In the evening, these birds appear in the greatest num bers, assembling in marshy places, where they roost among the reeds, which, in the fens of Lincolnshire, are broken by their weight, and thus rendered unfit for being used as thatch. The flight of stares is not undulatory, but smooth and even ; and they walk very easily in the manner of a wagtail ; but when they assemble in flocks, their movements are noisy and tumultuous, describing a sort of vortex, combined with an advancing progress. So attached are they to society, that, immediately after breed ing, they not only consort with those of their own species, but also with birds of a different kind, and may be fre quently seen in company with redwings, fieldfares, &c. and even with pigeons, jackdaws, and owls. They chatter much in the evening and morning, both when they assem ble and when they disperse. On the approach of preda cious birds, they rally in close array, and usually succeed in driving them off. The kings of Persia used to have starlings trained to hunt butterflies; but they are princi pally tamed for the sake of the warble which they are ca pable of acquiring in confinement, and to amuse their owners by their various feats of n,imickry. For these purposes, it is recommended to take them from the nest three or four clays after birth; for, if they remain in it much longer, they seldom get entirely rid of their shrill and disagreeable twitter. At this very tender age, they should be carefully kept in a small box, furnished with moss, which should be changed every day ; cleanliness being of the greatest consequence. They should be fed with little shreds of sheep's heart, cut in the form of ca terpillars, and presented at the end of a small stick, till they can feed themselves, when they may be served with he same paste that is given to nightingales. Their food,
indeed, may be considerably varied; as, in this respect, they arc very accommodating. It should likewise be no ticed, that they will readily enough breed in bird pots, affixed to a tree, or the walls of a house. Their pliant throat quickly catches the most varied accents and into nations, so that they can distinctly articulate the letter 11, and may be taught to prattle words, and even sentences, in different languages. " The young Cxsars," says Pli ny, " had stares and nightingales, docile in the Greek and Latin languages, and which made continual progress, and assiduously prattled new phrases of considerable length." When M. Gerardin visited his friend, M. Thirel, in Pa ris, he was agreeably surprised and astonished by hearing a stare articulate a dozen of consecutive sentences, with the same precision as if some pet-son had uttered them in the next room ; and when the mass bell rang, it called on its mistress by name, and thus distinctly addressed her : Mademoiselle. la ?nesse que l'on 807/ ne Prenez votre livre, et donner a manger a votre nolisson. [' Mademoiselle, don't you hear the summons to mass ? Take your book, and return quickly, to feed your little rogue."] This pleasing tattle it enliven ed by whistling two or three flageolet airs, which it im proved by various graces and imperceptible transitions of its own. In a wild state, the starling is supposed to live eight or ten years; and, in confinement, it has some times dragged out its existence to twenty. When kept and hampered in cages, it is, like many other birds simi larly circumstanced, liable to epilepsy ; and its flesh was formerly very absurdly believed to be an antidote to that complaint in the human subject. As an article of cooke ery, it is generally dry, bitter, and unpalatable.