KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



241 



prehended the fun of the thing? It is indeed 

 strange, but positively true. 



Day by day we extended the range of 

 volumes : till by degrees we formed a small 

 circle round the room. Here and there we 

 left small loop-holes, just to give the travel- 

 lers a " bird's-eye view " of the surrounding 

 neighborhood — occasionally exhibiting the 

 magical hemp-seed; a sight of which quick- 

 ened their pace amazingly. When their 

 journey was a very long and tedious one, 

 their looks, as they pattered past the loop- 

 holes, were most imploringly expressive. 

 However, an encouraging " Allons, Mes- 

 sieurs! " kept them up to their work bravely. 

 Arrived at the terminus, the strut of triumph 

 as each came forward and claimed his reward 

 can only be faintly imagined. We cannot, 

 and will not, attempt to describe it. How 

 these pleasing scenes of early life linger in 

 the memory ! 



(7b be Continued Weekly.') 



THE STARLING. 



Of some birds it is difficult, from their retired 

 habits, to give any clear and accurate account. 

 Not so of our friend the Starling. When it suits 

 his purpose, he comes fearlessly under our obser- 

 vation, and invites us to learn his history. For 

 many and many a year have wc watched him 

 from month to month, with the exception of a 

 certain season, when for reasons best known to 

 himself, he altogether disappears, and leaves us to 

 wonder what is become of him. 



Close before the window of our scene of ob- 

 servation, a well-mown, short-grassed lawn is 

 spread before him — it is his dining-room ; there 

 in the Spring he is allowed to revel, seldom 

 molested, on the plentiful supply of worms, which 

 he collects pretty much in the v same manner as 

 the Thrush. Close at hand, within half a stone's 

 throw, stands an ivy-mantled parish church, 

 with its massy grey tower, from the turreted 

 pinnacle of which rises a tall flag-staff, crowned 

 by its weathercock ; under the eaves, and within 

 the hollows and chinks of the masonry of this 

 tower, are his nursery establishments. On the 

 battlements and projecting grotesque tracery of 

 its Gothic ornaments he retires to enjoy himself, 

 looking down on the rural world below; while, 

 at other times, a still more elevated party will 

 crowd together on the letters of the weathercock, 

 or, accustomed to its motion, sociably twitter 

 away their chattering song, as the vane creaks 

 slowly round with every change of wind. 



We will give a journal of our Starlings' lives. 

 At the close of January, one or two unconnected 

 birds now and then make their appearance on 

 this weathercock; at first but for a few minutes, 

 as if without an assignable reason they had 

 merely touched upon it as an inviting resting- 

 place, in their unsettled course. In February, if 

 the weather happens to be mild, the number of 

 idlers may possibly now and then increase; but 

 still the visit seems to be but the mere passing call 

 of a few strangers, without a leading object. In 



March however, about the first or second week, 

 according to the state of the weather, things begin 

 to assume a more bustling and serious appear- 

 ance. Hitherto but one or two, or at most three 

 or four may have dropt in, as if to say, Here we 

 are, the Winter is past and gone, a happier 

 season is at hand. But now the flights increase, 

 the three and the four are multiplied to fourteen 

 or sixteen, and the song becomes a little chorus, 

 more loud and more joyous than before; and 

 occasionally, though at first with some circum- 

 spection and hesitation, one or two of the boldest 

 will let themselves gently fall from their airy 

 height, and glide down upon the lawn, as if to 

 inquire into the state of their future larder ; for 

 they scarcely take time to taste the hidden trea- 

 sures below the sod, but looking suspiciously 

 about, are on the wing in a moment if an inmate 

 approaches the window, or a door is heard to 

 shut or open. 



About the latter end of the second week, 

 aifairs begin to be placed upon a more regular 

 footing ; the parties on or about the battlements 

 and weathercock, seem as if they had deter- 

 mined upon a permanent establishment. From 

 early dawn till about ten, there they remain ca- 

 rolling away their communications ; at that hour, 

 however, off they go, and till four or five o'clock 

 are seen no more throughout the greater part of 

 the day; being absent in the fields, where they 

 may be seen chattering in company with the in- 

 habitants of a neighboring rookery, or a noisy 

 set of Jackdaws, who have, for time out of mind, 

 been the undisputed tenants of a certain portion 

 of an ancient beechwood at no great distance. 



About the third week, the plot begins to 

 thicken still more. The field, the lawn, and the 

 weathercock, are no longer the only objects of 

 interest. Detachments may be now seen prowl- 

 ing busily over the roof, cautiously creeping in 

 and out, from under the projecting eaves; and by 

 the end of the month, the regular establishment, 

 amounting to about thirty, has assembled, and the 

 grand work of the year fairly commences. From 

 this time, all is bustle; straws and nest-furniture 

 are seen flying through the air in beaks, con- 

 triving, nevertheless, to announce their comings 

 and goings by particular harsh or low muttering 

 cries, according as they think they are watched 

 or not. They are cunning birds, and discover in 

 an instant whether a passer-by has an eye to 

 their movements, and perfectly aware whether 

 he is following his own business or theirs. If he 

 steps onwards, without troubling himself about 

 them, they go in and out with perfect unconcern ; 

 but if a glance of curiosity or observation is di- 

 rected to their motions, they are all upon the 

 alert ; the bearer of a tuft to the nest wheels to 

 the right about, and perching on the naked upper 

 twig of a small beech-tree, or the projecting 

 point of a gable- end, sits there, uttering a par- 

 ticular note, which seems to give, as well as words 

 could do, intimation to a mate to be on its guard, 

 as a spy is at hand. If the weather is tolerably 

 favorable, everything goes on smoothly and 

 regularly : but (and we have, in the journal of 

 our Starlings' proceedings, many instances on 

 record) should a severe and sudden change 

 occur, a violent storm of snow, or continuance of 

 chilling winds, all operations arc suspended; not 



