328 THE STARLING. 



Food. When wild, the Starling eats not only caterpillars, 

 snails, grasshoppers, mole- crickets, and the insects which teaze 

 the pasturing cattle, but grapes, cherries, berries, and grain of 

 all kinds, buck-wheat, millet, and hemp seed. Its chief food, 

 however, consists of the small meadow grasshopper, which it 

 eats also in the larva state. 



In confinement it may be fed on the universal paste, meat, 

 insects, bread, cheese, and, indeed, anything which is not sour. 

 A wild bird soon becomes tame if fed with ants' eggs and meal 

 worms, and is speedily as much at home as if reared in the 

 aviary. There are, however, some few birds so obstinate as to 

 die of hunger, sooner than eat in captivity. The Starling is 

 exceedingly fond of bathing, and therefore requires a constant 

 supply of fresh water. 



Breeding. The Starlings build in hollow trees, in dove- 

 cotes, under the roofs of houses, and in wooden boxes and 

 earthen vessels, which are often hung on trees for their accom- 

 modation. The nest is carelessly built of dry leaves, grass 

 stalks, and feathers, and is occupied by the same pair year 

 after year, being cleaned out when they take possession. The 

 female lays twice a year seven greenish grey eggs. Before the 

 first moulting the young are not so much black as a smoky 

 fawn colour, without spots, and their beak is dark brown. 

 Young birds, when taken from the nest, may be reared on 

 bread and milk, and will learn to whistle an air more perfectly, 

 and in a clearer tone, than either the Bullfinch or the Linnet. 

 Their memory is exceedingly good, as is shown by their retain- 

 ing many and various passages without confusion or mistake. 

 In the Yoigtland the peasants treat the Starlings like domestic 

 Pigeons : they take the young ones from the nest before they 

 are fledged, and this induces the parent birds to breed three 

 times a year. The last brood is, however, generally left, both 

 to increase the stock, and not to discourage the old birds from 

 returning to the same nest. 



Instances have been known in which Starlings have built in 

 the aviary, when provided with a box or pot in which to con- 

 struct their nest. 



Diseases. I know of no diseases peculiar to this bird. It 

 will live from ten to twelve years in confinement. 



Mode of Taking. In autumn the Starling is often taken 

 among the reeds, in nets specially constructed for the purpose. 



