See also:

• STARLING (0. Eng. staer steam, and slerlyng; Lat. surnus; Fr. etourneau)

STARLING (0. Eng. staer See also:

• STEAM
• STEAM (0. Eng. steam, vapour, smoke, cf. Du. steam; the origin is unknown)

steam, and slerlyng; See also:

• LAT

Lat. surnus; Fr. etourneau)  , a well-known See also:

• BIRD

bird about the See also:

• SIZE

size of a See also:

• THRUSH (A. S. Prysce, Icel. priistr, Norw. Trast, O. H. Ger. Drosce, whence the mod. Ger. prossel, to be compared with the analogous English form Throstle,l now almost obsolete, both being apparently diminutives)

thrush; though at a distance it appears to be See also:

• BLACK
• BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874)
• BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810–1883)
• BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898)

black, when near at See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand its plumage is seen to be brightly shot with See also:

• PURPLE

purple, See also:

• GREEN, A
• GREEN, ALEXANDER HENRY (1832—1896)
• GREEN, DUFF (1791—1875)
• GREEN, JOHN RICHARD (1837—1883)
• GREEN, MATTHEW (1696-1737)
• GREEN, THOMAS HILL (1836-1882)
• GREEN, VALENTINE (1739–1813)
• GREEN, WILLIAM HENRY (.1825–1900)

green and See also:

• STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel-See also:

• BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue, most of the feathers when freshly grown being tipped with See also:

• BUFF (from Fr. bu.ffie, a buffalo)

buff . These markings See also:

• WEAR

wear off in the course of the See also:

• WINTER, JOHN STRANGE
• WINTER, PETER (c. 1755-1825)

winter, and in the breeding See also:

• SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season the bird is almost spotless . It is the Sturnus vulgaris of ornithologists . A full description of the habits of the See also:

• STARLING (0. Eng. staer steam, and slerlyng; Lat. surnus; Fr. etourneau)

starling' is unnecessary in this See also:

• PACE (through O. Fr. pas, from Lat. passus, step, properly the stretch of the leg in walking, from pandere, to stretch)
• PACE, RICHARD (c. 1482-1536)

pace . A more engaging bird scarcely exists, for its familiarity during some months of the See also:

• YEAR

year gives opportunities for observing its ways that few others afford, while its varied See also:

• SONG

song, its sprightly gestures, its glossy plumage, and, above all, its See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character as an insecticide—which last makes it the friend of the agriculturist and the grazier—render it an almost universal favourite . The worst that can be said of it is that it occasionally pilfers See also:

• FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit, and, as it flocks to roost in autumn and winter among See also:

• REED
• REED, ANDREW (1787-1862)
• REED, ISAAC (1742—1807)
• REED, JOSEPH (1741—1785)
• REED, THOMAS BRACKETT (1839—1902)

reed-beds, does considerable damage by breaking down the stems.' The congregations of starlings are indeed very marvellous, and no less than the aerial evolutions of the flocks, chiefly before settling for the See also:

• NIGHT

night, have attracted See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention from See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early times, being mentioned by See also:

• PLINY, THE ELDER
• PLINY, THE YOUNGER

Pliny (Hist. naturalis, X . 24) in the 1st See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . The extraordinary precision with which the See also:

• CROWD, CROUTH, CROWTH

crowd, often numbering several hundreds, not to say thousands, of birds, wheels, closes, opens out, rises and descends, as if the whole See also:

• BODY

body were a single living thing—all these movements being executed without a See also:

• NOTE
• NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

note or cry being uttered—must be seen to be appreciated, and may be seen repeatedly with See also:

• PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure . For a See also:

• RESIDENT

resident the starling is rather a See also:

• LATE

late breeder . The See also:

• NEST

nest is commonly placed in the hole of a See also:

• TREE (0. Eng. treo, treow, cf. Dan. tree, Swed. Odd, tree, trd, timber; allied forms are found in Russ. drevo, Gr. opus, oak, and 36pv, spear, Welsh derw, Irish darog, oak, and Skr. dare, wood)
• TREE, SIR HERBERT BEERBOHM (1853- )

tree or of a See also:

• BUILDING

building, and its preparation is the See also:

• WORK

work of some little See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time . The eggs, from 4 to 7 in number, are of a very See also:

• PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale blue, often tinged with green . As the See also:

• YOUNG
• YOUNG, A
• YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
• YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
• YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
• YOUNG, EDWARD (1683–1765)
• YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
• YOUNG, THOMAS (1773-1829)

young grow they become very noisy, and their parents, in their assiduous attendance, hardly less so, thus occasionally making themselves disagreeable in a quiet neighbourhood .

The starling has a wide range over See also:

• EUROPE

Europe and See also:

• ASIA

Asia, reaching See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India; but examples from See also:

• KASHMIR, or CASHMERE

Kashmir, See also:

• PERSIA

Persia and See also:

• ARMENIA (old Persian Armina, Armenian Hayasdan, or Hayq)

Armenia have been considered worthy of specific distinction, and the resident starling of the countries bordering the Mediterranean is generally regarded as a See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

• SPECIES

species, and called S. unicolor from its unspotted plumage . Of the many forms allied to the genus Sturnus, some of which have perhaps been needlessly separated therefrom, those known as Grackles (q.v.), are separately dealt with, and here we shall only See also:

• NOTICE

notice one other, Pastor, containing a beautiful species P. roseus, the See also:

• ROSE
• ROSE (Rosa)
• ROSE, GEORGE (1744-1818)
• ROSE, HUGH JAMES (1795—1838)
• ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART (1775-1843)

Rose-coloured Starling, which is not an unfrequent visitor to the See also:

• BRITISH

British Islands . It is a bird of most irregular and erratic habits—a vast See also:

• HORDE

horde suddenly arriving at some See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place to which it may have hitherto been a stranger, and at once making a See also:

• SETTLEMENT
• SETTLEMENT, ACT OF

settlement there, leaving it wholly deserted as soon as the young are reared . This happened in the summer of 1875 at Villafranca, in the See also:

• PROVINCE
• PROVINCE (Lat. provincia; perhaps a contraction of providentia)

province of See also:

• VERONA
• VERONA, CONGRESS OF

Verona, the See also:

• CASTLE
• CASTLE (Lat. castellum, a fort, diminutive of castra, a camp; Fr. chateau and chdtel)

castle of which was occupied in a single See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day by some 12,000 or 14,000 birds of this species, as has been graphically told by Sig. de Betta (Atli del r. ist. veneto, 5th See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series, vol. ii.);1 but similar instances have been before recorded—as in See also:

• BULGARIA
• BULGARIA, EASTERN

Bulgaria in 1867, near See also:

• SMYRNA (Ismir)

Smyrna in 1856, and near See also:

• ODESSA

Odessa in 1844, to mention only some of which particulars have been published.' ' They are dwelt on at some length in See also:

• YARRELL, WILLIAM (1784–1856)

Yarrell's British Birds, ed . 4, vol. ii. pp . 229-241 . - 2 A most ridiculous and unfounded See also:

• CHARGE
• CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. carricare, to load in a carrus or wagon; cf. " cargo ")

charge has been, however, more than once brought against it—that of destroying the eggs of skylarks . There is little real See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of its sucking eggs, and much of its not doing so; while, to render the allegation still more absurd, it has been brought by a class of farmers who generally complain that skylarks themselves are highly injurious . 3 A partial See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation of this See also:

• PAPER
• PAPER (Fr. papier, from Lat. papyrus)

paper is given in the Zoologist for 1878, pp . 18-22 .