RED- WINGED STARLING. 
25 
generally extended to several of the adjoining twigs, round 
wdiich they are repeatedly and securely twisted ; a precaution 
absolutely necessary for its preservation, on account of the 
flexible nature of the bushes in which it is placed. The same 
caution is observed when a tussock is chosen, by fastening the 
tops together, and intertwining the materials of which the 
nest is formed with the stalks of rushes around. When placed 
on the ground, less care and fewer materials being necessary, 
the nest is much simpler and slighter than before. The 
female lays five eggs, of a very pale lght blue, marked with 
faint tinges of light purple, and long straggling lines and 
dashes of black. It is not uncommon to find several nests in 
the same thicket, within a few feet of each other. 
During the time the female is sitting, and still more parti- 
cularly after the young are hatched, the male, like most other 
birds that build in low situations, exhibits the most violent 
symptoms of apprehension and alarm on the approach of any 
person to its near neighbourhood. Like the Lapwing of 
Europe, he flies to meet the intruder, hovers at a short height 
over-head, uttering loud notes of distress ; and, while in this 
situation, displays to great advantage the rich glowing scarlet 
of his wings, heightened by the jetty black of his general 
plumage. As the danger increases, his cries become more 
shrill and incessant, and his motions rapid and restless ; the 
whole meadow is alarmed, and a collected crowd of his fellows 
hover around, and mingle their notes of alarm and agitation 
with his. When the young are taken away, or destroyed, he 
continues for several days near the place, restless and dejected, 
and generally recommences building soon after, in the same 
meadow. Towards the beginning or middle of August, the 
young birds begin to fly in flocks, and at that age nearly 
resemble the female, with the exception of some reddish or 
orange, that marks the shoulders of the males, and which 
increases in space and brilliancy as winter approaches. It has 
been frequently remarked, that, at this time, the young birds 
chiefly associate by themselves, there being sometimes not 
