276 STALLING.

of breaking the eggs of pigeons, when it takes shelter
in the pigeon-house from very severe weather; but as
that would be a violation of the laws of hospitality, as
well as of the customs of the starling, the friends of
the bird very properly repel it as a calumny.

When they are in the low districts, and in large col-
lections, a flock of starlings, preparing to lodge them-
selves in the tufts for the night, put one something in
mind of a dog, preparing to lie down im a place to
which he is not accustomed. They wheel round and
round; first in the circumference of a circle, but that
circle narrows, and the whole mass revolves round
a circle within itself, before it drops, and disappears for
the night. .

Starlings not only associate with other birds, but
imitate their cries—chattering with jackdaws, whistling
with plovers, and screaming with sea-fowl.”