284 STURNID.E. 



white bands across the wings, and the wing-feathers generally (but 

 not all) tipped with white. The form of the bill is identically 

 that of L. bifasciata. 



But few individuals of the white-winged crossbill have been 

 obtained in England or Scotland. 



THE STARLING. 



Stare. 



Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. 

 Is common, and breeds in many parts of the island. 



Montagu remarks of this species, that " many stay with us the 

 whole year; but the vast flocks that are seen in severe winters pro- 

 bably migrate to this country [England] in search of food, and 

 return northward in the spring. We have observed continued flights 

 of these birds going westward into Devonshire and Cornwall in 

 hard weather, and their return eastward as soon as the frost breaks 

 up." Mr. Knapp observes that, — "towards autumn the broods 

 unite and form large flocks ; but those prodigious flights with 

 winch in some particular years we are visited, especially in parts 

 of those districts formerly called the c fen-counties/ are probably 

 an accumulation from other countries." The Bishop of Norwich, 

 in his ' Familiar History of Birds/ gives as his opinion, " that 

 they are partially migratory, quitting one part of the kingdom for 

 another;" and Sir Wm. Jardine states, that " in many parts of 

 Scotland where they do not breed, they are migratory, appearing 

 in autumn and spring." 



It is now many years since Mr. Templeton, in his valuable 

 ' Naturalists' Report ' published in the Belfast Magazine, called 

 attention to the regular migration of starlings into Ireland. 



In that portion of the north of the island with which I am 

 myself best acquainted, there is nothing irregular in the migra- 

 tion of starlings ; they do not await any severity of weather ; and 

 although they may occasionally change their quarters when within 

 the island, yet of all our birds, they present the clearest evidence 



