. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ith brilliant metallic reflections ofgreen and blue. They are sociable birds, living in numerous flocks,being, says Selby, particularly abundant in the fenny parts of Leices-tershire and Nottinghamshire, where they roost among the reeds;also at Whitefield, in Cumberland, where a spruce wood of severalacres near Overwater Lake, is literally filled with them at roosting- THE STARLING, 485 time. Before retiring to rest they perform numerous manoeuvres inthe air,
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ith brilliant metallic reflections ofgreen and blue. They are sociable birds, living in numerous flocks,being, says Selby, particularly abundant in the fenny parts of Leices-tershire and Nottinghamshire, where they roost among the reeds;also at Whitefield, in Cumberland, where a spruce wood of severalacres near Overwater Lake, is literally filled with them at roosting- THE STARLING, 485 time. Before retiring to rest they perform numerous manoeuvres inthe air, the whole colony frequently describing rapid counter-flightsround a common centre. They will sometimes continue repeatingthe eccentric evolutions for half an hour before they finally settle forthe night. Their favourite food is insects, worms, and small terres-trial molluscs, occasionally seeds and berries. They select for theirnesting-places hollows of decaying trees, crevices of walls, the bel-fries of old churches, the ledges of roofs, and sometimes even the in-terior of pigeon-houses. The nest is formed of dry grass, in which. five light blue eggs are laid. The Starling is accused of seeking theshelter of the dovecot for the purpose of sucking the inhabitantseggs, but this is now found to be a calumnious error. They arediffused over all quarters of the globe. There are two species de-scribed among European birds—Sttirnus vulgaris, Fig. 201 (the Com-mon Starling) and Stiirjiiis U7iicolor (the Sardinian Starling), which isblack, and without spots, with the anterior feathers very long, tapering,and drooping from the base of the neck. It is also found in Algeriaamong the rocks, where it builds. It passes the winter on the Africancoast of the Mediterranean, in company with the Common flesh is bitter, and consequently unpleasant to the taste, so when 486 REPTILES AND BIRDS. sought after it Is on account of its docility, and for the ease withwhich it is taught to s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles, bookyear1
