SCRAPS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14325, 10 April 1912, Page 3

SCRAPS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

FEATHERED THIEVES

(Bt CAN._RBt.RY.)

(SPECTAI.I.T WRITTEN TOP. •''THE PRESS.").

XIV. Often we are told that the starling is entirely a u.:eful and well-behaved bird, and doubtless this is very nearly correct; but. of course, there must bo an exception, and this time it is the owner of a cherry-orchard who holds a contrary opinion. The fruit was just ripening when a starling flow that way, and unluckily felt an empty place, which would exactly contain a cherry. So be promptly put one there, and finding it good had another of the same. Then, being a gregarious, friendly sort of bird, be spread the news, 'and his tribe eamc in crowds to the feast. The orchard-owner "thought they were eating blight." but presently he noticed that his cherries were certainly fewer, and watched more carefully. The next occupant of the orchard was a boy, well pleased with a gun and plenty of '■blanks," which for a time stopped the mischief. However, both boy and birds quickly ceased to tako any interest 111 "blanks." The owner used to find the boy looking up into the trees, wondering if he really must fire off another, and wishing he could become a cheerful, cherry-eating starling himself. At last it was considered iiec'cs-ary to shoot them down from dawn till dark, but by this time tidings of tha feast had gone round, and a '■pick-up" of three or four dozen in a day did not deter the rest.

Except the sparrow, no bird has increased more quickly than "Speckles, the starling," which is a natural consequence of. their often annoying perseverance in family affairs. Once having found ii (suitable spot for. a nest they will maintain it against all comers; and for about fivo months of tho year it appears to lie full always of pale blue eggs or hideous clamouring squabs. Tlio nest is crowded with other things besides, and it may. if handled, provide'one with an irritating, seratehful hour. They aro filthy■• birds to have.about buildings, but if a nest has-been begun, it may he pulled in pieces time after time, and a short space of daylight will suf«fieo:sJo7put' it-Mai. Ainckzy: 'I-ikewise-iho birds'-niay he shot; hut "iinloss"-'both'- of a pair aro slain they just persevere as before with a new partner, for a stopgap wife or husband seems ever nice and available at instant call. XV. Native birds grow scarcer, as the bush is felled and their enemies come about; though to some people this is not' altogether a matter of regret, for the pretty, oft-pra'sed mako-mako is a very perfect demon among fruit. Ho may lw called mako-mako, "inockymok." or "mocker/ as usual, but it makes no difference, and the name does not interfere with his appetite in the least. That of '-'mocker" is most fitting, for he knows quite well that ho will not be harmed by any right-think-ing man, and after sampling all the best fruit, he just flies up to the treetop and lets himself go in mocking ; son.:.

In a garden by the bush there is a best-pear tree, which this year has bestirred itself unusually .to produce a crop. Said the owner, "Come and look here; sco whaD these littlo devils are doing to my pears. M It was not a' pleasing sight, tho ground beneath was thickly strewn with bird-peeked pears, ami more in a like .state still hung on the branches; many of them eaten to a., mere .bore'and-shell. The mocker is a dainty feeder: lie does not approve the tasto of pear-core, so he begins by pecking a hole near the top of the fruit, a.nd then works round on either side between rare and peel. His long bill comes in handy for this business, as foiv getting honey out of n floweri: Five or s x were in the tree when wo went there, and these were bold to a degree and quite unwillingly allowed themselves to be disturbed. One that we drove away from a branch laden with specially b:g fruit resented our intrus'oii on bis meal most impudently, shufflfn_ his wim»s and ruffling feathers, as if we'had been taking egus from his nest. The crop had been damaged in ever direction, but evidently some of it was riper or sweeter than, the rest, and we watched a particularly fine bird while he tried several beforo finding ono that suited him. Az intervals one of them sang most beautifully f ro m a high branch, and it was decided: "Must have tho pear?; picked: you can't,hurt birds liko these; sooner lose the fruit than that."