THE STARLING 



Starling is almost a perennial songster. His music may 

 be heard at intervals through the winter, and as the 

 earliest signs of spring appear he becomes still more tune- 

 ful, as he sits with drooping wings and bristling plumage 

 on the chimneys and trees pumping out his laboured, 

 chattering song. The bird is more or less gregarious 

 through the year, but after the breeding season the 

 scattered broods gather up into enormous flocks, passing 

 the day on the grass and resorting at nightfall to certain 

 roosting-places which have been used for time out of mind. 

 The aerial movements of these flocks previous to settling 

 down for the night are very imposing and interesting, 

 and the noise becomes deafening until darkness has quite 

 fallen. The bird, especially in summer, may often be 

 seen coursing about the air almost like a Swallow, in 

 quest of insects or for mere enjoyment. The food of the 

 Starling consists of grubs, worms, beetles, grain, seeds, 

 and many kinds of small fruits and berries. In London 

 elderberries are always a great attraction. The call-note 

 of this species is a prolonged musical whistle ; the alarm - 

 notes are harsh and discordant, almost as much so as those 

 of the Missel-Thrush. The nestlings are also very noisy, 

 especially each time one of the parents arrives with food. 

 The Starling begins breeding early in April, and in some 

 cases at least rears two broods in the season. The nest is 

 usually made under eaves, or in any convenient hole 

 amongst masonry or brickwork, as well as in holes of trees. 

 It is an untidy structure, made of straws, dry grass, and 

 roots, with sometimes a few feathers by way of lining. 

 The five to seven eggs are pale greenish blue, and some- 

 what glossy. As soon as they can fly the young resort to 

 the grass and are soon able to provide for themselves. 



The adult male Starling in breeding plumage is black 

 glossed with metallic purple and green ; the wings and 

 tail are brown, with broad, glossy black margins ; the 

 under tail-coverts are margined with pale buff,, bill 



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