Starlings Quick to Learn. 199 



guns supposed not to be loaded, or pointing them in 

 joke, than ever occur in the field. The ease with 

 which the breechloader can be unloaded or reloaded 

 again prevents most persons from carrying it indoors 

 charged ; and this in itself is a gain On the side of 

 safety, for perhaps half the fatal accidents take place 

 within doors. 



In farmsteads where the owner had the right of 

 shooting the muzzle-loader was — and still is, when 

 not converted — kept loaded on the rack. The 

 starlings, perhaps, are making havoc of the thatch, 

 tearing out straw by straw, and working the holes in 

 which they form their nests right through, till in the 

 upper story daylight is visible. When the whistling 

 and calling of the birds tell him they are busy above, 

 the owner slips quickly out with his gun, and brings 

 down three or four at once as they perch in a row on 

 the roof-tree. Or a labourer leaves a message that 

 there is a hare up in the meadow or some wild ducks 

 have settled in the brook. But men who have a gun 

 always in their hands rarely meet with a mishap. 

 The starlings, by-the-by, soon learn the trick, and are 

 cunning enough to notice which door their enemy 

 generally comes out at, where he can get the best 

 shot ; and the moment the handle of that particular 

 door is turned, off they go. 



