Formcy Status of the Common Starling in Britain. 311 



when it was seen how very ferruginous is the sandy deposit 

 below it. The iron, in whatever form it was originally present, 

 would be converted into soluble salts by waters containing 

 organic acids, carbon dioxide, etc., and these iron-bearing 

 solutions rising from below by capillary action would eventually 

 reach the zone where they would meet free oxygen, and so be 

 converted into the insoluble hydrated oxides such as limonite 

 or some closely allied mineral. 



It would appear that the ' pan ' commenced to form as soon 

 as conditions were favourable for establishment of the earliest 

 vegetation in the swamp and has not been penetrated to any 

 extent by the rootlets of the later vegetation. The soil above 

 the pan is of the same mineralogical constitution as that below 

 but, as would be expected, it has been bleached by organic 

 acids from the peat above. 



My thanks are due to Mr. C. Cheetham, under whose 

 guidance I examined the area and who kindly provided me 

 with the sample for this analysis. 



FORMER STATUS OF THE COMMON STARLING 

 IN BRITAIN. 



E. P. BUTTERFIELD. 



Whatever differences of opinion there may be among natur- 

 alists regarding the status of the Starling in the earlier decades 

 of the last century, more especially between the years 1835 

 and 1845, it is quite certain that many, if indeed any, could be 

 found to deny its great increase as a breeding species as com- 

 pared with former years. In this district (Wilsden), ever 

 since my boyhood days, covering a period from the sixties 

 down to the present time, the Starling has been a common, 

 if not an abundant species ; although like many other birds, 

 it has varied in its numbers in certain years. It is when nar- 

 uralists begin to discuss its status in the above-mentioned years 

 that differences of opinion begin to develope. Many assert 

 that the Starling was unknown in many parts of Britain 

 either as a breeding species or even as an immigrant prior to 

 the thirties of the last century. It may be that the Starling 

 formerly was more local than it is at the present, but many 

 statements regarding its first appearance in certain localities 

 should not be accepted without further authentication. An 

 old man died in Wilsden a few years ago, who used to assert 

 most positively that he remembered the first appearance of the 

 Starling in Wilsden, which was regarded by the inhabitants 

 with much curiosity. This incident he would often recite 

 with much circumstantiality to his friends ; nevertheless, 

 I have always thought there might have been some element 



1918 Oct. 1. 



