188 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



this may be because the natural flocking instinct of starlings has led 

 to their association with grackles and blackbirds, which were drifting 

 southward in large flocks in the fall. Our starlings have probably 

 not yet fully developed the migratory habit in its strictest sense, that 

 is, regular north and south migrations at definite times, such as those 

 made by our native birds, but they are learning fast from their black- 

 bird associates in both spring and fall. 



Many starlings remain in the m.ore northern portions of their range 

 all w^inter, many others make only short flights or wander about in a 

 haphazard way, but there is a general fall movement toward the south 

 and great winter concentrations at points far south of the breeding 

 range. In their southern roosts and concentration areas, the starlings 

 are intimately associated with the great flocks of grackles, red- winged 

 and rusty blackbirds, and cowbirds ; and when these birds start north- 

 ward early in spring, the starlings flock along with them. 



There are apparently two quite distinct migration routes in the 

 eastern United States, both northeastward in the spring and south- 

 westward in the fall. One of these follows the Atlantic Coast States 

 from New England to the Southern States, east of the Alleghenies. 

 The other is an inland route, entirely west of the Alleghenies, from 

 eastern Quebec to the Gulf States. This latter route is well illustrated 

 in the maps shown in an excellent paper by Edward S. Thomas (1934) , 

 based on the results obtained by the banding of 7,062 starlings at 

 Columbus, Ohio, in 1927, 1928, and 1929, and the recoveries from them 

 up to April 4, 1932. The maps show that, with very few exceptions, 

 the spring and summer recoveries were from points northeast of 

 Columbus and the fall recoveries were mainly from points southwest 

 of that locality. He makes the following pertinent conclusions in 

 his summary: 



1. The European Starlings baaded at Columbus, Ohio, are highly migratory. 

 2. A large proportion, if not the great majority of the birds banded at roosts at 

 Columbus nest in northeastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, eastern Ontario, 

 and Quebec. 3. Many of them winter to the southwest of Columbus, one of them 

 at least, as far as Merigold, Mississippi. 4. The evidence indicates that a very 

 small percentage of the birds banded at the large roosts at Columbus are perma- 

 nent residents. 5. The individuals passing through Columbus migrate in a 

 northeast-southwest direction, closely parelleling tlie direction of flight of the 

 species in continental Europe. 



Nesting. — Starlings are not very particular as to where they place 

 their nests, nor are they at all particular about the care of them. 

 Their nests are slovenly and often filthy with the large amount of 

 excrement voided by the young during their rather long stay in the nest 

 and by the parents while attending them.The nests are sometimes occu- 

 pied for several years in succession, and the accumulated mass of half- 

 rotted material becomes quite foul. Such slovenly habits have caused 



