VILLAGE BIRDS IN WINTER 249 



are for open weather, many perishing in the mean- 

 time. 



During those three winter months, when I 

 watched the starlings at work on the field before 

 my hospital window, they appeared to be in a per- 

 petual state of extreme hunger and were always 

 running over the ground, rapidly prodding as they 

 moved, and apparently finding their food almost 

 exclusively on the surface — ^that is to say, on the 

 surface of the soil but under the grass, at its surface 

 roots. At other seasons they go deep when they 

 know from the appearance of every blade of grass 

 whether or not there is a grub feeding on its roots 

 beneath the surface. Without shooting and exam- 

 ining the stomachs of a large number of starlings 

 it was not possible to know just what the food con- 

 sisted of; but with my strong binocular on them I 

 could make out that at almost every dig of the beak 

 something was picked up, and could actually see it 

 when the beak was held up with the minute morsel 

 at its tip — a small thread-like semi-transparent worm 

 or grub in most instances. Two or three of these 

 atomies would hardly have made a square meal for 

 a ladybird, and I should think that a starling after 

 swallowing a thousand would feel very hungry. 

 And on many days this scanty, watery food had to 

 be searched for in very painful conditions, as it 

 rained heavily on most days and often all day long. 



