THE STARLING 115 



destination; or, again, they may accompany each other a certain 

 distance and then divide, one going to the right, the other to the 

 left. Flock after flock has been seen speeding every evening above 

 and along a valley, each pursuing the same straight course, but, as 

 ;i rule, dividing at a given point, always the same, one party going 

 southward, the other south-eastward. 1 This procession of flocks along 

 a given line may at given points be joined by other flocks that fly 

 into it from either side as a tributary stream flows into a river. The 

 succeeding flocks, small and great, thus augmented, fly forward to 

 their final destination the common roosting place, usually a wood, 

 bushes, or a bed of reeds. If the roost is situated near the sea, the 

 flocks reach it, of course, only from one or two quarters ; if inland, 

 they may arrive from all quarters, and, in either case, from distances 

 varying from some miles to much less than a mile, according to the 

 position of their feeding grounds. 2 



The flocks, small and great, which continue to arrive near the 

 roost for an hour, more or less, before sunset do not, as a rule, 

 at once descend into it, but circle over and about it, awaiting the 

 arrival of the later flocks. The serried bands turn and twist, and 

 sweep about the sky, every bird in the flock executing exactly the 

 same movement at exactly the same time, as if obeying one common 

 will. Several flocks will unite to form one large flock, which grows 

 greater still by the addition of incoming bands. This huge mass, 

 composed perhaps of hundreds of flocks, and of hundreds of thou- 

 sands of birds, will none the less still act as one. Seen at some 

 distance, it has almost the appearance of being itself a living creature 

 some gigantic amo3ba floating in space. At one moment it 

 stretches its enormous length at ease across the heavens, at another 

 it gathers itself together, as if contracted by fear, recoils, and suddenly 

 disappears wholly, its hue merging into that of the sky; then 

 suddenly flashes again into view, expands, advances, whirls up, 



1 British Birds, ii. p. 122. 



2 The average distance of one roost from another is estimated at about 8 miles by Mr. 

 II. E. Forrest (Zoologist, 1000, p. 131). See also British Birds, ii. p. 122. 



