59 



THE STARLING 



Is rather less than the blackbird, being 

 in length only nine inches; its plumage is 

 dark, glossed with green, blue, purple, and 

 copper colours, with a mark of pale yellow 

 at the end of every feather, which gives the 

 bird a beautiful spotted appearance ; the 

 bill is yellow, and the legs are of a reddish 

 brown. 



When young, the cock may be distin- 

 guished from the hen, by a black streak un- 

 der the tongue, which the hen has not, and 

 which may readily be seen on opening the 

 bird's bill ; the first time, however, that he 

 moults his first feathers, he loses this mark, 

 and can then only be distinguished from the 

 hen, by the superior glossiness and bril- 

 liancy of its plumage. 



These birds are gregarious, and in the 

 Winter season assemble in vast flocks, as- 

 sociating not only with those of their own 

 species, but also with fieldfares, redwings, 



