STURNID-.E — THE STARLINGS. 229 



Stumus vulgaris, Linn. 



THE STABUNO. 



Mtn-mis vulfinru^, Linn. Syst. Nnt. I, (oil. 10.) 1758, 1G7 ; (od. 12,) 17t!0, 290. — 1)k(ii.ani. 

 & Geuuk, Oni. Kuroii, 1, 1807, 232. — Uei.nh.vudt, Ibis, 1801, 7 (Hiui'iiIiukI). 



Sp. CiiAii. rentliors principally lustrous-bluck, with purply and {iruon rclloctioiis, 

 except at tliuir extrcinitic.i, which arc iliiU and opaque ; lirownish aliovc, .silvcry-wliito 

 beneath. IJiil yellow in spring, brown in antmnn. Lejrs llesli-i'olor. Leiifrlh about 

 y.'jl ; wiiifr, "j.U; tail, U.Hl; bill above, 1.11, tiom nostril, .7u ; gape, 1.1") ; tarsus, l.l'i; 

 middle toe and claw, l.lo. Female .similar, but less brilliant. 



ILvB. Europe and North Africa, most abundant in Holland. One speciuien killed in 

 Greenland, in 1851, and preserved in the Iloyal Zo61ogi<.'al Museum of Coi)eidiagen. 



The preceding description will serve to (listiiioui.sli the Starling from any 

 North American species, although it is subject to coiisideralde variation. 

 A second form, scarcely distinguishable as a .s])ecies (S. vnicolor, De la 

 Marmora), of a prevailing black color, witliout terminal spots, and witli the 

 feathers of the under part elongated, is found in Sardinia and Sicily. 



Habits. We give a place to the connnon Starling of Europe in the fauna 

 of Nortli America, as an occasional and rare visitant of Greenland. Only a 

 single instance is on record of its actual capture, — a female taken l)y Hol- 

 boll in 1851, and now in the lioyal Mu.seum of Cojienhagen. 



The well-known Starling of Europe is handsome in plumage and of grace- 

 ful sliape. It is numerous, as a species, is very generally distributed, and 

 therefore very well known. With many it is a great i'avorite, and is also 

 familiar as a caged bird. Its sprightly habits, retentive memory, and ilexi- 

 bility of voice, commend it as an interesting and entertaining pet. It has 

 been taught to whistle tunes, and even to imitate the human voice, with 

 facility and correctness. In its natui'cal state it is a very social bird, and 

 lives in flocks the greater i)art of the year. 



]\Ir. Waterton, who was a great admirer of the Starling, sought to induce 

 these birds to frequent his grounds, and with this view made various cavi- 

 ties in the walls of an old tower near his residence. His wishes were grati- 

 fied, and soon every cavity he had made was taken ]iossession of by a pair, 

 and many more would have been thus domiciled had provision been made 

 for them. 



A similar instance is on record in Hamburg, where, within a few years, 

 a well-known horticulturist induced nearly two hundred pairs of Starlings 

 to occupy and to breed in wooden boxes put up in his grounds for their 

 accommodation. His plants had been destroyed by the attacks of hosts of 

 subterranean larva), and the Starlings were invited in tlie hope that they 

 would remove this evil, which tluy did quite eflectuiilly. 



1 )r. IJeverley Morris gives a very interesting account of a female Starling 

 that he observed building a nest in a hollow tree. The male looked on, but 



