644 



Crraguri) of llatuml ffiistanj; 



Dr. Erichson, of Berlin, has published, 

 one volume, a monograph of all the speci 

 of this extensive family : Great Britain po 

 sesses many different genera and specie 

 the group. 



STARLING. (Sfiirmis.) A genus ( 

 Passerine birds, having the beak cornpresse 

 particularly towards the point, which 

 blunt and nail-like. Of these, the bes 

 known species is the COMMOX STARLIN 

 (Stiirmis vulfraris), which is about the siz 

 of the blackbird : the bill is straight, sharp 

 pointed, and of a yellowish brown ; in ol 

 birds deep yellow : the whole plumage dark 

 glossed with green, blue, purple, and copper 

 each feather being marked at the end with 

 pale yellow spot : the wing-coverts are edge 

 with yellowish-brown : the quill and tail 

 feathers dusky, with light edges : the leg 

 are reddish brown. The Starling is an in 

 habitant of almost every climate; and as i 

 is a familiar bird, and easily trained in 

 state of captivity, its habits have bee; 

 more frequently observed than those of mos 

 other birds. They make an artless nest in 

 hollow trees, the eaves of old houses, towers 

 and cliffs overhanging the sea. In the au 

 tumn they fly in vast flocks, and may be 

 known at a great distance by their whirling 

 mode of flight. So attached are they tc 

 society, that they not only join those of theii 

 own species, but also birds of a different kind 

 and are frequently seen in company with 

 Kedwmgs, Fieldfares, Jackdaws, &c. Thei 

 principal food consists of worms, snails, am 

 caterpillars ; they also eat various kinds o. 

 grain, seeds, and berries ; are said to be par- 

 ticularly fond of cherries ; and are accused 

 of breaking and sucking the eggs of othe 

 birds. They are very docile in confinemeiu, 

 and may be easily taught to repeat short 

 phrases, or whistle tunes, with great exact- 

 ness, their powers of imitation Jaeing con- 

 siderable. 



STARLING. (STOHNC3 VUT.OARIS.) 



The Starling shall always have a friend 

 n me, says that genuine defender of the 

 feathered race, Charles Waterton, Esq. " I 

 admire it for its fine shape and lovely plu- 

 mage ; I protect it for its wild and varied 

 ong ; and I defend it for its innocence." 

 ' There is not a bird in all Great Britain 

 more harmless than the Starling : still it has 

 o suffer persecution, and is too often doomed 

 o see its numbers thinned by the hand of 



wantonness or error. The farmer complain 

 that it sucks his pigeons' eggs, and, when 

 the gunner and his assembled party wish to 

 try their new percussion cap, the keeper is 

 ordered to close the holes of entrance into 

 the dovecot overnight j and the next morn- 

 ing three or four dozen of Starlings are cap- 

 tured to he shot : while 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 1 

 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 j but they had done the deed 

 of mischief in the dark, unseen and unsus- 

 pected ; while the stranger Starlings were 

 taken, condemned, and executed, for having 

 been found in a place built for other tenants 

 of a more profitable description." 



We take leave also to add a few lines re- 

 specting this bird from the 'Journal of a Na- 

 turalist.' " They vastly delight, in a bright 

 autumnal morning, to sit basking and preen- 

 ing themselves on the summit of a tree, 

 chattering all together in a low song-like 

 note. There is something singularly curious 

 and mysterious in the conduct of these birds 

 previous to their nightly retirement, by the 

 variety and intricacy of the evolutions they 

 execute at that time. They will form them- 

 selves, perhaps, into a triangle, then shoot 

 nto a long, pear-shaped figure, expand like 

 a sheet, wheel into a ball, as Pliny observes, 

 each individual striving to get into the 

 centre, &c., with a promptitude more like 

 wrade movements than the actions of birds. 

 As the breeding season advances, these pro- 

 digious flights divide, and finally separate 

 nto pairs, and form their summer settle- 

 nents ; but probably the vast body of them 

 eaves the kingdom." 



A second species is found in the south of 



Europe, and is distinguished from the former 



y its uniform cohmr, wanting the whitish 



pots, and having the feathers longer and 



more pointed. This is the Sturmus unicolor. 



ST AUROPUS. A genus of nocturnal Le- 

 idoptera, containing the 



STAUROFUS FAOI, or LOBSTER MOTH. 

 This Moth is found in various parts 

 f the south of England, but is compara- 

 vely rare. It varies from two inches and 



LOBSTER-MOTH. (3TA0ROPUS FAOI.) 



quarter to three inches in expanse ; its 

 lour a dull grayish-brown, with the fore- 



