THE ZOOLOGIST 
No. 854.—August 15th, 1912. 
NOTES ON THE HABITS AND THE COLORATION OF 
THE COMMON STARLING (STURNUS VULGARIS). 
By Frepx. J. Strusss. 
As a youngster living on a south-western wing of the 
Pennines, and familiar with the relations between Starlings 
and cattle, I could hardly help noticing one little detail of habit 
in which the bird did not agree with the books—for never, 
under any circumstances, did I see a Starling perch on the back 
of either cow or sheep. On railway journeys to other counties 
we watched for the first exhibition of the habit almost as eagerly 
as we anticipated the first Sheld-Duck or the first ant-hill, and 
we even remembered certain counties as places in which the 
Starling had the normal habit described or referred to so often 
in our books. I think that in a way we viewed our own birds as 
abnormally spiritless, in keeping with the uninteresting land- 
scape. Unfortunately, I made few regular notes on the habits 
elsewhere, and in the course of years my recollections have been 
tumbled about somewhat. The average adult is sure to find his 
memory far from safe on this point if he has been in the habit 
of observing the bird in many localities. One thing, however, I 
can state with confidence—in that part of Eastern Lancashire 
extending from Cheshire ten or twelve miles along the Yorkshire 
border, a district in which I have had exceptional opportunities 
for observing Starlings amongst cattle, it has never been my 
experience to see the bird rest even for an instant on any animal. 
I shall not go so far as to say that it never does so, but during 
a stretch of years when I often puzzled myself trying to find a 
solution of the problem I did not once see the action. 
During this period, as I have already indicated, I frequently 
noticed the picturesque habit in other districts, and I have had 
Zool, 4th ser. vol. XVI., August, 1912. Zz 
