from Wales to Ireland to rescue her. Pliny the Elder claimed that these birds could be taught to speak whole sentences in Latin and Greek, and in Henry IV, William Shakespeare had Hotspur declare "The king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer. But I will find him when he is asleep, and in his ear I'll holler 'Mortimer!' Nay I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion." Mozart had a pet common starling which could sing part of his Piano Concerto in G Major (KV. 453). He had bought it from a shop after hearing it sing a phrase from a work he wrote six weeks previously, which had not yet been performed in public. He became very attached to the bird and arranged an elaborate funeral for it when it died three years later. It has been suggested that his A Musical Joke (K. 522) might be written in the comical, inconsequential style of a starling's vocalisation. Other people who have owned common starlings report how adept they are at picking up phrases and expressions. The words have no meaning for the starling, so they often mix them up or use them on what to humans are inappropriate occasions in their songs. Their ability at mimicry is so great that strangers have looked in vain for the human they think they have just heard speak. Common starlings are trapped for food in some Arab countries. The meat is tough and of low quality, so it is casseroled or made into pâté. One recipe said it should be stewed "until tender, however long that may be". Even when correctly prepared, it may still be seen as an acquired taste. Notes References Cited texts Translated by Murtha Baca and Stephen Sartarelli from Artusi's La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene, first published in 1891. External links Very noisy Starling flocks in Scotland Ageing and sexing (PDF; 4.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze Feathers of common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Kalmbach, E R; Gabrielson, I N (1921) "Economic value of the starling in the United States" USDA Bulletin 868 (European) Common starling - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Species Profile - European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. common starling Articles