80 THE STARLING. 



the keeper, that slave of Nimrocl, receives thanks, 

 and often a boon, from the surrounding sportsmen, 

 for having freed the dovecot from such a pest. 

 Alas ! these poor starlings had merely resorted to 

 it for shelter and protection, and were in no way 

 responsible for the fragments of egg-shells which 

 were strewed upon the floor. These fragments were 

 the work of deep-designing knaves, and not of the 

 harmless starling. 



The rat and the weasel were the real destroyers ; 

 but they had done the deed of mischief in the dark, 

 unseen and unsuspected; while the stranger star- 

 lings were taken, condemned, and executed, for hav- 

 ing been found in a place built for other tenants of 

 a more profitable description. 



After the closest examination of the form and 

 economy of the starling, you will be at a loss to pro- 

 duce any proof of its being an egg-sucker. If it 

 really sucks the eggs of pigeons, it would equally 

 suck the eggs of other birds ; and, those eggs not 

 being concealed in the dark recesses of the pigeon- 

 cot, but exposed in open nests on the ground, and 

 often in the leafless bushes of the edge, this fact 

 would afford to the inquisitive naturalist innume- 

 rable opportunities of detecting the bird in its de- 

 predations. Now, who has ever seen the starling 

 in the absolute act of plundering a nest ? It builds 

 its nest here, in company with the ringdove, the 

 robin, the greenfinch, the wagtail, the jackdaw, the 

 chaffinch, and the owl, but it never touches their 

 eggs. Indeed, if it were in the habit of annoying 

 its immediate neighbours, upon so tender a point as 



