^°\ ^J^-] Baxfield, Metallic Starlings. 2$ 



raids. It would feast on the scrag end of the neck of a recently 

 decapitated fowl with as much apparent relish as on a mango. 

 Having acquired a taste for milk, it refused to spoil its thirst 

 with water, and since it was never a captive, and always alert, 

 quick and questioning, it generally made itself understood, and 

 got that which it wanted, if not with good grace then by persist- 

 ence, or wile, or fraud. In its eagerness for its morning's porridge, 

 it alighted in a plateful all steaming from the pot, and was so 

 sadly scalded that feathers from the thighs indecently disappeared. 

 Tt even ventured to dance upon the hot stove so that it might 

 inspect the cooking of the porridge, all too slow for its precipitate 

 appetite, but the feat was never indulged in a second time. Baths 

 were taken regularly, for the bird was fond of water for the 

 purpose of cleanliness, though despising it as a drink. It was 

 fond of perching on the edge of the " blue tub," and ducking and 

 sprawling therein, and would also submit to be well soused from 

 the watering-pot. Birds from the same colony were wont to visit 

 a chilli-bush growing within a few feet of the verandah, but the 

 castaway never ntade friends, though it soon learnt to take chillies. 

 Its first knowledge of that diverting fruit was, however, disastrous, 

 for, instead of being swallowed whole, it was broken and tasted 

 with deliberation. With a shriek of dismay and flooded eyes and 

 gaping mouth, it flew to the kitchen, eloquently imploring the 

 solace of milk. Ever after chillies were bolted. Occasionally the 

 castaway would camp out on a mango tree, and its failure to 

 appear one morning at its accustomed time for porridge and milk 

 was not astonishing, although grievous, for the bush has many 

 arboreal snakes. The life-history of the little bird was entertaining, 

 because it afforded information as to the variety and quantity of 

 food consumed, and, as the digestion was grossly imperfect, one 

 was able to realize more completely the services of such an agent 

 in the distribution of seeds. Millions of seeds must be transported 

 by the several colonies every year, and thus is the vegetable 

 kingdom helped to preserve its types. Moreover, excellent work 

 is done by the species towards the checking of insect pests — grubs, 

 caterpillars, flies, and the larvae of beetles. They search the 

 glistening fronds of cocoanut palms with ordered haste, and 

 examine the spathes so shrewdly that one is inclined to marvel that 

 any insect should survive to the injury of the palm. Where the 

 soft green caterpillars gather together, there will the Metallic 

 Starlings be joyfully busy. 



In times past MetaUic Starlings, in innocent youth, were eaten 

 greedily by the aborigines, the associated nests being easily raided 

 two or three times during the season. Nowadays, locally, the 

 entertaining birds are petted in a certain sense and called by the 

 aboriginal name. We do not refer to them as the Metallic 

 Starling, or the Shining Calornis, or Calornis metallica, but as 

 "Tealgon," the accent on the first syllable. Across the water, 

 only 2i miles away, the bird is known as " Dill," a sound which 

 imitates a frequent note. Many of the blacks' names are 

 onomatopoetic. 



