STARLING. 15 



reason to believe that they were laid by one pair of birds. In the 

 Starling's laying-season, as most egg-coUectors are probably aware, the 

 bird often drops an egg upon the fields. During the hatching-period the 

 female, who sits very closely, is fed assiduously by the male. Dixon has 

 known this bird remove its eggs from a hole from which they were con- 

 stantly being taken. Few birds are more noisy than young Starlings ; and 

 throughout the rearing-period their nest-hole is betrayed to any passer- 

 by by the clamouring young within, who greet their parents' arrival with a 

 chorus of cries. But far different is the case with the old birds, who 

 are usually very wary, and always silent at the nest. 



As previously stated, the Starling is gregarious. It looks a remarkably 

 handsome bird as it wanders about the grass-plot or the meadows, pro- 

 gressing with slow and regular pace, every now and then stopping to pull up 

 a worm or dislodge a beetle from the little heaps of manure. It is also very 

 fond of searching the ground where cattle are feeding, and may repeatedly 

 be seen perched on the backs of sheep, which it rids of various vermin. If 

 alarmed, the whole of the flock generally take wing simultaneously, and 

 alight in the nearest tree-tops, where they keep up an incessant chorus of 

 mixed harsh and musical notes. The flight of the Starling is very rapid 

 and well-sustaiued, performed by a series of rapid beatings, occasion- 

 ally varied by smooth gliding motions with the wings expanded. As a 

 proof of the Starling's great powers of wing may be mentioned the fact 

 that it may very often be seen high in the air coursing about in search of 

 insects, like the Swallows and Swifts. It will sometimes mount to a great 

 height and perform evolutions which we are apt to think astonishing from 

 any bird save those just mentioned. When in the air thus, the bird 

 seldom utters a note, and it will often keep flying about for an hour or 

 more. 



The food of the Starling is for the most part of the year composed of 

 worms, slugs, and beetles ; but in winter these birds are often seen to feed 

 on grain and seeds. In autumn they are very fond of fruit and berries. 

 Elderberries are part of their favourite food, and soon the trees, 

 which had previously bent under the weight of their clustering branches 

 of black fruit, will be totally denuded. In severe weather they will 

 sometimes feed on hips and haws ; and are often seen on the low- 

 lying coasts searching for sand-worms and various small mollusks. The 

 Starling, like most other birds, has not escaped a certain amount of 

 persecution, and is charged with several offences. The gardener says it 

 robs his fruit-trees ; the farmer, that it destroys his Pigeons' eggs ; whilst 

 very recently the poor bird was accused of eating Larks' eggs to such 

 an extent as to cause a perceptible decrease of those fine choristers in 

 certain districts ! To the former of these charges the bird must 

 perhaps plead guilty, but its depredations are small and amply repaid by 



