THE STARLING. 201 



are among the most social of birds, and they also make great 

 use of their liberty in ranging from place to place. They 

 are found abundantly in all the lower parts of Britain, and 

 in the most northerly of the islands ; they mingle freely 

 with most flocking birds, and do not hesitate to alight in 

 numbers among domestic animals in the meadows and other 

 pastures. They are partial to humid places, and do not 

 much frequent the elevated and arid moors ; and in the 

 cold season they migrate in vast numbers to the low and 

 warm countries, and to the shores of the sea. They are, 

 at all seasons, very lively birds, whistling, chattering, and 

 gliding about on the wing, which they generally do in 

 curves, and with a smooth motion. On the ground they 

 walk neatly, and with considerable velocity, but do not hop. 

 Walking and hopping seem to depend a good deal on the 

 kind of food which birds seek on the ground. If the food 

 is large, and so visible at a greater distance, the birds hop, as 

 in the case of ravens and magpies, and of thrushes, which 

 feed on snails and slugs ; but if the food is insects and their 

 larvae, and worms, as in the case of the rook and the starling, 

 then the walk is smooth. When the weather is fine, star- 

 lings often hawk about on the wing in pursuit of insects, for 

 hours together, but generally in the evenings. 



Many birds fight at the pairing time, but the starlings are 

 all play and good-humour ; and after they have settled the 

 preliminaries, they resort to the hollows of trees, holes in 

 rocks, ruins, and walls, and there construct their nests, which 

 are artlessly formed of dried grass. The eggs are never 

 more than five ; but it is possible, nay, probable, from the 

 vast numbers of the birds, that they may, in favourable 

 circumstances, have two broods in the year. All our resident 

 birds that renew their song in the autumn have probably 

 broods at that time, although in districts where the winter 

 comes soon and suddenly, many of the later broods must 



