2 
STARLING. 
harbouring round the outbuildings of a shooting-lodge on the shores of a salt-water loch. These birds spent 
the greater part of their time picking about on the seaweed on the loch-side, retiring invariably when 
alarmed to the shelter of the buildings. I was unable to ascertain the nature of the food procured, 
hut, from their actions, it appeared to consist of small marine insects. Though constantly observed till 
the second week in May, the members of the flock had not evinced any signs of separating. 
About many of the collections of miserable and dilapidated shealings termed villages in this remote district, 
Starlings were to he seen in considerable numbers searching over the adjacent ground and paying but slight 
regard to the natives or the few passers by. 
There is a general outcry against this species by the owners of cherry-orchards ; and from repeated 
observations in various parts of the country, I have no doubt their complaints are well founded. To credit the 
quantity of fruit that one of these gluttons can put away it is necessary to watch the operation. 
Immense flocks of Starlings collect and roost in the reed-beds on the broads in the eastern counties ; 
here they cause at times great damage, their weight breaking down the stems and rendering the crop almost 
useless*. As early as June small parties of young may he seen gathering towards the marshes. Prom many 
parts of the surrounding country these birds, as evening draws near, make their way to the chalk-pits on the 
Sussex Downs, and pass the night in any sheltered niches in the face of the cliff : in the neighbourhood of 
Brighton large flocks may he seen crossing the hills in November shortly after three o’clock, holding a straight 
course to their accustomed quarters. 
Though Starlings occasionally fall victims to the Falcon, I have repeatedly watched them persisting for 
some time in following a Kestrel. No attack was ever attempted, the birds simply wheeling round the Hawk, 
who seemed utterly unmindful of their attentions, though forced occasionally for a moment to check his flight 
as the flock dashed past. On the 3rd of October, 1882, while driving along the coast of West Sussex, I 
remarked three or four different Kestrels mobbed in this manner. 
The nest of the Starling is placed in a variety of situations, holes or apertures in the masonry or under 
the roofs of buildings being perhaps most frequently chosen. Decayed trees and crevices in rocky cliffs 
or chalk-pits arc also resorted to; and the borings of the Woodpecker and the Pigeon-cote arc at times invaded 
and the rightful owners displaced. In a plantation on the banks of the Eden, in Cumberland, I found, in 
June 187(5, the nest of a Pied Flycatcher in the cavity of a rotten branch ; this was subsequently destroyed, 
and the spot, appropriated by a pair of Starlings. 
In the south of England large numbers of this species are captured early in the autumn by professional 
bird-catchers and sold for trap-shooting, for which purpose they fetch two shillings a dozen. As many as 
seventeen dozen have been taken by one pull of the nets, the men asserting that at least ten dozen more 
escaped before the whole of the struggling captives could he secured +. The slaughter of this useful bird is 
much to he regretted, and the farmer who grants liberty to the poaching rascals to set their nets on his land 
wiil doubtless find cause to regret his indiscretion. 
It is well known that immense flocks of Starlings arrive on our eastern coast during the autumn from the 
north of Europe. At what date the earliest flights make their appearance, I have had no means of ascertaining. 
The following is from my notes for 1870, when shooting in the east of Norfolk : — “October 1G, strong wind 
from the north, weather cold and stormy. Numbers of Grey Crows and Rooks landing, also flocks of Larks 
and Starlings. The flight was continued till dark, and possibly still later.” These observations were made 
* In the cast of Norfolk the reed is used instead of laths for plastered walls; it is also employed for fencing round small yards and a variety 
of other purposes. 
t It must not be supposed that such numbers are frequently obtained. The seventeen dozen referred to as secured at one haul proved the 
largest day’s catch in the experience of a man who had carried his nets for over five and twenty years; on the following day ho took ten dozen, 
which were shipped lo Australia. 
