200 THE STARLING, OR STAKE. 



feed they will associate with the rook, the pigeon, 

 or the daw ; and sometimes, but not cordially, 

 with the fieldfare : but they chiefly roost with 

 their own families, preferring some reedy, marshy 

 situation. These social birds are rarely seen 

 alone, and should any accident separate an indi- 

 vidual from the companions of its flight, it will 

 sit disconsolate on an eminence, piping and plain- 

 ing, till some one of its congeners join it. Even 

 in small parties they keep continually calling and 

 inviting associates to them, with a fine clear note, 

 that; in particular states of the air, may be heard 

 at a considerable distance. This love of society 

 seems to be innate ; for I remember one poor bird, 

 that had escaped from domestication, in which it 

 had entirely lost, or probably never knew, the lan- 

 guage or manners of its race, and acquired only 

 the name of its mistress ; disliked and avoided by 

 its congeners, it would sit by the hour together, 

 sunning on some tall elm^ calling in a most plaintive 

 strain, Nanny, Nanny, but no Nanny came ; and 

 our poor solitary either pined itself to death, or was 

 killed, as its note ceased. They vastly delight, 

 in a bright autumnal morning, to sit basking and 

 preening themselves on the summit of a tree, chat- 

 tering all together in a low songlike 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 evo- 



