THE FARMER'S FEATHERED FRIENDS. 53 



glee when the gale is at its highest, and other crea- 

 tures are hushed in fear. 



After that would follow the " spink-pink-pink ! " 

 of the chaffinch, and next the winter-song of the 

 robin, his farewell to the dying year. All sung 

 truly without one false note. And then the odd 

 bird would finish up by mewing like a cat. This 

 was, of course, a wild bird ; the starling in a state 

 of nature is a thorough mocking-bird, as all know 

 who have made a study of him in the country. 

 The young ones are dull brown at first, of a peculiar 

 shade. In spite of their vast numbers, and the very 

 easy opportunities of observing them, some ornithol- 

 ogists have described them as solitary thrushes. 



A large flock of starlings comes as a blessing to 

 farm -lands where the stock are pastured. They 

 delight to be on the backs of the animals, on their 

 heads, round their feet, pecking and dibbling round 

 about their muzzles as they feed. Here, there, and 

 everywhere are the starlings ; as the insects come in 

 sight they have them, running on the ground or fly- 

 ing ! I have often watched these birds hawking for 

 insects in mid-air. The amount they destroy in a 

 single day when they have young ones to provide 



