. Bird-lore . of their own andhad occupied it for some time, they harassedmy poor Flickers into seeking a nest else-where. It certainly looked like mere wan-ton cruelty, for having gained their point,the Starlings took no more interest in thathole. It is strange that these birds, so much inevidence throughout the rest of the year,become, when the trees are in leaf, so secre-tive that they are rarely seen. Occasionally,late in the summer, small flocks join theRed-winged Blackbirds feeding in the saltmarshes; but, excepting between dawn andsunrise, one looks in the trees for them invain. At this
. Bird-lore . of their own andhad occupied it for some time, they harassedmy poor Flickers into seeking a nest else-where. It certainly looked like mere wan-ton cruelty, for having gained their point,the Starlings took no more interest in thathole. It is strange that these birds, so much inevidence throughout the rest of the year,become, when the trees are in leaf, so secre-tive that they are rarely seen. Occasionally,late in the summer, small flocks join theRed-winged Blackbirds feeding in the saltmarshes; but, excepting between dawn andsunrise, one looks in the trees for them invain. At this early hour they are invariablyto be seen within a few yards of their nest,apparently having a good game of hide-and-seek, and keeping up an incessantchatter. The trees are old and have manyholes, and five or six Starlings play until afew minutes after sunrise, then disappear asif from the face of the earth. That the samething goes on every morning in the vicinityof other Starlings nests, and that their first. STARLING. SUMMER PLUMAGE.(171) Drawn by Bruce Horsfai: 172 Bird - Lore appearance mornings seems to be as theyemerge from a hole, causes me to believethat the young, as well as the old, sleep inholes. I think, but cannot say with cer-tainty, that the young, until each takes amate, sleep in the hole in which they werehatched; for those that I watched played•every morning about their birthplace longafter they were fully grown. Possibly aboutthe time of the fall migration they seek newquarters for themselves; but so secretive arethey that it is almost impossible to studytheir habits through the summer before the young can fly, the parentsare seen no more on the lawns with Robinsand Crackles, but hunt for food where they•cannot be seen. In the fall, when not a leaf remains onthe trees, Starlings are seen in their tops in«mall flocks of from three to eight or is at this time that one hears their loud,clear whistle of two notes,—a high one fol-lowed by
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirdsperiodicals
