STURXID.E. 79 



(Teignmouth, Torquay, &c.). "Two pairs have bred in the avonue of 

 Indio, near Bovey Tracey, for the last two years." Bellamy (1839) says 

 it " breeds in some few spots in Devon" (Xat. Hist. 8. Devon). It was 

 breeding plentifully enough near Topsham in 184:(i to our own knowledge 

 (W. D'U.). The late Mr. T. E. A. Briggs saw a flock of about a dozen 

 at 3Ianadon, May 9th, 1854, and his father saw a pair going in and out 

 of a hole in an ash tree there, May ]2th, 1860. A pair were breeding at 

 Lee Hill Bridge, June 7th, 1864. Mr. J. B. Eowe (1863) says "in the 

 south, formerly in the winter only ; but recently many pairs have been 

 known to breed "' (Trans. Plym. Inst. 1S62--3, p.' do). The late Mr. J. 

 Gatcombe informed us that even in 1873, when he wrote to us, young Star- 

 lings were quite a puzzle to many of the bird-stuffers at Plymouth. In the 

 Xiugsbridge district Starlings only commenced breeding a few years before 

 1860 (R. P. jST.). This sprightly bird is very numerous in the Exeter dis- 

 trict,breeding in the holes in trunks of trees, and in the shoots which carry 

 off the rain-water from the roofs of houses. Many pairs bred at our house 

 near Topsham, and were very troublesome to us, tilling up the heads of 

 the pipes with masses of straw and other soft substances, and though after 

 every heavy rain in the breeding-season some of the callow young were 

 drowned in the nests, j'et the old birds persisted in building in the same 

 situation year after year, until we were compelled to exclude them by 

 means of wire caps over the shoots. With us also they frequently came 

 down the chimneys into the bedrooms, bringing down a mass of soot with 

 them, a very unpleasant habit. The Starling's eggs ought to be of a 

 delicate light blue, but we have often found them quite dingy from the 

 soot washed into the nest by the rain, or accumulated in the plumage of 

 the chimney-loving parents, who seem to " sleep black" like the sweeps. 



In June 1872 a large flock of Starlings frequented the trees round the 

 cottage at Becky Falls, near Manaton ; an unusual sight for the time of 

 year. Xone nest very near there. They appeared to be attracted by the 

 quantities of caterpillars which had stripped the oak trees of their leaves. 

 They must have left their breeding-places in flocks like Hooks. (W. W. 

 B., in litt.) 



The reed-beds at Slapton Ley are a great resort for Starlings in autumn 

 and winter. The numbers roosting there are enormous, and form quite a 

 feature of the place (E. A. S. E.). Polwhele mentions their roosting 

 there ; and Westcote speaks of vast multitudes roostirjg in the few 

 straggling elders which grew on Lund}- Island. Hundreds roost in ivj'- 

 covered walls and in shrubberies in and near Exeter, and the south of the 

 county, in winter, tlieir strong Corraorant-like odour and uncleanly habits 

 rendering them unwelcome neighbours, and necessitating wholesale de- 

 struction. 



Fifty years ago the Starling was looked upon as oidy a winter visit oi- to 

 N. Devon, and we can well remenilter when the early appearance of tlie 

 flocks in the autumn was considered a pign of a severe winter. Tlie 

 enormous increase of this very useful l»ird during the last (juartcr 

 of a century is one of the facts of our West Country ornis. The good 

 it does in clearing the pastures of grubs and worms is incalculable. 



