Alpine regions to 
Central Asia and 
Northern China. 
One specimen has 
been recorded from 
England, having 
been obtained in 
Oxfordshire, but 
the bird may pro- 
bably have been 
an individual which 
had escaped from 
confinement. 
THE STARLINGS. 
Family STURNIDM. 
The Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Our Starling is the typical 
representative of a family of birds which is widely distributed over the old world. 
They are allied to the Crows in many respects, and, like the latter birds, they walk, 
instead of hopping, like Thrushes or Finches. They further differ from Crows in having 
a distinct winter dress, when their bright plumage becomes obscured by whitish tips to 
the feathers, which fall off as spring approaches, and leave the burnished colour of the 
Starling in full perfection. The bill, too, loses its dull colour, and becomes bright 
yellow. No one, to see a Starling on a lawn, would guess that the bird which appears 
to be entirely of a dull black, is really shot with 
iridescent and metallic shades of bronze and green 
and purple. In full summer plumage, it is 
indeed a beautiful bird, and one which does an 
immense amount of good in the destruction of 
grubs and wire-worms. In the neighbourhood of 
towns Starlings are a common feature during 
the winter until the early summer, rearing their 
young under the roofs of houses, or in holes in 
trees, or old buildings, but, as soon as the young 
are able to take care of themselves, they disappear 
for some weeks, and do not reappear until October, 
visiting, no doubt, the fruit gardens in the 
country, where they often commit great havoc. 
The nest is a rough structure of grasses and 
straws, and has generally a peculiar odour, 
as is the case with hole-breeding Crows, 
The Starling. 
The Alpine Chough. 
