presently followed by another of about an hundred, which
by their cries attracted the notice of the inhabitants.
Later in the evening there arrived many thousands more,
which joined the first comers and at dusk all dispersed in
numerous troops over the country. Before daybreak the
next morning, however, the people were awakened by the cries
of some 12,000 or 14,000 Rose-coloured Starlings which met
at the castle, and completely took possession of it, ejecting,
after a sharp struggle, the other birds which were its ordinary
occupants, and, since its walls did not even then afford
sufficient accommodation, overflowed to the neighbouring
housetops. The new arrivals at once set to work clearing
out the rubbish from the holes and fissures they had thus
gained, and, that done, on the morning of the 5th they
began to build their own nests of twigs, straws, hay and
other dry plants, leaving a hollow, lined with roots, leaves,
moss and feathers, in the middle for the eggs. The next few
days were occupied by constant strife for sites, and fierce
contests between the males, who shewed however the most
ardent attachment to their partners, and it was not till the
17th that Sig. de Betta (who made several visits to Yilla-
franca at this interesting period) was able to ascertain that
eggs, five or six in number, were laid; yet by July 10th
the young, having been most assiduously fed with locusts by
their parents, were fledged, so that some were able to take
flight with their parents on the 12th. On the 14th all the
remainder were seen to depart, and Villafranca to the great
regret of its inhabitants was absolutely deserted by its
unusual visitors. Large numbers of the young were, however,
taken alive and a brisk traffic in them sprang up, but
it was observed that they did not live long in confinement.
The old cocks were also netted in the neighbourhood, while
they were gathering food for their sitting mates, to such an
extent as visibly to reduce their numbers. Their song is
described by Sig. de Betta as being a continuous babble,
mixed with harsh and disagreeable notes. The cry of the
hens is equally stridulous and peevish. Both are begun
early in the morning, continued for a long time, and renewed
at intervals after feeding.* The eggs are of a glossy french-
white, with a very faint tinge of bluish-green or greenish-
blue, and measure from 1*12 to 1*08 by from '85 to '81 in.
The foregoing paragraphs will perhaps have sufficiently set
forth the more remarkable facts in the propagation of this
bird, but we must bear in mind that if its wonderful
irruptions take place yearly they are not constantly directed
to any one spot. Thus, as will have been inferred, its
appearance in Southern Russia is extremely irregular, and
near Smyrna, though it has more than once bred there since
1856, even ornithologists like Dr. Kriiper and Mr. Seebohm
have failed to find its nests, notwithstanding the arrival of
large flocks in the vicinity ; while such an invasion as that of
Villafranca may confidently be asserted to have never before
been witnessed in Italy. So too we have Mr. Barkley’s
testimony! that it only comes abundantly to Bulgaria in some
years, and then takes up its quarters in heaps of stones or,
as in 1867, when Mr. A. Cullen obtained its eggs, in a railwaycutting.
Messrs. Elwes and Buckley saw the breeding-
place of a large colony at Molchova in the Dobrudja in
1869, and it has been said to breed occasionally in the
Cyclades. One circumstance concerning its settlements is
too curious to be omitted here. Whenever the species has
pitched in full force on a place, the surrounding district
has been either simultaneously or not long after ravaged
by locusts, which are eagerly sought by it, not only as food
(though that is doubtless the principal object) but, as
several independent witnesses aver, that it may kill them.
The connexion of the two apparitions has been repeatedly
discussed, and it has been often assumed that the birds have
followed the insects. Dr. Stolker however shews {loc. cit.)
* An En glish tra n s la tio n of th e most im p o rtan t p a r t of Sig. de B e tta ’s memoir
has been p u b lish ed in th e ‘ Zoologist’ for 1878 (p. 16), an d one by Mr. Sclater
of th e Marchese O. A n tin o ri’s p a p e r app ea red in th e same jo u rn a l for 1857
(p. 5668). A Fren ch version of Von Nordmann’s first communication was p u b lished
in Demidoff’s ‘Voyage d an s la Russie M é rid io n a le ’ (iii. p. 807), whence
an ab stra c t of i t h a s been given by Mr. Dresser, b u t h is second an d perhaps most
valuable a rtic le seems to h ave been overlooked by most ornithologists.
+ Bulgaria, &c. By H. C. Bark ley . London : 1877, p. 141.