PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 107 



Southern Europe to breed in our Isles. They quit our shores from late July to mid- 

 September, travelling at night or in the early morning. Some are probably from 

 Ireland. The later emigrants, those going south, from the end of September on, 

 are, as above stated, birds of passage from Central or Northern Europe. (5) Move- 

 ments due to cold weather. In addition to the three separate migrations above 

 described, there are later movements either to the south and west of England and 

 Ireland, or to south of the Channel, that are occasioned by spells of severe weather, 

 and may, therefore, occur at any time during the winter. (6) Erratic movements. 

 Occasionally flocks overshoot our western limit and are seen far out in the Atlantic. 

 In October 1870 a large flock was seen three hundred miles west of Scilly. These 

 movements afford but another instance of the fact that the migratory instinct does 

 not always work true. [F. B. K.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Nesting place : almost any convenient hole. In the 

 open country holes in trees or rocks are utilised, but as the number of these is 

 limited, many pairs breed in buildings, under eaves, in ivy, among the foundations 

 of rooks', magpies' or woodpigeons' nests, in haystacks, and occasionally in open 

 nests among the branches of thick trees. Nesting-holes of the woodpeckers and 

 swifts are also frequently annexed and the owners ejected, while nesting-boxes, if 

 large enough, are promptly occupied. Along the coast the starling has been found 

 nesting in stone-heaps and under the loose boulders on the beach, and in sea-caves, 

 or even in burrows in the ground, as well as in rabbit-warrens. The nest is carelessly 

 built of straw, and sometimes grasses, leaves, or a little moss. Feathers, hair and 

 wool may be found in small quantities in the lining, and some birds appear to decorate 

 the nest with blossoms or green leaves. (PI. xxm.) Both sexes share in the work 

 of building. Eggs, usually 5 to 7, rarely 8 in number, and pale glossy blue in colour. 

 Some varieties are very pale and appear almost white, while others show traces of 

 reddish spots. (PI. D.) Average size of 50 English eggs, 1-19 x -84 in. [30-2 x 21-3 

 mm.]. Laying begins from mid- April onward, and both sexes share in incubation, 

 which lasts 12-13 days, while fledging takes 21-22 days (S. E. Brock, Zoologist, 1910, 

 p. 118). There are many instances of broods being hatched during the winter 

 months. The great majority of birds rear one brood only, but in some districts a 

 second brood appears to be regularly produced, and a few late nests are to be met 

 with everywhere. (See the Naturalist, 1889, pp. 366-373 ; Field, 1898, vol. xcii., 

 p. 365; Zoologist, 1900, 433; id. 1876, 5165.) [F. c. B. J.] 



5. Food. Insects and their larvae, including wireworms, weevils, various 

 moths, and other insects of an injurious kind, earthworms, small molluscs and 



