92 On the Ornithology of Wilts \_Sturnidce.'] 



are of a lighter shade of red, and others again in a mottled garb 

 of green, red, orange, and brown : its legs though short are very 

 strong, and it will climb and swing from branch to branch, taking 

 firm hold with its long hooked claws : it is very active too, and 

 lively in its manners, and remarkably fearless and confiding. 



STUBNIDiE. (The Starlings). 



This is an interesting family, the members of it so pert and 

 lively, and with so many amusing habits : they are very sociable 

 and usually move in large flocks : omnivorous, for nothing seems 

 to come amiss to their appetite ; and perfectly harmless, so much 

 so as to have excited but little enmity and little persecution from 

 man. 



" Common Starling." (Sturnus vulgaris.) This is one of our 

 most constant companions, frequenting the roofs of our houses for 

 nesting purposes, marching about our lawns and gardens all day 

 in search of worms, wheeling about on rapid wing in small com- 

 panies around us, and otherwise demeaning itself as an innocent 

 harmless bird should do, its mens conscia recti giving it confidence, 

 and demanding its protection or at least comparative freedom from 

 molestation at the hands of man : moreover it lends its gratuitous 

 services to the shepherd, and may often be seen perched on the 

 sheeps back, giving its friendly aid to rid them of their trouble- 

 some parasites. Though at a little distance of dull sombre dress, 

 it will on examination be found to possess a remarkably bright 

 burnished plumage, composed of long narrow silky black feathers, 

 shining with metallic tints of green blue and purple, and each 

 garnished with a triangular white spot at the tip. As autumn 

 approaches, these birds congregate in vast multitudes in certain 

 favoured spots towards evening, arriving in flights of forty or fifty, 

 till many thousands and even millions are collected, and forming 

 quite a cloud they whirl through the air as if guided by one impulse ; 

 now ascending high, then wheeling round, descending with a roar 

 of rushing wings, till they almost brush the earth in their rapid 

 course ; and finally down they glide into the plantations or reed- 

 bed which they have selected for their roosting place : and then 



