sits perched upon a beam in the village 

 church, or near a window giving vent to his joy. 

 Both in America and in England he displays a 

 marked preference for village or city life, and sel- 

 dom takes up his abode in rural districts. His plum- 

 age is a glossy black with trimmings of metallic 

 blue and green, which is brilliant in the sunlight ; the 

 wings and tail are light grey, the beak yellow, and 

 the feet a browish red. As autumn comes on, the 

 darker feathers are tipped in white, and the starling 

 has a spotted appearance. 



No bird loves human society more than the star- 

 ling, and he is ever ready to show his appreciation 

 of a nesting-box in song and act. He is happy, 

 trustful, cunning, and comical at all times. A 

 group of these strollers love to gather round church 

 steeples and sing and chatter at sundown. Some of 

 them inflate their throats and wave their wings and 

 hop about as though they were endeavouring to 

 tell the entire world of their happiness. Late of 

 evenings they often gather in marshy places by the 

 reed-beds, where they hold such a concert that no 

 one in the neighbourhood can sleep. They chatter 

 and jabber, hop and jump, forming indeed a cir- 

 cus of the rarest kind. They make attractive pets, 

 and usually become much attached to their masters. 



