COMMON STARLING. 98 
Famity STURNIDA. 
COMMON STARLING. 
Sturnus vunearis, Linn. 
Pl. XIV., figs. 17-19. 
Geogr. distr.—Throughout Europe generally; partially resident ; 
Asia as far eastward as E. Siberia; N. Africa and the Azores: resident 
and common in Great Britain. 
Food.—Wormas, slugs, insects, grain, fruits, birds’ eggs. 
Nest.—Formed roughly of dried grasses or chips of straw. 
Position of nest.—In holes in walls, chimneys, ruins, rocks, caves, 
or trees; in deserted holes of the Sand Martin; under thatches or in 
holes in the roofing of cottages and summer-houses. 
Number of eggs.—4-6 ; rarely 3. 
Time of nidification.—III-VI; May. 
I have in my collection the top of a Starling’s nest 
which I took out of the stove-pipe to a conservatory at 
Upchurch, in Kent; the pipe was bent almost at right 
angles to bring it up to the wall of the dwelling-house, 
above the roof of which it projected about a foot. The 
whole of the pipe from the angle to within about twelve 
inches of the top was filled with chips of straw, a whole 
straw being placed perpendicularly at the sides here and 
there, so that when the pipe was taken to pieces the 
nest was pushed out in the form of a cylinder about 
twelve feet in length. The whole of this material had 
been collected subsequently to the arrival of mild weather 
and the consequent disuse of the stove. The nest con- 
tained three eggs, tolerably hard set. If even these had 
been hatched, it is doubtful if the birds, when fledged, 
could ever have escaped from the pipe, which only measured 
about four inches in diameter ; indeed, it must have been 
extremely awkward for the parent birds to scramble out 
of and into this cylindrical dwelling. 
To the florist the Starling is a friend, but to the fruit 
grower an object of aversion; yet for the good that this 
bird does methinks he might be spared a few poor cherries, 
and if one tree were reserved for him and the others covered 
with nets, surely no great mischief would ensue. 
As the Starling robs the Rook, so is it in turn mobbed 
and robbed by Sparrows. 
