JOEEE, THE STARLING 475 



freshly caught alas, and at a terrible reduction if you will buy a dozen. It is sur- 

 prising to me that so few people know how whimsical and delightful a pet the 

 starling makes in captivity. But I would rather have a starling any day than the 

 finest blackbird or thrush, though I would not keep either of the latter in a cage 

 at all. I am not suggesting that any reader should go and buy one of these wild- 

 caught starlings, which is a miserably cruel thing to do; but if you get such a chance 

 as I did to adopt a bird, take it, and you will agree that I have not exaggerated 

 his points as a pet. 



Joeee so called because that is how he pronounced his own name, and if you 

 don't know how to pronounce your own name, who does ? was born on the estab- 

 lishment in the early spring. 



His parents were, for their class, a respectable couple, who came over from 

 Russia and settled down in my garden. They speedily made acquaintance with 

 my bird table, and soon learnt the trick of avoiding the black thread which was 

 stretched round it and across it to keep off the sparrows. 



I give them a good character, but their manners at table " was horrid." The 

 moment the breakfast appeared they would plunge down and wolf as much as they 

 could and spill the rest. They certainly dropped over the edge of the table quite as 

 much as they ate. The sparrows quickly discovered this vulgar habit and scored off 

 me, for the moment the starlings appeared on the table a plague of sparrows 

 would fly down underneath it, knowing that in a minute or two those aliens up 

 above, whom they despised, would scatter as much food as they wanted over the 

 edge, and so provide them with a meal easily, in spite of my precautions with black 

 thread. 



They were the first inhabitants of " Starling Castle," which hangs just in 

 reach of my bedroom window. The sparrows did their best to oust them after- 

 wards, but in vain. The starlings took possession of it with their usual disregard 

 of its nearness to a human being's room, whilst the sparrows shrank from such 

 proximity. It was not until the starlings were well established, and had begun 

 building, that the sparrows came to the conclusion that the castle was safe enough, 

 or that I was tame enough, and made determined efforts, night after night, to 

 eject the Russians ! 



My only way of retaining the starlings was to fight their battles for them, but 

 I draw a veil over the proceedings. Suffice it to say the starlings settled down, and 

 made themselves perfectly at home. Morning after morning I heard the gentleman 

 singing, shouting, whistling, calling, going through all the varied items of his reper- 

 toire, from the cry of the plover, which every starling seems to pick up, down to a 

 note or two of the canaries, which are in an outdoor aviary close by. 



During the very early days of their courtship at least one rival lover turned 

 up ; this usually happened about five o'clock in the morning, when I was awakened 

 by the awful ructions taking place outside. A small perch served as approach 

 to the castle door, and the gentlemen threw one another off the step repeatedly, 

 until one of them tired of the game and went off till evening, when he generally 

 returned for another bout. However, I presume that victory went to the strongest, 

 the course of true love eventually ran smooth, the eggs were laid and duly hatched. 



It was then that fate stepped in and secured me my pet. Hunger, not unmixed 

 with greed, may have been the reason why one of the children toppled head foremost 

 out of the door. I rather incline, however, to think that an owl had something to do 

 with it, for it is an interesting fact, which I have noted often, that the owls of the 



