have provided, shelter for it, since unless a sufficiency of
food is forthcoming for the many additional mouths accommodation
for additional bodies would avail little. Moreover,
as is the case throughout Scotland (to he more particularly
dwelt on presently), Starlings have become more and more
abundant in places whither they have not been invited. The
true cause of their increase is more likely to lie in a growing
abundance of food, but we must confess our ignorance as to
how that growing abundance has been produced.
The Starling builds its nest in the holes of trees, cliffs or
banks, all of which must be regarded as its natural habitations
but will, though very rarely, make one after the fashion of
most other birds.* It readily avails itself of any convenient
situation which may be afforded it by man or other animals,
and has been often found the tenant of a rabbit-burrow
when opening on the face of a declivity, while its occupation
of man’s edifices, from the towers of the proudest cathedral
to the wall of a lowly hut, composed of boulders and turf—
from the venerable ruins of an ancient castle to the pretentious
villa of modern days, whose peeling stucco invites the
Starling to penetrate its fissures—is known to all. It will
dispute with a Woodpecker the hole which the latter has
laboriously chiselled in a tree, and will almost always gain
an easy victory, for on its carrying in some nest-furniture the
Woodpecker at once yields possession. The Starling too
th e b ird ’s sca rc ity in th e n o rth of En g lan d in those days, th e wish was ap p a ren tly
n ev er gratified. Where th e species is a t a ll n umerous n o th in g is e asier th a n to
a t t r a c t i t , b y s e ttin g u p a nest-box fo r its accommodation.
* The E d ito r well remembers a S ta rlin g ’s n e st (an old Sparrow’s very likely
fo rming its fo u n d a tio n ) b u ilt of straw in a large yew, a n d open to th e sky. This
was a t Elv ed en in 1842 or 1843, and, though a t th e tim e perfectly aware of its
b e ing a d ev ia tio n from th e b ird ’s u su a l h a b it, h e d id n o t imagine th a t such an
in stan c e h a d n o t be en recorded a s k n ow n before, or th a t some five-an d -th irty
years a fte r h e should be u n ab le to c ite more th a n a few sim ila r cases. Mr. G.
B. Clarke men tio n s (Nat. 1851, p. 214) some platform-nests, composed of twigs
an d b en ts in fir-branches a t Woburn, an d Mr. J. P. Thomasson tw en ty years la te r
(Zool. s.s. p. 2682) a n e st b u ilt ag ain st th e t r u n k of a small fir n e a r Bolton-le-
Moors. As an equally ex ceptional site for a n e st may be men tio n ed th a t described
by Mr. J. Sclater (Zool. s.s. p . 3647), where a small hole in th e level surface of
th e g round was used an d a brood ha tch ed . Mr'. J . W. Barlow (Zool. p. 1023)
was to ld of a S ta rlin g which la id in th e same n e st w ith a Pie.
will share with the Sparrow* any convenient site that an
ordinary dwelling-house affords, and will frequently occupy a
niche in a Dove-cote— but very seldom to the detriment of
the Pigeons, with which it generally lives in perfect harmony.
To the majority of us it is most familiar as our fellow-lodger
under the same roof, and it freely enters the precincts of our
largest and smokiest cities—even London and Glasgow, at
the breeding-season, when a disused chimney, a displaced
slate or tile, a defective cornice or any of the numerous
faults of a building, will give it the accommodation it needs.
But it is seen to best advantage in the country, and nowhere
better than around the gabled manor-house and battlemented
church steeple, bosomed in stately elms, or the snug homestead
and thatched cottage, surrounded by trim crofts and
meadows—where each eave, jjcoping, buttress and gurgoyle
offers a nursing-chamber for the young, and every turret,
weather-cock, pinnacle and finial a footing for the old. The
ivy that clothes so many old walls and trees adds yet more
to its convenience, and their summits resound, especially on
sunny mornings and evenings, with the never-ending variations
of its song—the chattering harshness of some of its
notes making the long drawn out sweetness of others, to
which they are linked, all the more acceptable to the ear.
Very early in the year the Starling resorts to the breeding-
place of its choice, at first for only a short time in each day,
but as the season advances its visits are of longer duration,
until the needs of getting food or building-material alone
cause its absence. The nest, which is generally the joint work
of both sexes, consists of a large mass of dry grass or straw,
with a few roots and slender twigs, arranged without much
art. A little moss, wool and occasionally feathers are also
used. These are rudely disposed cup-fashion, and therein
are laid the eggs, from four to seven in number, of a delicate
* I t m u st be adm itte d th a t Mr. Gray ’s evidence te lls ill for th e S ta rlin g . On
one occasion h e says h e saw i t drag five n ew ly-hatched Sparrows in succession
from th e ir hole, an d le isu re ly swallow th em on th e roof of th e house. I t is to
be hoped th a t th is mu rd e ro u s disposition is very e x c e p tio n a l; i t is c erta in y
uncommon, an d most people will agree in s ta tin g , as th e re su lt of close o b serv a tio
n , th a t Sparrows shew no jealousy of Sta rlin g s b e in g n e a r th em .