STARLING. 17 



always be seen, no matter how hard the frost ; but the great majority of 

 birds retreat before it. 



In this country the Starling may be fairly considered a resident bird ; 

 but there is no doubt that it receives large additions to its numbers from 

 Northern Europe every season. It is also a well-known bird at Heligo- 

 land, and passes that isolated rock yearly on its migrations. Hocks of 

 Starlings are also believed to cross over from the south-west of Scotland 

 to Ireland, where, as previously stated, the bird is best known as a winter 

 visitor. On our coasts during the period of migration the Starling is 

 often seen at the lighthouses, and numbers perish by dashing against 

 the lantern, dazzled by its glare. 



The adult male Starling in full breeding-plumage is a very handsome 

 bird. Almost all the small feathers are dark metallic purple or green, 

 those on the upper parts below the nape having arrow-shaped buff tips, 

 most conspicuous on the sides of the rump, but almost obsolete on the 

 centre of the back. The underparts are unspotted, but the under tail- 

 coverts have broad buff edges. The wings and tail-feathers are brown, 

 with broad glossy black margins. The distribution of the purple and 

 green on the small feathers is subject to some variation; but generally 

 the entire head except the ear-coverts, the nape, upper breast and upper 

 back, and the flanks are purple the ear-coverts, scapulars, lower back, 

 rump and upper tail-coverts, the lower breast, and belly being green ; but 

 by altering the position in which the bird is held, green reflections to a 

 limited extent may often be seen on the purple feathers and purple re- 

 flections on the green ones. Examples, however, occur, even in the British 

 Islands, in which this distribution of colour is exactly reversed, except that 

 the greater and median wing-coverts always show some green reflections. 

 The wing-coverts occasionally show bluish-purple reflections, but are never 

 iridescent bronze like those of S. purpurascens. There seems to be no 

 reason to suppose that any of these variations in the colour of the plumage 

 are produced by interbreeding with the latter species, as they appear to 

 occur irrespective of geographical distribution. The Starling's bill is lemon- 

 yellow ; legs and feet reddish brown ; irides hazel. After the autumn 

 moult, the bird presents quite a different appearance. All the metallic 

 colours of the plumage are half concealed, in consequence of each feather 

 of the upper parts having a buff tip and those of the underparts a white 

 tip, whilst the wing and tail-feathers have buff margins ; the bill has 

 changed to dark brown. As the spring approaches, these margins are 

 almost entirely cast from the head of the male, and usually completely so 

 from the underparts. The female somewhat closely resembles the male ; 

 but the tints are usually not so purple, the spots are much larger and do 

 not abrade so much, and the long hackle-like feathers on the throat arc less 

 developed. In the female the bill is yellow, tipped with blackish brown. 



VOL. ii. c 



