been taken from a-nest near that town, and some credit must
be given to this assertion, though the cases, as will appear,
were certainly abnormal. In 1838 a valuable account of
this bird’s habits, as observed by Alexander von Nordmann
in certain parts of the Russian dominions, was communicated
to the Academy of St. Petersburg (Bull. Sc. v. pp. 1-18).
He was persuaded that it must frequently, though not annually,
breed in societies near Odessa, but at that time he had
not known of a single nest, nor was it until six years later
that he fell in with any of its communities, an interesting-
description of which he shortly after supplied to the same
Academy (Bull. Phys.-Math. iv. pp. 98-102). For some
few years past the Rose-coloured Starling had only visited
the South of Russia in small numbers, but in April 1844
huge flocks made their appearance, covering the pastures by
day and at even collecting with outcries to roost on the trees.
Most of the birds were already paired, and by the end of the
month or the beginning of May, they took possession of
every wall or heap of stones that offered a chink for the nest,
which was composed of sticks, straws, wool, pieces of bast
and the like, assiduously gathered by both cock and hen and
formed into a largish, round, bowl-shaped structure, neither
firm nor very neat. Stone-quarries also were equally inhabited,
and all this not only close to Odessa, but far and wide
throughout the Government of Cherson so abundant were
the birds that the boys collected their eggs by the capful.
These were in number from six to nine, but generally six or
seven in each nest, and it was thought that some birds had
laid twice. So soon as the broods were flown they repaired
to the nearest gardens, where they clustered on the trees by
thousands, while their parents fed them with locusts brought
from the neighbouring steppes, and these assemblages" were
scenes of the greatest noise and confusion imaginable. As
the old birds arrived with their bill distended with food and
sought their own offspring, the young indiscriminately
snatched it from them. Of their numbers some estimate
may be formed from the fact that one particular garden
at Taschina, about 50 versts from Odessa, contained 1500
trees, on each of which were perched several dozens of
young birds, while many hundreds sat on the larger trees,
in the tops of which all roosted at night. In this garden
the birds remained about ten days and then dispersed.
In the summer of 1856 the Marchese Oratio Antinori had
as ample an opportunity of observing one of these wonderful
breeding-assemblages near Smyrna. Large flocks of the
birds appeared about May 15th, and others continued to
arrive until June 5th, soon after which it became evident
that they were breeding in the neighbourhood. It was not
however until June 27th, that he, with Herr Gonzenbach,
obtained any eggs. On the 30th those gentlemen ascended
the hills above the village of Bournabat (the gardens of
which were full of these Starlings—both old and young, for
many of the latter had already left the nest) when they
found every stone covered with the droppings of the birds,
while higher up an extent of rock for 200 square yards
looked as though lime-washed. On this spot says the first
of these observers (Naumannia, 1856, p. 407) “ the nests
were by thousands, some quite open and uncovered, others
so hidden under blocks of stone that these needed turning
to examine them; some were at the depth of about a foot,
others could not be reached by the arm. The nests were so
close together that they often touched. They were built
without any skill, for the bird was content with a deepening
scraped in the soil, in which were to be found some dry
straws or leaves of the agnocasta, and very seldom a border
of grass-stalks: I saw several in which the eggs lay on the
bare ground.” Around was evidence of the destruction
caused by various four-footed foes, from jackals to rats,
which preyed on old and young alike, while snakes probably
took toll indefinitely of the eggs.
But what must have been in several respects a still
more remarkable visitation has been recounted by Sig. de
Betta (Atti del R. Istituto veneto, ser. V. ii.), as occurring
at Villafranca in the province of Verona. In the afternoon
of June 3d, 1875, a flock of about twenty birds alighted
on the high ruins of the castle at that place, and was
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