STARLING 183 



introduced and long suspected to be of doubtful value. The subject 

 of this sketch is supposed to be of the same subspecies as that found 

 in western Europe, of which there are many allied races in Europe 

 and Asia. 



The starling is a dominant species, well fitted to survive in the 

 struggle for existence, as shown by its successful competition with 

 other species, by its steady increase in a strange land, and by its 

 remarkable gpread over new territory, of which we have not yet 

 seen the end. The literature of American ornithology is flooded with 

 references to its spectacular progress. This whole story might well 

 be filled with this interesting phase of its life history, but space w^ill 

 permit only a brief outline of its spread and the tremendous increase 

 in its numbers; only the highlights among the hundreds of references 

 can be shown. 



We probably shall never know how many unsuccessful attempts 

 have been made to introduce the starling into North America; Ed- 

 ward H. Forbush (1927) mentions the following introductions: 

 "Cincinnati, Ohio (1872-73) ; Quebec, Canada (1875) ; Worcester, 

 Massachusetts (1884) ; Tenafly, New Jersey (1884) ; New York City 

 (1877, 1887, 1890, 1891) ; Portland, Oregon (1889, 1892) ; Allegheny, 

 Pennsylvania, and Springfield, Massachusetts (1897) ; and Bay Ridge, 

 New York, about 1900," Apparently all these attempts were failures 

 except those made in New York City in 1890 and 1891. May Thacher 

 Cooke (1928) mentions an unsuccessful attempt made at West 

 Chester, Pa., before 1850. 



Authorities differ somewhat as to the numbers of starling liberated 

 by Eugene Scheifflin in Central Park, New York, and as to the exact 

 dates. Mr. Forbush (1927) says that 80 were liberated on March 

 16, 1890, and 40 more on April 25, 1891. Miss Cooke (1928) says 

 that 80 birds were released in April 1890 and 80 more the next year. 

 It is generally accepted, however, that CO birds were introduced in 

 1890 and 40 more in 1891; Dr. Chapman (1925) states that there 

 were only 100 birds liberated in all, and he ought to have known. 

 From this small nucleus have descended all the vast hordes that now 

 overrun the country. 



For the first six years, while the birds were becoming established, 

 they were confined to greater New York City, including Brooklyn and 

 Staten Island, though stragglers were reported in Princeton, N. J., 

 in 1894. Then, as the population built up, the fall and winter wander- 

 ings began in search of new territory in which to establish a breeding 

 range later. By 1900 they had appeared at New Haven, Conn., 

 Ossining, N. Y., and Bayonne, N. J. Dr. Stone (1937) reported them 

 at Tuckerton, N. J., in 1907, and Dr. Townsend (1920) saw the first 

 one in 1908 in eastern Massachusetts. During that and the next two 

 years, the starlings wandered over most of Massacliusetts, up to 



