°^o6 J Australasian Ornithologists' Union. Ill 



Owing to its considerable increase, and the fact of its living in 

 flocks, it is more prominent than most of the other birds — besides 

 having had special laws suggested for its destruction, because it 

 often eats fruit when opportunity offers, and it has provided columns 

 of newspaper matter as to whether it is useful or otherwise. 

 Starlings were first introduced in 1863, when 36 were liberated ; 

 in 1864, 6 were turned loose ; in 1866, 15 more ; and in 1871, 

 about 20. These birds lived in flocks, and so kept touch with 

 one another, and were able by so doing to increase until they have 

 reached their present number, which must be considerable. They 

 are steadily extending their area, being found well established in 

 Tasmania, and almost over the whole of Victoria, although much 

 more plentiful in the southern portions. So far very few have 

 found their way into Riverina, where the residents are longing 

 for their arrival, to help them to battle against the huge armies of 

 locusts and caterpillars that often infest those districts. These 

 birds feed on the ground, and devour immense numbers of the 

 destructive wire-worms, also the bluish grubs that destroy so much 

 grass by eating the roots away, as well as similar insects, but 

 unfortunately they find it difficult to resist luscious cherries and 

 other fruit growing on unprotected trees, whose owners then forget 

 all about the inestimable good the birds have done for them during 

 the past eleven months of the year and wage war against them in 

 various ways. These birds are early risers, and rarely finding any 

 human beings looking after the fruit in the early hours, help them- 

 selves, to the natural discomfort of the owner. I should judge 

 that Starlings will increase far more rapidly than any other im- 

 ported bird ; they are swift of iiight, and well able to take care of 

 themselves, are also pugnacious, esj^ecially in driving some other 

 bird out of a favourite nesting-hollow. If a bird of prey is seen, 

 a large flock will rise as one bird and circle round and over the 

 object of their fear as it flies along. I have seen a flock of con- 

 siderably over a thousand Starlings doing this, and it was an 

 interesting sight to watch their evolutions in the air. 



The next most prominent and much abused bird is the Sparrow 

 {Passer domesticus). 120 were first liberated in the Botanical 

 Gardens in 1863 ; in 1864, 125 more ; in 1866, another lot, and in 

 1867, many birds about Melbourne were caught and were distributed 

 generally over the State of Victoria, and in 1872, 100 more were 

 imported and liberated. They have spread from the various centres 

 well over \'ictoria, also in southern New South Wales and in South 

 Australia, as well as in Tasmania and the intervening islands. They 

 follow settlement, and are rarely found far away from human 

 habitations. 



They will eat almost anything — fruit, insects, seeds, &c. — and 

 have a great weakness for grain as it is just ripening. After the 

 nesting season they often go in flocks and are then most trouble- 

 some to the farmer and his wheat-fields. In America and other 

 places frequent examinations have been made of the contents of 

 Sparrows' crops, and it was usually found that whatever food 



