BIRDS. 59 



and vegetable. Here belong Starlings and Raven-like 

 Birds (crows, magpies, jays). 



The Starling (Stv/rnvs vulgaris). 



Plumage black, with a violet sheen. The tips of 

 the contour feathers, however, are white or bright 

 yellowish. These white patches become so well 

 marked after the autumn moult, that they almost 

 completely cover the shining metallic black of the 

 feathers. They gradually become smaller; in the 

 next spring they are almost or entirely lost. Very 

 serviceable. Devours, especially in autumn, many 

 field snails, also cockchafer grubs, wire-worms, grass 

 caterpillars, grasshoppers, leaf-lice ; also many insects 

 destructive to fruit trees and forest trees. The 

 starling, however, is able to do considerable damage 

 to garden fruit trees, since it eats chemes, currants, 

 and sometimes even pears. Starlings often settle on 

 the backs of sheep and cows in order to pick off the 

 vermin. 



Genus : Corvus (Crow-like Birds). 



Here belong — 1. The Jackdaw (C monedula), with 

 relatively short beak and long tarsi. Black ; side of 

 the head and neck ashen grey. Breeds in holes in 

 trees, chimneys, ruins, and towers. 2. The Hooded 

 Crow (0. comix) ,- bright grey, except the head, throat, 

 wings, and tail, which are black. Breeds in all parts 

 of Europe east of the Elbe ; occurs in Western Europe 

 as a gipsy migrant in winter. 3. Carrion Crow (C. 

 corone); black, beak stout and strongly bent at its 

 end. Breeds in trees, but never (like the Eook) in 

 large numbers together. 4. Rook (0. frugilegus) ; 

 black, beak rather long ; in adult specimens the head 

 feathers are quite worn away a t the base of the beak. 

 5. Raven (C corax) ; much larger than the other 

 species; black, beak very strong, strongly curved 



