THE STABLING.] 



SHOOTING, 



[the bedwing. 



birds have nests in the cavities of the oaks, and 

 are continually winging their way to and from 

 them. The nest consists of a mass of stick, 

 bents, shreds of cotton and feathers, and con- 

 tains eggs about the end of April. It is occa- 

 sionally composed of clean white straw ; and, 

 when this is the case, the eggs, which are of a 

 delicate transparent blue, contrast very pleas- 

 ingly with the light colour of the straw. Some 

 eggs are dotted over with a few well-defined 

 black spots, like those of the song-thrush. The 

 young are hatched about the third week 

 in May, and are principally fed with worms, 

 both male and female assisting in the opera- 

 tion. 



About September, the birds whicli have been 

 reared in a particular district, collect in flocks, 

 which, being augmented in number from other 

 districts, grow gradually larger, until they con- 

 sist sometimes of thousands ; and when the 

 whole body settles in a pasture, the ground 

 (owing to the sable plumage of the birds) seems 

 overspread with a wide, spacious pall. When 

 adrighted, they all generally rise in a body, and, 

 after wheeling through the air for some time, 

 alight upon the top of a broad oak or elm tree, 

 which seems nearly bowed down with the weight 

 of its burden : when in such a situation, it is 

 anything but pleasant to listen to their chatter- 

 ing voices. If attacked by hawks or other 

 predatory birds, the flock rises on the wing, 

 closes in, very compactly together, and presents 

 a mass which, being constantly in motion, is 

 not easily to be broken by their swift-winged 

 enemies. 



A naturalist writes — " On the 2nd of Octo- 

 ber, 1844, I noticed the most amazing flock of 

 birds which it was ever my lot to witness — they 

 were starlings. At a distance they resembled 

 some gigantic mass of cloud slowly traversing 

 the heavens, occasionally changing its form, and 

 breaking into smaller masses. It was evening, 

 and the birds had probably collected to roost 

 for the night in a large wood, over the top of 

 which they were enjoying the few moments 

 before retiring to rest. The ease and elegance 

 of their flight, as they wheeled to and fro— the 

 firm and compact manner with which they kept 

 together when moving in a mass — the peculiar 

 facility with which the main army was broken 

 into numberless smaller ones, and yet instan- 

 taneously united again, was perfectly astonish- 

 602 



ing, and excelled anything which I ever wit- 

 nessed amongst the feathered tribes." 



At particular seasons of the year, starlings 

 frequently visit dove-cotes ; and many people 

 imagine that they do so to take the eggs and 

 young pigeons. This idea, however, is errone- 

 ous. At Walton Hall, in Yorkshire, these 

 birds were allowed to haunt the pigeon-cote 

 for years, yet they were never seen to molest 

 either the eggs or the young. The seasons 

 in which they frequent dove-cotes, are spring 

 and winter. At the former, their object, in re- 

 pairing thither, is to build their nests in the 

 pigeon-holes ; at the latter, it is to roost, more 

 especially in the cold nights. In districts 

 where woods and trees are scarce, this is a fre- 

 quent occurrence. Near East Ilsley, in Berk- 

 shire, as many as twelve dozen have been 

 caught in a single evening, whilst roosting in a 

 dove-cote. 



THE REDWING. 



The Turdus Iliacus of Linugeus is about 

 five ounces in weight, and eight inches in 

 length, with a dark-brown bill, deep hazel 

 eyes, and the plumage, in general, similar to 

 tliat of the thrush. A white streak runs over 

 the eye, which distinguishes it from that bird. 

 The belly is not quite so much spotted ; and 

 the sides of the body, and the general mass of 

 feathers under the wings, are tinged with a 

 lively red, which constitutes its peculiar cha- 

 racteristic, and which confers upon it its name. 

 These birds arrive in this country a little 

 earlier than the fieldfares, with which they 

 fraternise, frequent the same localities, live 

 upon the same kind of food, and to which 

 they are very similar in their leading features. 

 The redwing leaves in the spring, therefore its 

 song is not known to us; but travellers tell 

 us it is very harmonious and sweet. The 

 female builds her nest in low bushes or hedges, 

 and lays six eggs of a greenish-blue colour, 

 dotted with small black spots. 



The Eomans held the flesh of the redwing 

 in the highest estimation ; and they kept thou- 

 sands of them together in aviaries, and fed 

 tliem with a species of paste, chiefly composed 

 of bruised figs and flour, and on various other 

 kmds of food. These receptacles were so con- 

 structed as to admit very little light; and 

 every object which could remind the birds of 



