THE STARLING. 15 



snow to more congenial feeding-grounds. As the spring 

 advances, the beak, which is dark during winter, becomes 

 bright yellow, the rich glossy sheen of the plumage inten- 

 sifies, and by summer the bird becomes extremely 

 handsome. 



In choosing a nesting-place it is very erratic ; some- 

 times the hole in a tree made by a Woodpecker will be 

 chosen; at another a hole in the roof under the eaves of a 

 house, the crevice of a cliff, or in a tower or old building, 

 or any hole in a tree conveniently large. Within this hole, 

 wherever it may be, the Starling constructs a loosely-built 

 nest of straw, hay, roots, feathers, and any other con- 

 venient material, seldom neglecting to allow two or three 

 straws to protrude from the hole. 



The eggs are generally five in number, though some- 

 times six may be found, and in colour they surpass almost 

 all others in delicacy of tint, being of a uniform pale 

 greenish-blue, though specimens are often found much 

 lighter. There is but one nest in the year, unless accident 

 to the first may occasion a second brood. The young are 

 fed with marvellous industry by the parent birds upon 

 grubs, worms, insects, and their larvae, visiting the meadows 

 and running around the sheep and cattle, not disdaining to 

 perch upon the sheeps' backs in order to extract the ticks 

 from the wool. 



The plumage of the young is exceedingly unpretending, 

 being dull greyish-black, the wing and tail feathers being 

 darker and the throat lighter. Cream-coloured specimens 

 have been taken, as well as white, but after raising the 

 hopes and expectations of their owners, at the first moult 

 the former lose their distinguishing colour, and regain the 

 normal plumage. Albino birds are not at all rare, one 



