284 DECEMBER 



holes have been dibbled by their strong straight beak 

 close alongside the blades of corn, though the blades 

 themselves are not touched ; and even when their 

 &quot; murmurations,&quot; as Juliana Berners used to say, are 

 excessive, they do very little harm to the crop, less, per 

 haps, than the flocks of larks. Both when found in big 

 congregations are for the most part immigrant birds, 

 hungry visitors from the north-east; and it is found 

 that favourable winds encourage their journeyings. On 

 the commons they will similarly dibble wide patches 

 with holes that remain obvious, as if a spiked wheel had 

 crossed the grass What do they probe for ? They treat 

 the hard ground very much as the snipe and waders 

 treat the ooze, but cannot scoop and forage in the same 

 way, and in any case the more succulent inhabitants are 

 out of reach. The worms are more than two inches down 

 and there are no snails or slugs or any creepy-crawly 

 creature. We have been told lately (by Mr. Oliver Elton) 

 that every square foot, or as he probably means, every 

 cubic foot of meadow soil contains a million creatures, 

 mostly visible to the naked eye, but even if we believe 

 this, next to none in winter is of a size to be perceived by 

 the starling s touch. They are, however, great eaters of 

 every sort of rubbish, and may squeeze the unessential 

 good out of it as a duck sorts the water and the weed 

 and the ooze. 



Let the starling be. The gardener s only desire is to get 

 rid of him, a thing impossible of accomplishment, though 

 their visits are capricious. The classical example of such 

 caprice was noted at the Whipsnade Zoo when they occu 

 pied some 70 per cent, of the nesting boxes the first year, 

 to the despair of the keeper of the sanctuary, but have 

 not repeated their descent since. To return to the 

 cottage the only birds that are attracted under the roof 



