4 STARLINGS. 



will let themselves gently fall from their airy height, 

 and glide down upon the lawn, as if to inquire into 

 the state of their future larder; for they scarcely 

 take time to taste the hidden treasures below the sod, 

 hut looking suspiciously about, are on the wing in a 

 moment, if an inmate approaches the window, or a 

 door is heard to shut or open. 



About the latter end of the second week, affairs 

 begin to be placed upon a more regular footing; the 

 parties on or about the battlements and weather- 

 cock, seem as if they had determined upon a perma- 

 nent establishment. From early dawn till about ten, 

 there they remain carolling away their communica- 

 tions; at that hour, how r ever, off they go, and till 

 four or five o'clock, are seen no more, throughout 

 the greater part of the day; being absent in the fields, 

 where they may be seen chattering in company with 

 the inhabitants of a neighbouring rookery, or a noisy 

 set of Jackdaws, who have, for time out of mind, 

 been the undisputed tenants of a certain portion of 

 an ancient beech- wood, at no great distance. 



About the third week, the plot begins to thicken 

 still more. The field, the lawn, and the weather- 

 cock, are no longer the only objects of interest. 

 Detachments may be now seen, prowling busily over 

 the roof, cautiously creeping in and out, from under 

 the projecting eaves, and by the end of the month, 

 the regular establishment, amounting to about thirty, 

 has assembled, and the grand work of the year fairly 

 commences. From this time, all is bustle; straws, 

 and nest-furniture, are seen flying through the air in 

 beaks, contriving, nevertheless, to announce their 

 comings and goings by particular harsh or low mut- 



