STA R LING. 
1ST URN US VULGARIS. 
In densely populated and smoky cities this familiar species may constantly be seen; it is a native also of 
some of the wildest and most desolate portions of our islands. According to my own observations, there 
are few parts of Great Britain in which the Starling is not to be met with at one season or another. 
In all agricultural districts this lively and active bird is of the greatest service to the farmer, as he 
destroys immense quantities of grubs and other injurious insects during the course of the year. Vegetation 
would suffer severely in many parts of the country were it not for the assistance rendered by the Starling. 
Large flocks may frequently be observed on grass or ploughed land, feeding in company with Rooks and 
Jackdaws: in pursuit of slugs and worms they also resort at times to the marshes; here they may be 
seen running over the moist ground with Peewits and other Waders; on taking wing, however, the 
association speedily terminates, each species striking out a course for themselves. The presence of a lar<u; 
number of these birds with Plovers is by no means welcomed by the fowler; the frequency with which thev 
shift their position, sweeping over and putting the unconscious Waders on the alert, often ruins the chance 
of a heavy shot from the punt gun. On one occasion while watching the actions of a large body which 
had been flying for several minutes in a confused manner over the Holmes Marshes, in the east of 
Norfolk, a Peregrine dashed through the flock, and leaving the victims he had struck fluttering bclplcsslv 
towards the earth, continued his flight without a halt. For some seconds before the sweep of the Falcon, 
the movements of the Starlings had been most remarkable — one moment they were gathered into a dense 
mass, and the next were wheeling round and round in a revolving column, resembling in its rapid changes a 
cloud of black smoke. 
The slieepfold is a favourite resort for the Starling at all seasons of the year, the flies and insects 
collecting about the flock probably proving the attraction to the spot. Large numbers often appear on the 
short grass of a well-kept lawn, searching closely and vigorously attacking the larvae of the crane-fly (commonly 
known as the daddy-long-legs), a grub whose ravages are by no means conducive to the well-being of the 
turf. As early as the 28th of May I have noticed young birds of the year feeding in this manner in the 
south of England. 
During close and sultry weather in summer and autumn Starlings may be observed on wing at a 
considerable height in the air, capturing flies and other insects with the greatest rapidity. On such occasions 
their flight is erratic and uncertain, resembling to a certain degree the movements of a Snipe while drumming, 
though the drop is by no means so prolonged. By the help of glasses I was able to ascertain 
that a pair nesting annually in the mouth of the stone lion on the Norfolk Bridge at Shoreham 
repeatedly carried up to their brood a supply of the large water-lice that infest the stonework of the 
arches just above the water-mark. 
While in the Hebrides, early in May 1877, I remarked a small flock of about twenty individuals 
