alight upon them, as though they had been subjected to
some mechanical process.* Fir-plantations are also a
favourite haunt, as well as shrubberies of holly, ilex and the
like, and this work is indebted to the late Dean Goodenough
for the following account! of perhaps the largest Starling-
roost in England, as it existed some years ago, on the property
of the late Mr. Miles at King’s Weston near Bristol:
— “ This locality is an evergreen 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 low 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 there,
the 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
abstained.”
Another similar and perhaps larger congregation has been
described by Mr. Ball, who, in 1845, stated that from
150,000 to 200,000 Starlings were computed to roost, every
night between the end of October and the end of March, in
* The c alamity is agg rav ated by th e fa c t th a t a reed, which can. su sta in th e
we ig h t of p e rh ap s two or th re e Starlings, b re ak s when as many more a ttem p t to
perch upon it. Then a ll th e se h ave to tr y a fre sh stem, w hich in its tu r n gives
way, an d so on u n til th e b ird s have in ju re d fa r more reeds th a n would suffice to
sea t th e whole flock comfortably b u t fo r th e ir disorderly crowding. B u t th e evil
can be an d generally is a v e rted by v ario u s expedients such as th e firing of guns
to scare away th e collecting my riad s, while th e discharge of rockets, a fte r th e
b ird s have found a resting-place, is n o t w ith o u t its use as a means of d riv in g
th em from th e ir h a u n t. The u p ro a r caused by a n ig h t-a la rm of th is k in d is
indescribable.
*f* This account was pu b lish ed in th e F ir s t Ed itio n of th is w ork in 1839. I t
ap p ea rs th a t th e p re sen t p ro p rie to r n o t a p p re c ia tin g th e a lmost u n iq u e privilege
(so fa r as En g lan d is concerned) keeps th e evergreens c u t low, a n d so deprives th e
S ta rlin g s of th e ir roosting-place.
some thorn-trees in the Zoological Garden at Dublin, and
that this enormous estimate was the result of many observations.
When the birds were first noticed their number was
put at from 15,000 to 20,000, hut within three years it
seemed to have increased tenfold.* Accounts of two other
very large Irish Starling-roosts, at Lough Fern in Donegal,
and at Doohyle Lough, co. Limerick, were communicated to
the Dublin Natural-History Society (Jan. 8th, and Feb. 5th,
1858) by Mr. Montgomery and Mr. G. H. Kinahan.
Though the ordinary flight of Starlings is very swift and
well-sustained,! it would not need special remark, were it
not for the wonderful performances of the multitudes, whose
congregations have just been noticed, prior to their going to
roost for the night, and occasionally during the day by smaller
bodies, especially when disturbed by a Hawk, hut sometimes,
particularly in early spring, apparently for mere joy. Possessing
very considerable powers of wing these are turned
to account in an extraordinary manner by the birds composing
the flock. They wheel, close, open out, rise and
descend, as if each were obeying a commander, and all this
is done with the most marvellous precision while the flock
is proceeding at a rapid pace high in air. At times it may
extend in a long and nearly straight thread; suddenly an
undulation is visible along the line, and, in a moment, it
takes the form of a thin and smoke-like cloud : another
moment, and it is a dense and almost perfect globe I ; then,
possibly having preserved this appearance for a perceptibly
longer time, it becomes pear-shaped and, in another
instant, assumes a spiral figure; an instant after, it has
spread out like a sheet, and its members are seen streaming
softly along the ground, perhaps to alight or perhaps once
* M r . B all’s description, originally published i n ‘Saunders Newsletter (March
2 5 th , 1845), h a s been re p rin te d in fu ll by Thompson. Mr. More (1877) informs
th e E d ito r th a t for th e la s t fo u r years th e Starlings have n o t resorted^ to th is
roost, a n d th a t fo r some tim e before th e y used to come only a t u n c e rta in in te r vals,
ab sen tin g themselves fo r p e rh ap s two or th re e years an d th e n re tu rn in g ,
t G ilb e rt W h ite says “ S ta rlin g s as i t were swim alo n g .”
î Stu rn o rum gen eri p ro p rium c a te rv a tim volare, e t quodam pilæ orbe cir-
cumagi, omnibus in m ed ium agmen ten d en tib u s. — C. Plinii Nat. Hist. x. 24.