THE STRUGGLE WITH COLD 327 



supplies for. Of all the birds that fly the robin is perhaps 

 the most solitary. 



The least solitary are the starlings, whose vast throngs, 

 shifting the light as they manoeuvre this way and that, are 

 one of the most familiar of winter sights. It is always laid 

 down as a maxim that birds congregate and mass for the 

 sake of food-supplies. It is true enough that partridges 

 pack most in years when food is scarcest ; but it is difficult 

 to understand why each bird finds it easier to discover food 

 when he is one of a great pack. Starlings and larks, which 

 cover our fields in winter, have rather changed their feeding 

 habits since they became so numerous. You may see fields 

 in Norfolk where the starlings have fairly devoured the 

 whole crop of wheat. They scratch at the foot of the blade 

 and bite it off about a quarter of an inch below the top of 

 the bleached part. Where birds, taken with a fancy for 

 this unlikely food, have descended in a harpy spirit, farmers 

 have been forced to sow the field over again. So here and 

 there, walking over the winter fields, one may find patches 

 scrabbled over as though a hen had been scratching, and 

 the wheat over the patch looking a rather melancholy 

 spectacle. It finally recovers to some extent, but it is not 

 a sight that helps the farmer to appreciate his birds. The 

 offender in this manner is always the lark, whose numbers 

 after the winter migration are portentous. But both birds, 

 especially the starling, are, like most other birds, notable 

 benefactors. What they prefer to eat are the grubs that 

 live at the bases of the plants. They are scavengers and 

 sterilisers, a potent ally, except when the numbers grow 

 excessive. Both the starlings and larks suffer excessively 

 in very hard weather ; and multiply exceedingly after a 

 course of open winters. 



