THE COMMON STAELING. 



483 



by a person who had slightly wounded it and afterwards tended it until it had recovered, 

 was so good a mimic that an excellent judge of songsters, Avho had heard its voice without 

 seeing the bird from which it proceeded, thought that he was listening to a concert of two 

 starlings, two goldfinches, and some songster, probably a siskin. This bird was fed upon 

 insects and barley-meal moistened with milk. 



It is a remarkably pretty and conspicuous bird ; the beautiful crest which decorates 

 the crown and the delicate tints of the plumage rendering it easily distinguishable from 

 any of its kin. The head is orna- 

 mented with a crest of long flow- 

 ing feathers, which are of a jetty 

 black glossed with violet ; and 



the neck, wings, and tail are of ° .^ 



the same hue. The chin, throat, ' ■ ~ _^_ .- ^^P ?.' ' 



front of the neck, thighs, and 

 under tail-coverts are also black, 

 but without the blue gloss. The 

 back, scapularies, breast, sides, 

 and abdomen are of a beautiful 

 rose-pink ; the legs and toes are 

 yellowish brown, and the beak 

 yellow with a dash of rose. The 

 total length of this species is 

 between eight and nine inches. 

 The bird does not attain this 

 beautiful plumage until the third 

 year ; in the first year there is 

 no crest at all, and the plumage 

 is simply coloured with different 

 shades of brown and white ; in 

 the second year the crest is com- 

 paratively small and scanty, the 

 dark parts of the plumage have 

 a Ijrown ting(>, and the rosy parts 

 are dull and washed with grey or 

 brown. 



The common Starling is one 

 (if the handsomest of our British 

 birds, the bright mottlings of its 

 plumage, the vivacity of its move- 

 ments, and the elegance of its 

 form, rendering it a truly beauti- 

 ful bird. 



It is very common in all 

 parts of the British Isles, as well 

 as in many other countries, and 

 assembles in vast flocks of many 

 tliousands in number, enormous 

 accessions being made to their 

 i-anks after the breeding season. 

 These vast assemblies are seen to 



best advantage in the fenny districts, where they couch for the night amid the osiers and 

 aquatic plants, and often crush whole acres to the ground by their united weight. In 

 their flight the Starlings are most wonderful birds, each flock, no matter how large it.'^ 

 dimensions, seeming to be under the command of one single bird, and to obey his voice 

 with an instantaneous action which appears little short of a miracle. A wliolc cloud of 

 % F F 



UOSE-COLOURED PASTOR.— P(«r<or ro^ms. 



/ 



