£be Warbler 23 



has been with us, comparatively speaking, but a very few years, and they 

 are now in evidence in their millions. 



In some parts of England and in Ireland the Starlings congregate in 

 enormous flocks. These immense assemblages have been so marvellous that 

 they have passed into ornithological history as instances exemplifying the 

 wonders of bird life. For example in 1845 something like a quarter of a 

 million Starlings roosted every night in the trees of the Zoological Gardens 

 of Dublin. This took place between the end of October and the end of 

 March. On another occasion the roof of St. Patrick's Cathedral, in the very 

 centre of the same city, was sought as a place of shelter by nearly two 

 thousand birds of this species. Other places resorted to by them in vast num- 

 bers, are the reed-beds of the fenny districts in the rural parts of England. 

 Here they roost in thousands in the autumn and winter months, and so great 

 are their numbers on these occasions, that from their very weight they break 

 down the stems in masses. Many have complained of this damage, as they 

 have of the Starlings in the summer destroying the young growing fruit of 

 various kinds. This latter occurs so seldom, however, that it is hardly worth 

 the mention. Many British farmers, too, complain of the Starlings destroy- 

 ing the eggs of the Skylark. No evidence, I believe, of the truth of this has 

 ever been collected, and is not likely to be. 



It is one of the most wonderful sights in the world to observe the flight 

 of Starlings. Being birds of strong and remarkable flight they put their 

 powers in these respects to wonderful use when congregated in large flocks 

 and performing their extraordinary aerial evolutions. It has never been the 

 good fortune of the present writer to witness one of these, but they have 

 been realistically described by naturalists ever since the days of Pliny {Hist. 

 Nat. X. 24.) In executing these flights it is said the birds maintain the ut- 

 most silence, and Yarrell in describing one of them says " They wheel, close, 

 open out, rise and descend, as if each were obeying a commander, and all 

 this is done with the utmost marvelous precision while the flock is proceed- 

 ing at a rapid pace through the air. At times it may extend in a long and 

 nearly straight thread ; suddenly an undulation is visible along the line, and 

 in a moment it takes the form of a thin and smoke-like cloud ; another mo- 

 ment, and it is a dense and almost perfect globe ; then possibly, having pre- 

 served this appearance for a preceptibly longer time, it becomes pear-shaped, 

 and in another instant has assumed a spiral figure ; an instant after it has 

 spread out like a sheet, and its members are streaming softly along the 

 ground, perhaps to alight, or perhaps once more to mount aloft and circle 

 as before." 



Not long ago, I was told by a young English friend of mine, Mr. 

 Charles J. Hale of Birmingham, who at the time was a visitor at my study in 

 New York, that when shooting in the autumn in England, he had seen a 

 flock of many thousands of Starlings make a roost of an evergreen forest, and 



