Three years after Mozart brought his pet Starling home, he named her Star, organized a formal funeral, donned his most elegant finery, recruited friends as velvet-caped mourners, and penned an affectionate eulogy for Star.

According to  Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of the very excellent book and much-praised book Mozart’s Starling, Mozard announced the death of his Starling, who was said to be able to mimic many of his works; Wolfgang laments:

Thinking of this, my dear heart

Is riven apart

Oh, reader! Shed a tear,

You also, here.

He was not naughty, quiet,

But gay and bright,

An und under all his brag, 

A foolish wag.

• Yohannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangs Theophilus Mozart

My Starling meets me every morning by the living room window. I named him Pincus. He often stares at me.

He didn’t come by this morning, and I missed him. Mozart has given me a new way to think of Starlings, a word most bird lovers seem to think is greedy and hateful.  I want to see where this relationship goes, if anywhere.

If you have ever loved an animal, you’ll love this book.