The Washington herald., 1914-04-05
THE sTARLNGs.
BY EMORY .. HAYNES.

Never were the starlings so abundant.
Have you observed them, They have a
pretty name. The grayling is similar
bird, and that. too, is pretty name.
Like the crows, the starlings remain
with US all winter. The very large in
cursion of them, this March, is, there
fore, unaccounted for. Anyhow, the
starting, the grayling, and the black
bird" are all over the Hudson valley,
and to hear them one would think the
bird months were at hand.
With whirr of wings a caravan of
hundreds sweeps into the tree tops.
Each one is talking, and the air is vocal
But while you draw near there is an
other murmur Of countless wings and
they are gone over to your neighbor's
trees. The starting delights in attitudes,
the very top of the trees, the highest
stones of the tower, the hills, and noun
tains.
The English once had habit of
teaching them to talk. The voice does
resemble the human tone as much as
the parrots. But this young chap that |
am experimenting with makes slow
progress. He can say NO." but l am
sure he does not understand it. / am
trying YES" with a shade of success.
But "Yes" and "No" are all the same
to him. "Tom," his selected name, is
the extent of the vocabulary attempted
thus far. Strange to say, like nearly
all animals, he appears to get his name
But as yet he refuses to speak it.
His strong point is NO" on which
he comes out great. Nearly everything
is NO." even to crumbs that I scatter
on the window ledge, and he eagerly
eats them, jerking orft his "No." l
read about the starting being taught to
whistle a tune. Maybe | can tell an
other story about this handsome little
thief later on. for | whistle my Coun.
try, 'Tis of Thee" TO him all the while
he is willing to stay and eat
We have an American Starring" So
called, which is just a blackbird. But
the real thing comes from Europe
About twenty or twenty-five years ago
considerable numbers of English starl-
ings were imported, in hopes they would
check the pest of sparrows. Sparrows
will not stay long where there are
starlings.
] spoke OF them as thieves 1t is
queer how they will snatch up handker-
chiefs, bits of thread. and many things
for which they really have no use
Strong in flight, the flags of the air that
they sometimes present with these stolen
rags against their black and red plumage
is frequently most picturesque. I gave
one bit of red twine amid his crumbs.
He snatched it instantly and made off.
This bird makes friends of any bird
who wants to be sociable He is not at
all prejudiced against any other species
than his own. One may see him on
the wing entering into good fellowship
with any good fellow of the road who
is willing. He is not given to quarrels.
He likes other people.
Crows, especially, are quite to his
mind, and they welcome him. His whistle,
amid the caws of big flock of crows,
sounds strange. Is the language near
enough alike for mutual understanding ,
Who knows? But there he often is
with his shrill, sharp call among their
hoarse barkings.
Birds are always a mystery. To be-
gin with. they are creatures of the air.
The naturalness of flight is an aston
ishing thing. To us it can never be
other than strange What is more en-
gaging than to intently watch them on
the ever-ready, never firing wing:
From an almost inability to walk. from
toddling and teetering helplessly, how
readily they spring into the most grace
ful movement through the air. The
regal independence of gravity, the beau
ty of motion, the tireless journey far
out over the valley never cease to fas-
cinate the observer.
Contrast the fuss, the experimenting.
the peril of all attempts by man to fiy.
How yonder starting shames us
creatures of superior intelligence. 1t
is all because flight is natural to birds.
Do we dream that VIC can ever natural
ize flight? Impossible; it must always
be artificial
And now away darts my starting, the
red splash, like blood spot, showing
on his shoulder. Behold the fowls of
the air! They SOW not, neither do they
reap. Yet your Heavenly Father feed
eth them. Are ye not much better than
they" Yes, l suppose so. But some
how have often missed the point, for
l see few people who seem to be better
than the birds l see. No doubt l am
very much astray. But would almost
as soon defend bird as a man. To
my thought it is meaner to attack a
small bird than big man. And for
sport! Is not that ghastly?
u