THE STARLING. 287 



When my friend Mr. Richard Langtry was proceeding from Bel- 

 fast to London by sea some years ago, and again when returning 

 thence, many starlings flew on board off Cornwall, and northwards 

 during stormy weather in November and December. They, 

 apparently from fatigue, permitted themselves to be seized by the 

 sailors on the rigging, rather than attempt to escape by flight. 



These birds very rarely stop anywhere in the vicinity of Belfast 

 on their southward migration ; but a low-lying tract of marshy 

 meadows, when flooded by excessive rain, has occasionally tempted 

 the latest comers to remain a few days, and till the end of Decem- 

 ber, 1833, a flock of about 200, frequented a district at the base 

 of the mountains, three miles from the town. In the low-lying 

 marshy tracts westward of these mountains, towards Lough Neagh, 

 and northward, towards Antrim and Templepatrick, they may be 

 seen during winter ; until the middle of March, large flocks have 

 come under my observation. About Belfast bay, starlings are 

 rarely seen except at the migratory period ; but during frost and 

 snow in January, 1823, 1 remarked them there. The only instance 

 in which one of the shore-shooters before mentioned, met with 

 these birds about the bay in winter, was some years ago during 

 heavy snow after Christmas, when they appeared in immense 

 flocks. So numerous were they, that the little grassy patches, 

 rising above the ooze near the shore, could not contain them, and 

 a portion of the flock kept hovering above their more fortunate 

 brethren, who had found a resting-place. On such petty islets of 

 green-sward, or on heaps of "sleech-grass" {Zoster a marina) only, 

 did he ever see them alight ; — the sand or bare beach was always 

 avoided. Like the snow bunting, the starling has however, of 

 late, become more common in the neighbourhood of Belfast. 

 During the greater part of the winter of 1844-45, a moderate 

 sized flock frequented Dargan's Island, adjacent to the quays, and 

 alluded to at p. 240. 



Although the numbers seen about Belfast are on their way 

 southward, the extensive marshy tracts of the most northern 

 counties (Antrim, Londonderry, and Donegal) display throughout 



