148 
OMNIVOROUS BIRDS. 
seen in considerable numbers, any single flock is never 
greater than a pair and their attendant brood, or from 6 
to a dozen, in the case of a second covey. The true 
Starlings, on the contrary, have all the habits of our com- 
mon Blackbirds ; they assemble in winter, like dark 
clouds, moving as one body, and when about to descend,, 
perform progressive circular evolutions in the air like a 
phalanx in the order of battle ; and when settled they 
blacken the earth with their numbers, as well as stun the 
ears with their chatter. Like crows also, they seek the 
shelter of reed marshes to pass the night, and in the day 
take the benefit of every sunny and sheltered covert. 
Our Starling, like the American Quail, is sociable, 
but scarcely gregarious ; and though many, no doubt, 
wander some distance after food, yet a few, in Pennsyl- 
vania, as well as in this rigorous climate, may be seen in 
the market after the ground is covered with snow. Wil- 
son even observed them in the month of February, du- 
ring a deep snow, among the heights of the Alleghanies, 
gleaning their scanty pittance on the road, in company 
with the small snow birds. 
The flesh of our bird is white, and for size and delica- 
cy it is considered little inferior to the Partridge ; but 
that of the European species is black and bitter. 
The flight of the Sturnella is laborious and steady like 
that of the Quail, with the action of the wings renewed 
at short intervals. They often alight on trees, and select 
usually the main branches or topmost twigs on which to 
perch, though their food is commonly collected from the 
ground. At various times of the day, and nearly through 
the winter, in the milder states, their very peculiar lisping, 
long, and rather melancholy note is heard at short inter- 
vals ; and, without the variations which are not inconsid- 
erable, bears some resemblance to the slender sing- 
