THE STARLING. 285 



of migration, as they are annually observed for several weeks to 

 pour into Ireland from the north, and wing their way ^southward. 

 To myself they have frequently so appeared, but I prefer giving 

 the more full and satisfactory testimony of trustworthy and intel- 

 ligent " shore-shooters," three of whom, being consulted, agree 

 upon the subject. They state that the general autumnal migra- 

 tion of stares or stars'* (as they are sometimes called) commences 

 towards the middle or end of September, according to the season, 

 and continues daily for about six or eight weeks. So early as the 

 middle of July, a flock was once observed flying southerly in 

 the autumnal course. When the weather is moderate, flocks 

 consisting of from half-a-dozen to two hundred individuals, 

 are seen every morning, coming from the north-east, passing 

 over a point of land where a river enters Belfast bay about 

 a mile from the town, and continuing in the same course 

 until lost to view. They are generally seen only for one 

 and a half, or two hours, — from eight to ten o'clock a.m., — none 

 appearing before the former hour, and rarely any after the latter, 

 except when the wind is high, and then the flight is protracted 

 until noon ; if very stormy, they do not come at all. When they 

 commence migration unusually late in the season, as was the case 

 in 1838, they make up for lost time by an increase of numbers. 

 Thus, they were first seen in that year on the 23rd of October, 

 when they made their appearance at half-past eight o'clock a.m., 

 and continued passing in flocks of from twenty to one and two 

 hundred individuals, until two o'clock. At the season of their 

 earliest appearance, there is daylight between four and five o'clock 

 in the morning, and the fact of their not being seen before eight 

 o'clock, leads to the belief that they have left some distant place at 

 an early hour. On the same morning, the flocks all take the same 

 line of flight, but the direction varies when the wind is sufficiently 

 strong to affect then movements. Those which come within the 

 hours already mentioned, very rarely alight ; but when a flock 



* Similar abbreviations are in common use among the dealers in birds (living and 

 dead), in the north of Ireland ; thus, in grey linnet, chaffinch, green linnet, &c, an 

 economy of words is practised, and the first syllable alone is sufficient to indicate the 

 species. In the same manner, I have in Perthshire heard the hooded or grey crow 

 called simply huddy. 



