JUNE JOYS 129 



lays them down for the moment of probing the 

 ground. At last he can carry no more with them, 

 and then he is off to the nest in the barn-roof 

 or the hollow tree. In the evening it is obvious 

 that he is almost too tired to fly at all. The 

 young are fed wholly with insects and worms, 

 and thus occasion an enormous destruction of 

 these creatures. 



Two curious incidents in the life-history of the 

 starling are the late and simultaneous nesting of 

 the birds, and the wet weather which (within my 

 experience of some twenty years of observation) 

 always prevails for a few days when the young are 

 almost ready to leave the nests. 



Apparently there is no reason why the starling 

 should not nest as early as the blackbird and 

 thrush, which, having commenced singing much 

 later in the preceding year (or the current one), 

 build much earlier. Possibly the nesting-time is 

 determined by the appearance of some particular 

 form of insect-life ; or possibly the young have a 

 better chance if born in May. In any case, they 

 are not abroad more than a few days before the 

 middle of that month. 



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