538 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



grubs, caterpillars, and other creatures which infest the corn- 

 fields, and only eats corn at a certain time. There is, however, 

 one season in the year, in which the Eed-winged Starling 

 becomes an arrant thief. 



It is said that every living creature can be bribed, if the right 

 bribe can only be found, and in the case of this bird, the newly- 

 developed maize-grains present a temptation which it cannot 

 resist. It is not alone in this predilection, for there are many 

 other birds and some quadrupeds, the bear being the most con- 

 spicuous, which revel in the sweet, pulpy, succulent Indian corn. 

 Even mankind is overcome with this delicacy. The white man 

 fills his pockets with the plump ears, and munches them as he 

 goes on with his business, and the copper-skinned native half- 

 stupefies himself by gorging the cream-like grains. Small blame 

 therefore to the bird for following an example which is set by its 

 superiors. But before the maize is developed, and after it is 

 hardened, the Eed-winged Starling depends chiefly on insect- 

 food for its subsistence, and is, therefore, a truly useful bird, 

 deserving to be protected rather than destroyed, and only requir- 

 ing to be driven out of the maize-plantations for a week or two 

 in the course of the year. 



The nest of this bird is almost always buUt in morasses where 

 reeds are plentiful, and in such places it almost invariably roosts, 

 flocking to them towards nightfall in vast masses that absolutely 

 blacken the air, now appearing as a vast dull cloud, and now 

 suddenly flecked with blood-red patches, as the black bodies 

 and scarlet wings are alternately turned to the spectator. 



Somewhere about the end of April, the Red-winged Starling 

 begins to make its nest. This is sometimes placed on the ground, 

 sometimes on a grass-tussock, and sometimes in a branch, thus 

 being more variable in position than is the nest of any other 

 bird. The mode of structure and materials of the nest differ 

 with the locality. 



"When the nest is placed on the ground, it is composed of a 

 few rushes and grass stems, the chief care of the bird being to 

 secure a soft lining of grass-blades. When it is built in a grass 

 or rush-tussock, the stems are drawn together and held in their 

 places by long grasses, so as to make a hollow wherein the nest 

 may repose. 



But when it is placed on a branch it is much more compli- 



