THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
326 
charm to the woods, and incite alike our admiration and thankfulness to a 
Creator so generous of His gifts to please the eye and ear of His children. 
Only comparatively few of the songsters can here be described, but those 
thus introduced are eminently representative of the most interesting species 
found generally in civilized countries, and especially in North America. 
The Starling ( Sturnus vulgaris) is found in nearly all temperate climes, 
but is most numerous in Britain and Europe. It is gregarious, going in flocks 
of several hundred, under control of a leader. The nest of this bird is a crude 
affair, and built in a variety of places, sometimes on 
the ground, or even in deserted rabbit burrows, or in 
pigeon cotes, forming a ready affiliation with any other 
variety. It is an amiable and interesting pet, being 
easily taught to speak with the facility and distinctness 
of a parrot, and combines with this faculty a marvel¬ 
lously instinctive judgment. It has a great affection for 
its offspring, which is admirably illustrated by the fol¬ 
lowing anecdote : A barn, in which a starling had her 
young, caught on fire, an incident which the bird was 
first to discover, and at once she flew about in mad dis¬ 
traction, as if trying to call attention and help from 
persons in the vicinity. As the flames grew nearer 
her young, and perceiving that they were about to 
perish, she flew through the smoke and seizing one of 
the fledglings bore it in her beak to a place of safety, 
returning immediately after another, and in this way 
she removed her entire brood of five to another spot where they were deposited 
together, and a new nest formed for their comfort. In its habits the starling 
is very similar to our common cow birds, though its plumage is very handsome. 
The Cross-bill ( Loxia curvirostris) is 
native to both America and Europe, where 
it is found in considerable numbers, being 
sparrow-like in both size and habits. This 
bird is remarkable for the very curious 
shape of the bill, the upper and lower 
mandibles completely crossing, giving it 
an awkward and mal-formed appearance, but 
which, in fact, is a remarkable adaptation 
to the feeding habits which nature has de¬ 
signed it to practise. The jaws are very 
muscular, and by the peculiar form of its 
bill the bird is able to bite an apple through 
the centre and extract the seeds therefrom, 
or shell the seeds out of pine cones, or even 
to break the shell of hard almonds. The 
young of the cross-bill do not exhibit the 
peculiar formation of bill noticeable in the 
parent birds. 
The Bullfinch ( Pyrrhula vulgaris ) may hardly be called a wild bird, for it 
exists in no country in any considerable number, being rather a distinctively 
CROSS-BILI,. 
STARRING. 
