THE STARLING. 203 



opened together ! The old birds have plenty of work to 

 keep all these little mouths supplied, and they may be 

 seen to bring food to the nest every two minutes, and 

 keep up their labours for sixteen hours every day. The 

 food is obtained from the neighbouring grass lands, and 

 consists entirely of worms and snails. Upon alighting 

 near the nest with food, you see the bird look warily 

 around, and, if all be safe, hastily enter the nesting-hole. 

 Sometimes before the bird has finished feeding the 

 young its mate arrives, and waits patiently for its ap- 

 pearance, for very rarely indeed do both birds enter the 

 nest together, when, with a chirp of mutual love, each 

 pursues its way, the one to the fields, the other to its 

 young. And thus the birds labour on for many days, 

 until their young are sufficiently matured to quit the 

 nest and repair with their parents to the pastures. 

 Deceptive motions are one of the Starling's forms of 

 protective powe^ especially where the birds are much 

 persecuted ; but the Starling sometimes protects its 

 eggs or young by ' force of arms/ and will, like the 

 Stormcock, dash boldly into the face of an intruder, 

 and make the air resound with its harsh and grating 

 cries. Starlings rear two, and often three, broods in a 

 season. 



The young are *such strange looking birds when 

 fledged, regular nondescripts in fact, that anyone not 

 acquainted with the natural history of the Starling would 

 be at a loss to name them. Even many learned men 

 formerly fell into error over the circumstance, and called 

 the young Starling the dusky Thrush, thinking it to be 

 quite a distinct species, so different is it from its gaily 

 dressed parents. It is dark brown on the upper parts, 

 and the under parts much lighter, and possesses none of 

 the rich markings or pristine gloss of the adult birds. 



