i88 



British Cage Birds. 



and intermix witli other birds, such as Greenfinches, Linnets, 

 Buntings and Larks. They are remarkably social, quiet, and 

 unobtrusive, and fraternise freely with their companions. They 

 visit farmsteads in the early morning, and especially the 

 "fauld yard," cow byre, and rick yard, in quest of provender. 

 In the daytime they hang about pastures, especially those where 

 there are plenty of cattle and sheep grazing, as they are fond 

 of the flies that torment cattle, and assemble in clusters 

 around their dung ; they likewise devour the ticks that torment 

 sheep, and may often be seen perched on the backs of these 

 animals, diligently in quest of those pests. They also visit 

 newly-ploughed fields. 



They build their nests in tall trees, as near the tops as 

 possible, in holes made by time, fungi, or the Woodpecker ; 

 or in some old, dilapidated tower, ruin, or fortress ; in the 

 belfries of church towers, the eaves of elevated roofs, a 

 disused dovecot, or places similar, but invariably one 

 not easy of access, and at a considerable elevation from the 

 ground. They like to be entirely out of sight, and beyond 

 reach, if possible. They breed in the month of May, and 

 rarely have more than one nest in a season ; but if robbed 

 of their eggs, or callow young, usually have a second. 

 The nest is composed of straw, hay, or dried grass stalks, 

 dried leaves and feathers, and is carelessly and badly con- 

 structed. The hen lays from four to six eggs (five is the 

 average number), of a very delicate pale blue, slightly tinctured 

 with green ; some are as pale as French grey, with a delicate 

 greenish shade. The hen incubates from fourteen to fifteen days. 



The young birds are very sombre looking in their firsjb, or 

 nest feathers, being a dull greyish black ; odd ones have been 

 found of a dirty brownish creamy drab colour ; these are 

 almost invariably hens, and on moulting resume the natural 

 colours of their species. Starlings will breed in a large out- 

 of-door aviary under favourable conditions, and with a regular 

 supply of insect food, and the usual materials for making a 

 nest. The stump, or a very stout branch, of an old tree, with 

 a good deep cavity in it, the result of decay, or the work- 

 manship of a Woodpecker, should be placed in some quiet, 

 secluded part of the aviary, and surrounded by a mound of 

 earth or a rockery ; the aperture should be so placed that 

 the birds can readily discover it, whilst it should be so ar- 



