122 THE STARLINGS 



immigration from Northern and Central Europe described above, 1 

 which must add considerably to the number of roosting birds. 



There is evidence to show that some of our stationary starlings, 

 those that remain with us throughout the year, take no part in any 

 of these complicated movements. The semi-domestic starlings of 

 our house-tops have been observed to return every night to sleep 

 in their nest-holes, either till September, 2 or right through the winter. 3 

 This, however, I am certain, is by no means always the case. Again, 

 according to the observation of Macgillivray already alluded to, 4 the 

 " starlings of the Outer Hebrides and the north-eastern isles, equally 

 treeless, remain all the year round, retiring nightly to rest in the 

 places where they have bred, namely the caves and crevices of the 

 maritime cliff's." 



The period of years during which a roost may be occupied 

 appears to vary considerably, for reasons that are not ascertained. 

 H. A, Macpherson, in his Fauna of Lakeland, published in 1892, 

 speaks of the Murrel Hill roost, near Carlisle, as having been 

 occupied since 1881, making therefore, up to the date of publica- 

 tion of his book, eleven years. Others are known to be occupied 

 year after year. The Cramond Island roost in the Firth of Forth 

 was completely deserted, though the birds were not disturbed, 

 between July and September 1901, after five years' occupation. 5 A 

 similar sudden desertion of a roost, without known cause, occurred 

 at Petton Park in Shropshire. This consists of evergreens, and was 

 resorted to by vast numbers of starlings each year from November 

 to March. "A few years ago, on a certain moonlight night, the 

 starlings suddenly rose into the air with great clamour and flew 

 right away to a roost at Hawkstone. They stayed away the following 

 winter, but afterwards returned as usual, and they are roosting there 

 nightly in increasing numbers at the present time (1910)." 6 



1 See also the "Classified Notes" under Migration. 



" Naturalist, 1889, p. 369 (R. A. Summerfield). 



3 Ibid., 1890, 167 (R. Fortune). 4 Page 120, note 6. 



Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1902, p. 2 (Cli. Campbell). 

 6 H. E. Forrest in the Shrewsbury Chronicle, Dec. 9, 1910. 



