16 ANNIYERSARY ADDRESS 



many different kinds of birds have, time out of mind, 

 occurred again and again in our country — I may say 

 throughout the world — and the cause of such changes, 

 in nearly all cases, has generally proved a mystery even 

 to naturalists of the highest order. In keeping with 

 this statement, let me instance the plague of voles some 

 years ago in the Borders. How they, in a sense, almost 

 suddenly swarmed over the land for a time, and after- 

 wards as suddenly disappeared, must ever remain a 

 mystery. Starlings do not nest where larks nest ; and 

 though the lark's food is readily partaken of by the 

 starling, we know that the latter will as readily eat the 

 food of almost any other bird, for the starling, unlike 

 the lark, is about next door to omniverous. No bird 

 can pick a bone more quickly clean than a starling. 

 Besides, there is sufficient food for all the bird family, 

 and a scarcity of that article could not possibly be the 

 cause of the lark's desertion of its native haunts. Then, 

 though the starling is a lively and plucky bird, he is 

 in reality amiable and peaceable. I have often watched 

 small flocks of starlings feeding along with blackbirds, 

 thrushes, finches, and sparrows, and I have never 

 observed any particular tendency to combativeness in 

 these cases on the part of the starlings. A robin or a 

 house sparrow is much more pugnacious than the starling. 

 As to the distribution of the lark, it is not so scarce 

 as is generally believed by many of those who do not 

 observe closely for themselves, and it is more numerous 

 now in our district than it was a few years ago. Let 

 us trust that this favourite bird will go on increasing 

 in number. I may mention that Fifeshire, a county I 

 lived in for years, and with which I am familiar, is a very 

 stronghold of larks. It is stocked to perfection. When 

 walking on the High Street of that busy town Kirkcaldy, 

 I have on many occasions heard larks singing overhead. 

 The lark is gregarious in the late autumn, as you are 

 aware, At that time they assemble in great flocks, and 



