FINCHES, STARLINGS AND CROWS 73 



Starlings afford another example of a 

 strange perversion of instinct or want of 

 common sense. If you happen to be stand- 

 ing anywhere near the place that one has 

 chosen for his nest, and he arrives with his 

 food in his mouth, instead of slipping quietly 

 in whilst your eyes are turned away, he waits 

 outside making as much racket as he can, 

 and you are almost forced to notice him and 

 cannot fail to see the whereabouts of his nest, 

 plainly marked as it is sure to be by plentiful 

 splashes of white. 



It is quite a common thing in spring and 

 summer to see starlings catching flies in the 

 air, and I remember in 1906, on September 

 2gth, the air was, one might say, full of 

 starlings, floating about in every direction 

 with expanded wings, and then shooting up 

 or down or to one side when they came within 

 reach of a fly. It was a warm, still day, and 

 I fancy the flies they were catching were 

 winged aphides. 



For many years now as soon as the elder- 

 berries are ripe numbers of starlings, chiefly 

 young ones, arrive on the scene, and in a few 

 days clear them off completely. 



Jays are not common here, but we have 

 occasionally watched one in the garden as he 

 was looking for fallen acorns in the grass 

 close to the house. 



One may pretty safely count on seeing a 

 magpie near Arley at any time of the year, 



