ROUND ABOUT THE HOMESTEADS. 15 



of the cross or point at the crown of the gable, 

 or even on the ledge of the roof or the drainpipe, 

 where with puffed-out plumage and trembling 

 wings he reels forth his curious notes. His voice 

 is perennial. All the year through, with the 

 exception of the moulting season, he may be 

 heard indulging in song, but this is certainly the 

 sweetest and most continuous in early spring. 

 Like most life-paired birds, the Starling visits its 

 nesting-place from time to time throughout the 

 non-breeding season. He unfailingly begins to do 

 so in January, appearing on the roofs and the dead 

 branches of trees near his nest-hole every morning 

 with clock-like regularity, staying for a time to sing, 

 and then disappearing altogether, probably until 

 the morrow, when the same routine is repeated. 

 The Starling is also a very gregarious bird, flock- 

 ing all the year round, and breeding in societies 

 of greater or less extent, according to the facilities 

 offered. It is also much attached to a nesting- 

 site, and will even take possession of a box nailed 

 to the wall or tree for its benefit ; no bird is more 

 easily encouraged or difficult to drive away. It 

 is an early breeder, sometimes beginning to build 

 in March, but more regularly in May. The nest 

 may be found in a great variety of places, but 

 always in holes and crevices well protected from 

 the external air. Holes in walls and trees, nooks 

 and crannies under eaves, dovecots, church 

 towers, and fissures in the rocks, are all fre- 

 quented by this bird. It makes a rude nest of 

 straws, dry grass, and a few feathers, but often 

 enough the latter are absent. The four or five 

 eggs are rather elongated in form, and pale 

 greenish blue in colour, without markings. There 



