PASSEEES (starlings). 417 



nape of the neck, is often found in company with it. They 

 accompany rooks to their feeding-grounds, and nest if they can 

 somewhere near rookeries and the haunts of men. The most 

 favourite nesting - places are hollow trees, cliffs, and church 

 towers. Jackdaws feed upon insects, grubs, fruit, and all 

 manner of strange objects, which they delight to obtain and 

 destroy. On the whole, they too may be considered useful 

 birds to the farmer. 



The Magpie {Pica caudata) and the Jay (Garrulus glandariitg) 

 are both harmful to some extent, eating not only insects but 

 the eggs of many of our insect-feeding birds, ducklings, chicks, 

 and game, grain, cherries, as well as wild fruits. Voles make 

 up the bill of fare. The magpie is found in open country ; the 

 jay, with its harsh screaming note, in woodland tracts, where it 

 falls a ready victim to the gamekeeper's gun, and it certainly is 

 a pest in fruit and garden land. 



Starlings (SruBNiDiE). 



The genus Sturnus has a bill as long as the head, the edges 

 of the upper mandible extending over those of the lower 

 mandible. 



The Starling {S. vulgarw) needs no description. The young, 

 however, might escape our notice, for they are very different in 

 plumage to the adult. The young starling is uniform ashy-grey 

 without any spots, and has even been described as a distinct 

 species by older writers. Starlings, especially after the breeding 

 season, unite in large flocks, which fly at early morn to their 

 feeding-grounds, and may often be seen accompanying the rooks 

 and jackdaws. The nests are formed in holes in trees, walls, 

 dovecots, chimneys, &c., in which are found five to seven pale 

 greenish-blue eggs. The whole family of young and parents 

 unite with others to form the flocks, and these break up again 

 in the spring for nesting. During their foraging expeditions 

 they feed on all manner of insect grubs, which form their chief 



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