250 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



At such times the birds in their sodden plumage 

 looked like drowned starlings fished out of a pool 

 and galvanized into activity* Nor were they even 

 seen to shake the wet off a common action in 

 swallows and other birds that feed in the rain ; 

 they were too hungry, too anxious to find something 

 to eat to keep the starling soul and body together 

 before the long night of eighteen or twenty hours 

 would overtake them* 



No doubt the winter of 1915-16 was exceptionally 

 wet and cold, although without any severe frosts; 

 a long frost in February, when the birds were most 

 reduced, would probably have proved fatal to at 

 least half their number. But though it continued 

 wet and cold, things began to mend for the starlings 

 towards the end of February, and in March the 

 improvement was very marked ; they were not in 

 such a perpetual hurry ; their time was longer now, 

 and by the end of the month their working day had 

 increased from five or six to twelve or fourteen hours, 

 and the light had increased and grubs were easier to 

 find. By April, the starlings no longer appeared 

 to be the same species as the poor, rusty, bedraggled 

 wretches we had been accustomed to see ; they 

 were now lively, happy birds with a splendid gloss 

 on their feathers and beaks as bright a yellow as 

 the blackbird's* Finally, in April they left us, not 

 going in a body, but flock by flock, day after day, 



