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We have a family of starlings who decided to live under the balcony outside the lounge. This week-end the first of the young ones left the nest; it was very interesting to see what happened. The young starling went on the rose bed. Then the mother bird came with some food. But instead of giving it to him she held it in her beak and made the baby chase her on to the lawn. Then she jumped into the air and fluttered her wings as if to say, “Look! This is how you do it!” He then took off after her and flew, low down, to the yew hedge. I suppose she gave him the food then as a prize, but we did not see that. And so it went on. He had to work hard for each bit. It was like little Tommy Tucker but this time he had to fly not sing, and it was for his breakfast, not his supper.
Then the mother took something more to the nest but she would not give it them for all their squawking and hullabaloo. It looked as if she were trying to make one get hold of the bit in her beak and then pull him out. But the babies would not take it like that. In the end she coaxed another one out. And then the lesson started all over again.
Last night Mummy and I went to a party in an old house in Hampstead.1 First we met the other guests and saw some of the beautiful things in the house. There were harpsichords, guitars, an Indian stringed instrument that looked as if a vegetable marrow had been made into a boat, some virginals, one of the earliest grand pianos, and two spinets. They were all old musical instruments. You were allowed to touch all of them except a harpsichord that used to belong to the great composer Handel who wrote the Messiah which you will hear one day; it is a very magnificent piece of music called an Oratorio. After half an hour we went into one of the big rooms to hear a concert. There was one of the best harpsichord players in England2 and he accompanied a soprano singer. She was very big and had a big voice and sang a lot of songs written by John Dowland and other famous song