202 THE RECTORY AND ITS BIRDS 



every day, the male bird, at this season, seems to 

 give himself up to contemplation to contemplation 

 of the world below him, of the birds flying above or 

 around him, and, most perhaps of all, of his own 

 perfections and those of his mate. Perched upon 

 the highest gable or tallest chimney of the Rectory, 

 or on the bare bough of a tree, but always in the 

 full sight or the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 hole he has selected for his future family, he gives 

 himself up to pure enjoyment. There pluming 

 himself, lowering and clapping his wings in a way 

 not quite like any other bird, and basking in the 

 morning sun, which positively glitters on his richly 

 burnished feathers, he serenades his mate, or 

 soliloquises, it may be, about what he did yesterday 

 or is going to do to-day, sometimes in low whistle, 

 sometimes in voluble chatter, dashed forth in a 

 series of jerks or catches. Not without reason has 

 he been called by Mr Cornish, in his delightful 

 essay, "the English mocking-bird." Other birds, 

 especially some of the finch or crow tribe, when 

 brought under the influence of man, may be trained 

 to pipe tunes or to imitate various sounds made by 

 men or animals ; but the starling is the only bird, I 

 believe, which, in his wild state, systematically sets 

 to work to train himself. He has the true instinct 



