and the old birds are observed to be most assiduous in their
attentions to their nestlings. Soon after the young birds
leave the nest, both parents and offspring unite with other
families of the same-species, forming large flocks, which again
associate, and may be seen feeding on Commons and grass
grounds, in company with Rooks, and occasionally with other
birds. Their food consists of.worms, insects in their various
stages, and snails ft m default of these they will eat berries
and grain. They are frequently seen in méadows, searching
for food among sheep and cattle. In the southern countries
of Europe they devour ripe grapes and figs. In confinement
they appear to prefer raw meat.
When the young are too much grown to continué to. occupy
the nest in which they were reared, the/ nights of summer
and autumn being warm, thesé birds roost by thousands
among reeds in the fenny parts of Essex^' Cambridge, Huntingdon,
Lincoln, and other countiesr/iw-herei alighting in
myriads upon this flexible plant, they crush4t to-the water’s
surface, and large patches are'seen lodged and beaten down
like grain after a storm.
I am indebted to thé kindness of Dr. Goodeü®ugh,NDean
of Wells, for the following account of an extraordinary haunt
of Starlings on. the estate of W . Miles, Esq. fat ;King%-
Weston : — “ This locality* is an évergréent. plantation^ : of
Arbutus, Laurustinus, &c. covering Some acres, to which
these birds repair in an evening — I was going to say, and I
believe I might with truth say— by millions, from the flow
grounds about the Severn, where their noise and stench are
something altogether unusual. By packing’in such, myriads
upon the evergreens, they have stripped them of their leaves;
except just at the tops, and have driven the Pheasants* for
whom the plantation was intended, quite away from the
ground. In the day time, when the.birds are not ther^llhç
stench is still excessive. Mr. Miles was about to cut the
whole; plantation down to get rid of them, two years ago,
but I begged him not to do^so on account of the curiosity of
the scene,- and he has since been well pleased that he ab-
sta in ed .|tt
In winter, for the sake of the warmer temperature, Starlings
frequently roost in pigeon-houses, and are accused of
destroying both eggs and young Pigeons. This has been
doubted; and as- I can substantiate - no charge on my own
knowledge, I leave the cause of the accused Starlings in the
hands of a very able advocate who has much better opportunities
of personal observation than I have*. Colonel Montagu,
_when residing near Kingsbridge, observed that in vèry
hard weather ylarge flocks of Starlings flew towards West
Devon and Cornwall/ returning when the frost broke u p ; and
Mr. Couch, at Polperro, and Mr. E. H. Rodd, at Penzance,
hay|5|observed that large flocks-of these birds visit Cornwall
in- autumn and winter, but that few remain to breed; they
even depart, Mr. Couch ;says*, in his Cornish Fauna, much
earlier than the migratory birds that go to the northern
parts of Europe. '
The Starling is found in aimost^every part of the United
Kingdom. In the Hebrides, according to Mr. Macgillivray,
and in O rk n q ^ |it/is found in thousands: where, -Mr. Low
says, it is^also a favorite, as few houses- are5'built, but several
holes are left in the wall for its convenienpe, of which it
always, as pjuthe..favour, avails itse|f,r: and repays it
with ajsong^and an. occasional display of its antic mimicry.
In the winter, Mr. rLow W-hen thp earth is locked
up with frost, and worms soe| insects no longer to be Obtained,
the. Starling visits the sea"; side, where itt lives* upon marine
animals, insinuating the point of its beak under stones, turning
them oyer with,-a jerk, and immediately seizing what may
b% underneath. A feeling in favour of this bird exists also
in Shetland* : Mr. Dunn says it frequently builds its nest in