The Starling in America 



In the last issue of Bird-Lore (Vol. IX, 

 p. 172) the editor called for replies to the fol- 

 lowing questions concerning the Starling 

 (Stum us vulgaris) in this country: 



1. When did the Starling first appear in 

 your vicinity ? 



2. What is its status now? 



3. Do you consider it a desirable addition 

 to our avifauna ? 



4. If undesirable, give reasons why. 



5. Do you know of any Starlings, other 

 than those released in Central Park, 

 which have been introduced into this 

 country ? 



6. Was the introduction successful? 

 Several correspondents have responded to 



these questions serially, others in a general 



YOUNG SrAKLIXG AT EXTRAXCE TO NEST 

 Photographed by A. L. Princchorn, New Rochelle, N. Y. 



way. All the replies arc given below as a con- 

 tribution to the history of this introduced spe- 

 cies. It appears that although Starlings have 

 been introduced at several localities in eastern 

 North America (see the note of Mr. Morris 

 beyond) only those birds released by the im- 

 porter, William Bartels, under the direction 

 of their purchaser, the late Mr. Eugene Schief- 

 felin, have prospered. On May 16, 1895, Mr. 

 Schieffelin wrote us that 80 Starlings were 

 released in Central Park, New York City, on 

 March 6, 1890, and that on April 25, 1891, 40 

 more were set free in the same place. 



The city to the south, the Hudson river to 

 the west and East River to the east proved, 

 for a time, boundaries to range extension in 

 those directions, and the bird spread more 

 rapidly and more numerously 

 northward into the country lying 

 between the Hudson river and 

 Long Island sound. Stonington, 

 Conn., to the east, and Poughkeep- 

 sie and Newburgh to the north, 

 mark the known limits of the 

 Starling's range in these direc- 

 tions, while to the south it seems 

 not to be established beyond 

 Plainfield and Morristown, N. J., 

 although a report has been re- 

 ceived of its presence in Baltimore 

 in the fall of 1906. — Ed. 



The Introduction of the Starling 

 at Springfield, Mass. 



In the early spring of 1897 nearly 

 one hundred Starlings were liber- 

 ated in a secluded spot in Forest 

 Park, in Springfield, Mass. The 

 next day two of these birds re- 

 turned and entered the box in 

 which they had been confined and 

 which had been left at the place 

 where they were let go, undoubt- 

 edly coming back for the food that 

 they could obtain there. From 

 that time, for nearly a year, noth- 

 ing was heard from these birds by 

 the persons who had released 

 them. Then it was learned that 



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