STARLING. 217 



this season, after stormy weather, they have been found killed 

 beneath the lanterns of the Spurn and Flamborough light- 

 houses. At the latter place in October 1869, a flock alighted 

 during a foggy night on the dome of the lantern, where they 

 kept up a continual chattering, and on I2th March 1877, 

 there were many at night round the lantern ; as also at Spurn 

 in November 1903. They arrive from mid-September to the 

 end of October, and occasionally later in the year in November 

 and December, sometimes congregating in thousands in the 

 fields bordering the coast. In spring they reassemble into 

 flocks previously to leaving this country. The vernal 

 migration takes place about the first part, or the middle, of 

 April and is probably carried on at night ; one day great 

 flocks may be seen and the next morning not a single migrant 

 bird will be visible. In cold and backward seasons they 

 remain until late in April, after our resident birds are nesting, 

 and this was noticeably the case in 1902. On 2oth April 

 in that yea,r an arrival took place, and large flocks were 

 in evidence on the Tees Marshes as late as the end of the 

 month, after which they disappeared. 



The Migration Reports contain numerous references to the 

 passage of this bird which occurs in " rushes " almost every 

 autumn, and is reported from the Light Stations all along 

 the east coast. On 4th November 1881, an enormous 

 flight, estimated to contain at least a million birds, came off 

 the sea at Redcar, from the east, extending in a dense mass 

 for over two miles, making a noise like thunder, and darkening 

 the air. They all flew towards the north-west and went 

 over the Teesmouth. During a " rush " on I3th October 

 1902, at Kilnsea, many were killed against the telegraph 

 wires. These immigrants generally belong to the north 

 European form, having a purplish head and neck.* 



The Starling is a well-known mimic of other birds' notes, 

 amongst which are the Sparrow, Yellow Ammer, Chaffinch, 



* An exhaustive account of the migration of the Starling, by Mr. 

 W. Eagle Clarke, is published in the Report of the British Association 

 Migration Committee, 1903. 



