150 STARLING. 



once on the 23rd. of March, by the late William Thompson, 

 Esq., of Belfast, returning by the same route. They generally 

 arrive between eight and ten o'clock in the morning, few 

 coming after that hour, except when the wind is high, and 

 then the flight is protracted until noon ; if very stormy they 

 do not come at all. They probably commence their flight 

 very early in the morning. If circumstances have delayed 

 their migration they make up for lost time by an increase 

 in numbers. 



In Orkney they exist in immense numbers, and may be 

 seen in flocks of thousands. 



They are partially migratory, or rather moveable, in some 

 places at some seasons. 



So early as the latter end of the month of June, as soon, 

 in fact, as their young have been sufficiently educated, 

 Starlings begin to collect together in flocks of twenty or 

 thirty, and, as the season advances, each of these is severally 

 added to by recruits from other families, who join them in 

 their flights, and so the original party 'crescit eundo' until 

 in the end a vast mass is congregated. In the evening 

 they collect in troops of thousands in the reed-beds which 

 adjoin the river or the lake, especially in the fen districts of 

 Lincolnshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and Huntingdonshire, 

 and their harsh cry may be heard at a great distance, 

 sounding almost like the noise of a steam saw-mill; so they 

 also do in numbers towards the end of the summer even in 

 gardens and on houses, and only after a great chattering 

 retire to rest. Their habits, therefore, are social at these 

 portions of the year, and even in the breeding-season many 

 pairs will frequent the same locality, if it presents a sufficiency 

 of favourable situations. They are very assiduous in their 

 care of their young. They frequently may be seen in company 

 with different other species, such as Redwings, Fieldfares, 

 Wood Pigeons, Jackdaws, Plovers, and especially Hooks, a 

 common purpose bringing them together on neutral ground. 

 They are occasionally a little quarrelsome over some mutual 

 'bone of contention,' but in general they live peaceably 

 together, nor do they molest other birds. In barren districts 

 they roost at night all the year round in the holes and 

 crevices where they have built, but in other parts of the 

 country, where a choice of shelter is afforded, they repair to 

 different situations for the purpose. They are good enough 

 to eat, but rather tough, and slightly bitter. 



