THE ENGLISH STARLING. 



This is a lively and active bird, always gay and very famil- 

 iar, and will soon become acquainted with the inmates of the 

 house. It is exceedingly tame, is very tractable and cunning, 

 and in this quality may be compared with the dog. He espec- 

 ially catches all the gestures and actions of those with whom 

 he dwells, and will accommodate himself to them, knowing 

 when they are angry. They can be taught to whistle a tune, 

 or speak a sentence very plainly, the female as well as the 

 male. With enough food to eat, and plenty of water to wash 

 in, the starling seems to be contented anywhere. They are 

 very fond of bathing. The starling sings almost throughout 

 the year, moulting time only excepted. 



DESCRIPTION. 



This bird is about the size of the American robin redbreast, 

 and is eight inches and a half long, of which the tail occupies 

 two inches and a half. The beak is one inch long, of the form 

 of an awl ; the irides nut brown ; the feet dark flesh color, and 

 one inch high. The whole body is blackish above half way 

 along the back, and beneath half of the breast, merging into 

 shining purple red, and the rest of the upper and under sides 

 of the body into shining green ; pinion and tail feathers black, 

 covered with an ashy gray dust. The starling has a spotted 

 appearance. In the female, the beak is more dark brown than 

 yellow ; the bright spots are larger, and the margins of the 

 wing feathers stronger ; it has, therefore, a much brighter and 

 more variegated appearance. There are several varieties of 

 this bird, as the white, checkered, white-headed, ashy, and gray. 



FOOD. 



This is a hardy bird, and in a cage will eat almost anything 

 given to it. It can be fed on meal and milk, bruised hemp- 

 seed, and occasionally a bit of beef, cut in small pieces, or 

 scraped. There should be plenty of gravel in the bottom of 

 the cage, and water to wash in. The natural food of the star- 

 ling is worms, grubs, snails, grasshoppers, fruits, flies, buds 

 of trees, buckwheat, caterpillars, etc. 

 (64) 



