348 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



both ducks sitting most contentedly on the eighteen 

 eggs! When hatched, I observed the old ducks 

 descend with their offspring in pairs, till they 

 reached the ground. They were held firmly by 

 the thighs of the old birds, during the descent; 

 and they were all removed in the same careful 

 manner. I did not see how the eggs were re- 

 moved. — Joseph Newton, Ickwell. 



THE STARLING. 



BY SIR JAMES STUART MENTEATH, BART. 



Still dear to each bosom the Starling shall be ; 



His sor.g, like the thvillings of hope, is a treasure : 

 For through bleakest storms, if a calm he but see, 



He comes to remind us of sunshine and pleasure. 



The Starling is with most people an 

 especial favorite. It may not therefore be 

 unacceptable to the readers of Kidd's own 

 Journal, if I describe how easily, in almost 

 every situation, this beautiful and useful 

 bird to man may be domiciled around our 

 dwellings. 



Mr. Waterton, of Walton Hall, the prince 

 of naturalists, and the truest observer of the 

 habits of birds and animals I know, lias done 

 more than any one byihis benevolent and inge- 

 nious devices, to attract the feathered popu- 

 lation to his charming woods and grounds of 

 Walton Hall. His success in this way, has 

 amply rewarded the pains lie has taken to 

 plant colonies in them of almost all our 

 British birds, and particularly of those that 

 are nearly everywhere cruelly persecuted 

 and destroyed by the gardener, the bird- 

 stuffer, and the gamekeeper. Among those 

 most prized by Mr, Waterton is the 

 Starling. 



Some years ago, during a visit I paid to 

 Walton Hall, I observed small stone towers, 

 erected as the dwelling-place for these birds. 

 They were divided into storeys, and each 

 storey into so many holes, or lodging-rooms, 

 to contain the nests. On returning home, it 

 struck me that a common barrel, raised on a 

 pole, might be substituted for the stone 

 tower, and that it could be made sufficiently 

 attractive to the Starling. 



Accordingly, a barrel was divided into five 

 storeys, and each storey partitioned into so 

 many holes, with a wooden perch affixed at the 

 outside of the hole for the accommodation 

 of the bird on entering and leaving its nest. 

 The barrel has a cross of wood placed on the 

 top of it, on which the Starlings frequently 

 sit and congregate. One so prepared, was 

 put up early in March, to tempt these birds, 

 who were then looking out for lodgings 

 wherein they might establish their nursery. 



Here let me notice a* curious fact : — 

 Although none of these birds were pre- 

 viously observed to be in the neighborhood, 

 in the course of two days three or four pairs 

 were seen hovering about the barrel, and 



entering the holes ! They immediately took 

 possession of it ; made their nests in it, and 

 brought out their young. The Starlings had, 

 however, a struggle to maintain their 

 quarters; for some jackdaws, also on the 

 look-out for comfortable apartments, did all 

 in their power to take forcible possession of 

 the barrel. Luckily for the Starlings, the 

 holes being too small to admit the enemy, 

 they finally bade adieu to it, and left the first- 

 comers to enjoy in quiet their new home. 

 These birds have gone on increasing year 

 after year, and I had a large flock before I left 

 that residence. 



On changing my former abode last year, 

 for another where there were no Starlings, 

 I erected in February last a similar barrel 

 on a pole. This is now inhabited by different 

 pairs of birds, all busily engaged in hatching 

 and bringing out their young. 



Many birds, I believe, that are now 

 strangers to our dwellings and grounds, 

 might by adopting means suitable to their 

 habits, be brought to settle near us. Most 

 striking proofs of this are exhibited at 

 Walton Hall, where, as I have mentioned 

 before, the benevolent owner has peopled 

 his woods and waters with flocks of birds 

 that are rarely to be seen elsewhere. Tn my 

 own case, a notable instance is afforded of 

 the Starling locating where a fit residence 

 was prepared for him. It is well known 

 that this bird will build only in holes, either 

 in trees, or walls, or rocks. Besides giving 

 him a barrel for his home, I also put up 

 boxes with holes in them, and fasten them to 

 trees around my house. These, at the present 

 moment, are all well filled with Starlings, who 

 seem most happy in their comfortable 

 quarters. 



The Starlings hereabouts, I observe, have 

 the same habits as those so interestingly 

 described in your OWN Journal, April 17. 

 They never winter here, but always return 

 early in the spring, whenever the weather is 

 open and mild ; departing when it becomes 

 cold and severe. After they have brought 

 up their young, they disappear for some time. 

 They then return in the autumn, and remain 

 till winter sets in. 



It is very amusing to witness their 

 flights in an evening. Being very social, the 

 flocks of Starlings assemble about sunset, 

 wheeling round in circles for an hour at a 

 time. 



This bird, in addition to its affording us 

 much amusement, is also of essential service 

 to us. Like the rook and the robin, he is a 

 very early riser in the morning, and being 

 up before sunrise, he is thereby enabled to 

 catch the worms before they bury themselves 

 in the earth. Provided with a powerful bill, 

 the Starling dips deep into the earth, and 

 devours innumerable worms, slugs, and other 



