THE STARLING 131 



perhaps a mile, all flying from the cold marshlands or fen- 

 man's stacks in parties which circle around over the reed- 

 bed a few times and then sink into it with innumerable 

 chatterings to sleep through the icy night-watches whilst 

 the water freezes hard and clear below them, and the tassels 

 turn to frosted silver above them ; for the starling is one of 

 the hardiest of birds. But even he is of use to the fenman ; 

 he is a lover of wire-worms, and will follow the plough 

 steadily day by day in search of the hideous, foul, tough- 

 skinned wire-worm, that lover of carrots. And though, 

 like rooks and wild-fowl, he himself is alive with lice in 

 summer, he is sedulous to pick ticks from the flocks and 

 herds, thus again befriending the farmer scavenger that he 

 is. In August, too, you may see him hawking for flies after 

 the manner of a swallow, clearing the air of vermin as well 

 as the land. 



Low down in the dazzling chalk coast of Kent the star- 

 ling nests with the house-martins and jackdaws and rock- 

 pigeons among the bright yellow wall-flowers and rosy vale- 

 rians. And that is why, perhaps, old fenmen in Norfolk 

 will tell you there are two kinds of starlings the wood- 

 starling, which nests in houses, and nests earlier than the 

 rock - starling, which nests in cliffs ; and they say the 

 wood-starling is the one to talk, "if you teach him," for 

 the starling will become the tamest and most docile of 

 birds if taken young. One old man I knew kept one for 

 years, not even clipping his wings. He named him Billy, 

 and Billy, like a good boy, always answered to his name, 

 going up to his master. 



Billy's master was an old ratter, and his ferrets would 

 eat starling; so often on a winter night old Bob would 

 go down to the reed-beds, where the birds roosted, several 

 huddled together on a reed for warmth, and shout, and 

 the mighty flock would fly out of the reeds with a roar 

 and thousand-tongued chattering, when the old muzzle- 

 loader would flash red and roar in turn, the shot cutting a 



