16 JULY 1887, Page 7

THE STARLINGS' AUTUMN MA_NCEUVRES. [To TEE EDITOR or rex "Sracreron.".1

SIR,—The graphic description of the autumn flight of starlings given by your correspondent, "J. D. D.," must have recalled to many of your readers the well-known lines of Dante, where he compares the passage of the spirits in the second circle to the Slight of starlings at the cold season, and in four simple words pictures vividly their marvellous unanimous movements :— "E come gil eternei ne porton rah;

Nei freddo tempo, a achiera large e piena; Coal quel fiat° gli epiriti mall

Di qua, di la, di gia, di au gli mesa.