98 STARLING. 



more of a winter visitor. It is an exceedingly hand 

 some bird, nearly all its feathers being black, beauti- 

 fully glossed with rich metallic green and purple, and 

 tipped with white or cream-coloured spots ; the beak 

 is a rich yellow. 



When the breeding season is over the Starlings 

 collect in flocks, often many thousands in number, and 

 wander about in search of food. Sometimes they band 



STARLING. 



together with flocks of Rooks or Jackdaws. Their 

 food consists chiefly of worms, slugs, and beetles ; 

 but they are also terrible robbers of the cherry 

 orchards. Most pertinacious are they in this, and 

 I have frequently watched them, in open defiance of 

 the gardener and his gun, wantonly stripping off 

 cherries and dropping them on the ground, as though 

 in sheer mischief. No wonder the gardener, whose 

 pride is in his trees, vows vengeance ! And yet pos- 



