THE STARLING. 
713 
arrives in the spring the weather is often still very 
rough, and the snow-flakes whirl around, falling from 
the leaden clouds above, enshrouding everything in a 
mantle of gray: there sits our friend in the midst of the 
driving sleet, in the bitterest wind, quite unconcerned; 
firm and quiet on his chosen perch he lets us hear him 
singing away as cheerfully as if the sun were shining! 
And when the year has passed over and two broods have 
been reared, and most other birds are silent, a new, 
bright feeling of spring takes possession of his breast, 
which he cannot avoid giving vent to in cheerful strains. 
Whoever has carefully observed this bird cannot help 
loving it, and willingly erects a box for it to breed in, 
thus, as it were, inviting the bird’s companionship, and 
by this means attaching to himself a grateful being who 
can enliven many a dreary hour. 
The Starling measures from seven to eight inches in 
length, by fifteen or sixteen inches across the wings; 
the tail measures two and a half inches, and the beak 
somewhat over an inch. Its plumage is black, shot with 
metallic blue and green, and is often extremely glittering 
and brilliant; the wings and tail are gray; the feet 
brownish red; and the beak yellow. In the autumn all 
the darker feathers are white at the tip, which tint after¬ 
wards disappears from friction; at such times the bird 
has a spotted appearance. The young bird is plain gray, 
with a lighter throat, and a black beak. 
It inhabits the whole of Europe and a large portion of 
Asia, going in the winter as far as Africa and Northern 
India. In the South, our species is replaced by a cousin, 
the Sardinian Starling (Sturnus unicolor). In Germany 
the Common Starling is a well-known, and usually a wel¬ 
come, summer guest everywhere, and is in many marshy 
