XLIL STARLING. 



(Sturnus vulgaris.} 



THE illustration was done from a tame Starling I had, which, 

 when let out of its cage to run about on the gravel, would put 

 its beak under the larger stones, and, by opening it wide, raise 

 them and look if there were any worms or insects beneath. It 

 came on board the steamer Palestine, in a storm, in the Bay of 

 Biscay, when I was on my way to Egypt, and was caught and 

 given to me by one of the sailors. It soon became quite tame, 

 and would eat out of my hand, and much enjoyed being washed 

 and gently dried with a pocket-handkerchief. I took it with me 

 to Egypt, and home again to Scotland. During our stay in 

 Malta it enjoyed picking weevils out of old navy-biscuit. It got 

 cockroaches sometimes in our small dahabieh above the cataract ; 

 they were not to be had in the larger one we had from Alexandria. 

 Nothing came amiss to it in the eating line. It sang a good 

 deal very sweetly, but always ended in a loud harsh chirp or 

 long contemptuous whistle, just as the wild ones do. I never 

 heard it imitate sounds or human speech as I have known a 

 Jay do. 



To my great grief it died within the year of atrophy during 

 its moult. Its health had, I think, been injured by the over- 

 fatigue of a long railway journey through France and England. 

 Railway travelling does not seem to suit birds. The continuous 

 clinging to the perch night and day so as not to be shaken off it 

 fatigues them greatly. They can stand the swinging about in a 

 sea voyage much better, even if it is rough. 



There were no Starlings here when we first came in 1856. 

 Many rested on the islands when migrating, as many of them do. 



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