14 BRITISH BIRDS. 



encouragement to take up its quarters in any suitable hole or box placed 

 for its reception. It will even dislodge large tiles and burrow considerable 

 distances under the eaves ; and its bulky nest often stops up some spout, 

 to the dismay of the householder. A hole in the gable or inside the 

 dovecot are also favourite places, whilst its partiality for holes in trees 

 is none the less. It also commonly breeds in ruins, churches, and old 

 masonry of every description. In the wilder portions of the country the 

 Starling selects a hole either in a tree or rock for its purpose ; and it will 

 often breed in great numbers in caves or in the crevices of the ocean- 

 cliffs. The nest is sometimes but a few inches from the entrance to the 

 hole, at others it is several feet, and in many cases, especially in trees and 

 rocks, is absolutely inaccessible. In the Outer Hebrides, where trees are 

 absent, the Starling breeds, according to Mr. Gray, under the stones on 

 the beach, in disused rat-holes, in turf-dykes, and in holes in walls. 

 Saxby states that in Shetland it breeds in peat-stacks and rabbit-holes. 

 It has also been known in one or two instances to build an open and 

 exposed nest in trees, to rear its young in a hole in the ground, and to 

 share the same nest with a Magpie. 



The Starling's nest is a somewhat slovenly structure, made of straw, 

 dead grass, and rootlets, sometimes a twig or two, and is lined with a few 

 feathers, a little wool, or even a scrap or two of moss, paper, rag, or twine. 

 In many cases the birds do not trouble about a lining at all ; and the cup 

 of the nest is entirely composed of straws, arranged very evenly and 

 smoothly, but with a lot of straggling bents around it. The nest is in 

 some cases much more elaborately made than in others ; and in some holes 

 the dry and powdered wood at the bottom almost does sole duty for a bed. 

 With great perseverance the Starling will continue to build in the same 

 hole, although its nest is repeatedly removed, and each year the birds will 

 return to their old quarters. 



The eggs of the Starling are from four to seven in number, six being an 

 average clutch. They are slightly elongated and rough in grain, but very 

 highly polished, and are a delicate . greenish blue, sometimes very pale 

 bluish white. They vary in length from T25 to Tl inch, and in breadth 

 from -88 to '80 inch. From the eggs of the Rose-coloured Starling, those 

 of the present species may always be distinguished by their greenish or bluish 

 tints ; those of the former are shining white, almost like a Woodpecker's. 

 The Starling, in most cases, rears two broods in the year, sometimes 

 three, though this has been denied. As soon as the young of the first 

 broods can shift for themselves they are abandoned and roam about in 

 flocks, and their parents go off to their nesting-holes again. As is usual 

 with life-paired birds, the Starling will continue to lay in its old nest, 

 although its eggs are repeatedly taken. Dixon, in a single season, has 

 taken from a nest of this bird as many as forty eggs ; and he has every 



