2.^8 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



becomes an interloper in the new land, among 

 conditions and forms of life entirely new. If the 

 species is weak or unfit for its new environment, 

 or if it is introduced into a land differing much 

 in climatic conditions from its own, it may die 

 out; but if it is strong and fit, and if the climate 

 is suitable, it is likely to increase abnormally 

 in numbers, and it cannot so increase without 

 displacing some of the species native to the soil. 



The Starling is a hardy, capable, and prolific 

 bird, which, like the Sparrow, has had many cen- 

 turies of experience in getting its living in popu- 

 lated countries and in cultivated regions in close 

 relationship with man, and it has thriven in such 

 an environment. It thus has an advantage over 

 our native species similar to that enjoyed by 

 the Sparrow, which, subsequent to its introduc- 

 tion here, displaced so many native birds during 

 the latter quarter of the nineteenth century. How 

 can the Bluebird or the House \A^ren, which have 

 been accustomed to life about human habitations 

 for a comparatively short time, compete with 

 such a bird as the Starling? 



The friends of the Sparrow argued that it 

 would fill a void in our city life that no native 

 bird could possibly occupy, inasmuch as it would 

 always have in the streets a plentiful supply of 

 food that would otherwise be mainly wasted, and 

 that it would be able to maintain itself where 

 native birds would starve. No such argument 

 can be advanced in favor of the Starling. If 

 there was an opening for the Sparrow it was 

 filled long ago, and the Starling cannot occupy 

 the place in our urban life now filled by the 

 Sparrow, even if it drives out the latter. No 

 doubt in the city the Starling is preferable to the 

 .Sparrow, but it cannot displace the Sparrow 

 without indirectly making trouble for native spe- 

 cies also. The Sparrow and the .Starling will live 

 together, as in England, but the Starling will 

 drive the Sparrow away from all nesting places 

 that are suitable for its own use, and the Spar- 

 row will in turn eject Tree Swallows, Martins, 

 Bluebirds, Wrens, and other native birds from 

 their present nesting places, that it may secure 

 homes in place of those taken by the Starling. 

 Already this adjustment is going on. First in 

 the city, then in the suburbs, and finally in the 

 country our native birds which normally nest in 

 hollow trees will be driven to the wall if the 

 Starling continues to increase in numbers, and 

 there is now no adequate check to its increase in 

 sight. In America as in Europe the .Starling 

 seeks nesting places about buildings. It breeds 

 in dovecotes, such church steeples as furnish safe 



nesting places, in holes and crevices about houses, 

 in niches under the eaves, in electric light hoods, 

 bird houses, nesting boxes, Woodpecker holes, 

 and hollow trees. Therefore, in seeking nesting 

 places it comes directly in competition with Pi- 

 geons, Screech Owls, Sparrow Hawks, Flickers 

 and other Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Crested 

 Flycatchers, Martins, Bluebirds, Tree Swallows 

 and Wrens, and as it extends its range to the 

 west and south it must compete with other spe- 

 cies. In the region already occupied it has proved 

 itself capable of driving out all the above-men- 

 tioned species except the Screech Owl, which 

 doubtless will prove its master. 



In America the Starling is not regarded as 

 particularly pugnacious except where it has to 

 fight for nesting places or for food. In such 

 cases it is combativeness personified, and its at- 

 tacks are well directed and long continued. 

 Usually in its competition with the Sparrow there 

 is no fighting ; for the Sparrow soon learns that 

 it is no match for the Starling, and the contest 

 degenerates into a straw-pulling match, each bird 

 alternately clearing out the nesting material that 

 the other brings. If the owner of the nest joins 

 battle with the Starling and fights stubbornly it 

 is driven off, or it is sometimes killed in its nest. 

 This daring interloper attacks birds much larger 

 than itself, and the evidence shows that almost 

 invariably it prevails in the end. The Sparrow, 

 the Bluebird, and the Flicker have been credited 

 with repelling it for a time, but eventually the 

 Starling wins, because of its increasing numbers, 

 superior strength, courage, and fitness. As the 

 Starling comes, native birds, whose nesting 

 places it covets, must go, and many of these birds 

 are more desirable than the Starling. The skill- 

 ful manner in which it evicts the Flicker inspires 

 the observer with a certain admiration for its 

 superior strategy and prowess. The Starlings 

 quietly watch and never interfere while the 

 Flicker digs and shapes its nesting place in some 

 decaying tree ; but when the nest is finished to 

 the satisfaction of the .Starlings it is occu[)ied 

 by them the moment the Flicker's back is turned. 

 On the return of the Flicker a fight ensues, which 

 usually results in the eviction of the particular 

 Starling then in the hole, which, however, keeps 

 up the fight outside while another enters the hole 

 to defend it against the Flicker, which, having 

 temporarily vanquished the first, returns only to 

 find a second enjoying the advantages of posses- 

 sion. As Mr. Job says, the Flicker is confronted 

 with " .in endless chain of Starlings," and finally 

 gives up. 



