194 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and edgings are more deeply colored in young birds, the chin is 

 whitish, the forehead buflfy, the spots are larger and rounder, especially 

 below, and the body feathers are more rounded, less pointed. 



There is no spring molt, but wear and fading have practically 

 eliminated most of the spotting, especially on the underparts and 

 head. The bill, which was mostly dusky in the fall, becomes lemon- 

 yellow before spring. Adults and year-old birds have a complete 

 postnuptial molt, beginning sometimes in June but usually from July 

 through September. This produces the heavily spotted fall plumage, 

 which is changed by wear, as in the young bird. Females are like the 

 males, but the colors are usually duller, the body feathers are shorter, 

 less pointed, and the spotting is heavier. Females usually have less 

 yellow, or less brilliant yellow, in the bill at any season than the males. 

 Dr. Lawrence E. Hicks (1934) says that, "as the breeding season 

 approaches," the basal half of the lower mandible "becomes conspicu- 

 ously bluish white to bluish gray in the males and pinkish white to 

 pinkish gray in the females." 



Food. — The most comprehensive report on the food of the starling 

 is contained in Kalmbach and Gabrielson's (1921) excellent paper 

 on the economic value of this bird, from which most of what follows 

 is taken. The examination of 2,301 stomachs showed that 57 percent 

 of the food for the year was animal matter and 43 percent vegetable. 

 The highest percentage of animal food was taken in April, 91.22 per- 

 cent, and in May, 94.95 percent; it dropped to the lowest point in 

 February, 28.17 percent; but the average for the four months, Decem- 

 ber to March, was 31.5 percent, a remarkable showing. Vegetable 

 food reached its maximum in July, 52.67 percent, nearly all mulberries 

 and cherries. 



Insects formed 41.55 percent of the total food, "a greater proportion 

 than is shown in the food of most of our native birds of similar habits." 

 It reached its maximum in October, 57.8 percent. About half of the 

 insect food, 19.59 percent, consisted of various beetles, largely weevils. 



Most prominent among these was the clover leaf weevil {Eypera 

 punctata) , which does considerable damage to the clover crop ; 1,125 

 starlings had fed on this pest, both winter and summer. A number 

 of other species of weevils were found, including the strawberry crown 

 girdler and the bluegrass billbug. "It is evident that the starling is a 

 very effective enemy of such weevils as feed on grass or forage crops. 

 This is particularly noticeable in regard to the clover pests, and it is 

 safe to assert that the starling is the most effective bird enemy of the 

 clover loeevil in AmencaP 



The Carabidae, or ground beetles, amounted to 5.71 percent for the 

 year but rose to 13.02 percent in August, only a small part of which 

 were of the beneficial, predatory species. A long list of other beetles 

 follow in the report, among which are May beetles, the adults of the 



