80 THE STARLING. 
the keeper, that slave of Nimrod, receives thanks, 
and often a boon, from the surrounding sportsmen, 
for having freed the dovecot from such a pest. 
Alas! these poor starlings had merely resorted to 
it for shelter and protection, and were in no way 
responsible for the fragments of egg-shells which 
were strewed upon the floor. These fragments were 
the work of deep-designing knaves, and not of the 
harmless starling. 
The rat and the weasel were the real destroyers ; 
but they had done the deed of mischief in the dark, 
unseen and unsuspected; while the stranger star- 
lings were taken, condemned, and executed, for hav- 
ing been found in a place built for other tenants of 
a more profitable description. 
After the closest examination of the form and 
economy of the starling, you will be at a loss to pro- 
duce any proof of its being an egg-sucker. If it 
really sucks the eggs of pigeons, it would equally 
suck the eggs of other birds; and, those eggs not 
being concealed in the dark recesses of the pigeon- 
cot, but exposed in open nests on the ground, and 
often in the leafless bushes of the edge, this fact 
would afford to the inquisitive naturalist imnume- 
rable opportunities of detecting the bird in its de- 
predations. Now, who has ever seen the starling 
in the absolute act of plundering a nest? It builds 
its nest here, in company with the ringdove, the 
robin, the greenfinch, the wagtail, the jackdaw, the 
chaffinch, and the owl, but it never touches their 
eggs. Indeed, if it were in the habit of annoying 
its immediate neighbours, upon so tender a point as 
