The Common Starling is 
•one of the handsomest of our 
British birds, the bright mot- 
tlings of its plumage, the viva- 
city of its movements, and the 
elegance of its form, rendering 
it a truly beautiful bird. 
It is very common in all parts 
of the British Isles, as well as 
in many other countries, and 
assembles in vast flocks of many 
thousands in number, enormous 
accessions being made to their 
ranks after the breeding season. 
These vast assemblies are seen 
to best advantage in the fenny 
districts, where they couch for 
the night amid the osiers and 
aquatic plants, and often crush 
whole acres to the ground by 
their united weight. In their 
flight the Starlings are most 
wonderful birds, each flock, no 
matter how large its dimensions, 
seemingtobe under the command 
of one single bird, and to obey 
his voice with an instantaneous 
action which appears little short 
of a miracle. A whole cloud 
of Starlings may often be seen 
flying along at a considerable 
elevation from the ground, dark- 
ening the sky as they pass 
overhead, when of a sudden the flock becomes invisible, every bird having turned 
itself on its side, so as to present only the edge of its wings to the eye. The 
whole body will then separate into several divisions, each division wheeling with 
the most wonderful accuracy, and after again uniting their forces they resume 
their onward progress to the feeding-ground or resting-place. 
The colour of the Starling is daiL purple-green, spotted with white. 
COMMON STABLING . — Sturnus vulgaris . 
