48 STURNIDJ:. 



In winter, for the sake of the warmer temperature, 

 Starlings frequently roost in pigeon-houses, and are accused 

 of destroying both eggs and young Pigeons. This has 

 been doubted ; and as I can substantiate no charge on my 

 own knowledge, I leave the cause of the accused Starlings 

 in the hands of a very able advocate, before referred to, 

 who has much better opportunities of personal observation 

 than I have. Colonel Montagu, when residing near Kings- 

 bridge, observed that in very hard weather large flocks 

 of Starlings flew towards West Devon and Cornwall, re- 

 turning when the frost broke up ; and Mr. Couch, at Pol- 

 perro, and Mr. E. H. Rodd, at Penzance, have observed 

 that large flocks of these birds visit Cornwall in autumn 

 and winter, but that few remain to breed ; they even de- 

 part, Mr. Couch says, in his Cornish Fauna, much earlier 

 than the migratory birds that go to the northern parts of 

 Europe. 



The Starling is found in almost every part of the United 

 Kingdom. In the Hebrides, according to Mr. Macgillivray, 

 and in Orkney, it is found in thousands ; where, Mr. Low 

 says, it is also a favourite, as few houses are built, but 

 several holes are left in the wall for its convenience, of 

 which it always, as if sensible of the favour, avails itself, 

 and repays it with a song, and an occasional display of its 

 antic mimicry. In the winter, Mr. Low observes, when 

 the earth is locked up with frost, and worms or insects no 

 longer to be obtained, the Starling visits the sea-side, where 

 it lives upon marine animals, insinuating the point of its 

 beak under stones, turning them over with a jerk, and 

 immediately seizing what may be underneath. A feeling 

 in favour of this bird exists also in Shetland. Mr. Dunn 

 says it frequently builds its nest in the walls of the houses 

 so low that it may be easily reached with the hand, yet it 

 is seldom disturbed by the people. 



