THE SMALLER INLAND BIRDS. 



A MAN who professes to be an observant ornithologist can always 

 be tested as to the amount of his knowledge by his notes on 

 the smaller varieties. And here I must in all true humility 

 confess that my notes on the smaller inland birds are very far 

 from what they should be, in order to do the subject justice. 

 Want of time must be my excuse. 



STARLING. I should say that in winter time the sparrow and 

 the starling run each other very close in point of 

 numbers. Both are so common that they become 

 a nuisance. Firwood, the home of Mr. Arthur 

 Ashton, is a favourite roosting place for these birds, 

 which flock there in countless thousands every 

 evening. About the most curious place for a 

 starling's nest was chronicled in the " Field " news- 



