Superstitions about Biras. 151 
and shoots forward, all the time keeping a level straight 
course, going direct to his object. 
The starlings that breed in the roof, though they 
leave the place later on and congregate in flocks 
roosting in trees, still come back now and then to re- 
visit their homes, especially as the new year opens, 
when they alight on the house frequently and consult 
on the approaching important period of nesting. If 
you should be sitting near a window close under the 
roof where they are busy, reading a book, with the 
summer sunshine streaming in, now and then a flash 
like lightning will pass across the page. It is a star- 
ling rapidly vibrating his wings before he perches on 
the thatch ; the swift succession of light and shadow 
as the wings intercept the rays of the sun causes an 
impression on the eye like that left by a flash of 
lightning. They are beautiful birds: on their plumage, 
when seen quite close, the light plays in iridescent 
gleams. 
Upon the roof of the old farmstead, too, the chirp 
of the sparrow never ceases the livelong day. It is 
amusing to see these birds in the nesting season 
carrying up long straws—towing their burden through 
the air with evident labour—or feathers. These they 
sometimes drop just as they arrive at their destina- 
tion. Eager to utter a chirp to their mates, they 
open their beaks, and away floats the feather, but 
they catch it again before it reaches the ground. 
Fluffy feathers are great favourites. The fowls, as 
