Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/156

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The extensive and widely distributed Family before us, comprises species, for the most part, above the average size of Passerine birds, but yet inferior to the Crows. They are in general social, associating in flocks, often immensely numerous; feeding much on the ground, and spreading destruction among the cultivated fields, or following herds of cattle for the sake of the parasitical insects which infest their bodies, or such as they disturb from the grass on which they graze. Hence their legs and feet are robust and powerful, and their gait stately, and frequently swaggering, like that of the Corvidæ. Their beak is nearly straight, stout at the base, diminishing regularly to a sharp point, which is not distinctly notched; the ridge ascends upon the forehead, dividing the plumage of that part. The texture of this organ is particularly hard and firm, and its form is well adapted to the penetration of the earth in search of worms and subterranean larvæ.

The plumage of the Starlings, though commonly of dark colours, has a peculiar richness; black, glossed with lustrous reflections of steel-blue, purple, or green, is the prevailing hue. Occasionally, however, this is relieved by brighter tints, as broad masses of crimson or yellow, and, in a few instances, of white; as in the genera Icterus, Xanthornis, and others. The numerous species are scattered over every part of the world.