CHAPTER XXIV. 



The Starling. 



Sturnus vulgaris, Lin.; Etourenau, Buf. 



Description and Character. — The Starling is one of the 

 most beautiful, intelligent, and social of all the various 

 species of British birds. The elegance and diversity of its 

 plumage, combining, as it does, nearly all the colours of the 

 prismatic spectrum, renders it simply resplendent. It is a 

 bold, majestic, handsome bird, grand in contour and graceful 

 in mien, and, consequently, has many ardent admirers. Its 

 natural song is meagre and peculiar, and certainly not what 

 might be termed symphonious or exhilarating. 



An adult Starling is from S^in. to 9in. in length, the tail 

 measuring from 2iin. to 21in. When a bird is in good con- 

 dition it weighs about 3oz. The beak is lin. in length, 

 straight, and compressed at the sides of both the upper and 

 lower mandibles, tapering to a fine point ; in summer it is 

 yellow, tipped with blackish brown, and in winter slaty black. 

 The iris is hazel brown. The head is black, shaded with 

 purple, and covered with small palish golden brown spots. 

 The neck, shoulders, back, saddle, rump, and upper wing 

 coverts are much the same, but have the addition of large 

 bright golden brown and emerald green spots. The tail is 

 deep blackish brown, shaded with green, with light bright 

 brown marginal shading of the feathers. The under side of 

 the neck and throat is a beautiful lustrous purple, speckled 

 profusely with silvery spots, which are very small at the 

 throat, but increase in magnitude all the way down the 



