16 BRITISH BIRDS. 



its good offices for the rest of the year ; whilst of that of egg-stealing, 

 there can be little doubt that it is most wrongfully accused. Gray and 

 Saxby bring forward very conclusive evidence of this bird's evil propen- 

 sities, but such instances are only exceptional. Waterton's defence of the 

 Starling leaves no room for further remark. 



In autumn, when the young are all reared and family cares are over for 

 the year, the habits of the Starling are the most interesting and easiest to 

 observe. The birds are now at liberty to follow their gregarious instincts 

 to the full, and the size of the flocks is sometimes almost beyond belief. 

 The smaller flocks, chiefly composed of young birds, join together; the 

 old birds unite with them, until each district possesses its flock. In the 

 daytime they may be seen on the fields and marshy lands in search of 

 food, or on the tree-tops, which they almost blacken with their numbers, 

 keeping up an incessant babel of sounds. Their evolutions in the air at 

 this period are also highly interesting, especially at nightfall, ere they 

 finally settle down to roost. It is astonishing how regular the flock will 

 wheel and gyrate in the air, as though moved by one common impulse. 

 They appear like a huge net as it hovers for a moment above the reed-bed 

 where they roost now the horizon seems clouded with their numbers as 

 they turn full towards the observer ; the next moment they will turn 

 rapidly, seeming to disappear; then appear again in a clustering mass, 

 to turn and poise, spread, close up, rise, and descend ere alighting. 

 Regularly each night the birds repair to certain roosting-places. Some- 

 times the flock will divide into several portions, each to seek a different 

 roosting-place, uniting again at dawn. These clouds of Starlings often 

 assume various shapes as they pass through the air, sometimes like huge 

 balloons, then changing to a spiral, or spread out like a net, and some- 

 times like a thin indistinct wreath of smoke. Sometimes a flock will 

 roost in a large wood, a plantation, or more frequently in a low shrubbery. 

 These places are a common rendezvous for all the birds in the district ; 

 flock joins flock ; and their aerial movements and babel of cries make the 

 place, ornithologically, a most interesting one. At this season of the year 

 Starlings often congregate with Rooks and Jackdaws on the pastures, and 

 later in the year with Redwings. When alarmed, the Starlings x as if to a 

 bird obeying a commander's voice, fly off" in a compact mass, and if the 

 danger soon passes they will wheel and return again in the greatest order. 

 The Rooks and Daws will scurry off in all directions, and the Redwings 

 will seek the nearest trees in a long straggling train, but the Starlings seem 

 to act under one common impulse. During the whole winter Starlings are 

 very erratic in their movements; they lead a nomad kind of life, wandering 

 about the country in search of food, or even extending their journeys 

 across the sea if the winter be severe. A few individuals, who prefer to 

 lead a hermit-life instead of joining the bustle of " Society," may almost 



