THE OOLOGIST 



28 



shot with purple, green and steel-blue, 

 most of the feathers when freshly 

 grown being tipped with buff. These 

 markings wear off in the course of the 

 winter, and in the breeding season the 

 bird is almost spotless. 



The worst that can be said of the 

 Starling is that it occasionally pilfers 

 fruit. 



The congregations of Starlings are 

 indeed very marvelous, and no less 

 than the aerial evolutions of the 

 flocks, chiefly to settling for the night, 

 have attracted attention from early 

 times, being mentioned by Pliny. The 

 extraordinary precision with which the 

 crowd, often numbering several hun- 

 dreds, not to say thousands, of birds, 

 wheels, closes, opens out, rises and 

 descends, as if the whole body were a 

 single living thing — all these move- 

 ments being executed without a note 

 or cry being uttered — must be seen 

 to be appreciated, and may be seen 

 repeatedly with pleasure. 



* * u 



The Starling. 



The Starling, as far as reported to 

 me, have invaded New York State 

 along two routes. 



First, from the original Long Island 

 colony up the Hudson Valley to above 

 Newburg at last advice; second, 

 across New Jersey and up through 

 eastern Pennsylvania by way of 

 Broome, Steuben, Yates and Ontario 

 counties clear to Lake Ontario. Thir- 

 teen pairs were bred in Yates County 

 in 1921, probably more. Sixty spent 

 a month to six weeks in Monroe 

 County, west of Rochester, from No- 

 vember, 1921, to January 15, 1922. 

 Two hundred pair bred here (Chili, 

 Monroe County) last spring, where 1 

 could keep them under observation. 

 None here now, evidently too severe 

 weather. 



From the agriculturists' stand I 

 consider them about on a par with the 



Crackle (Crow Blackbird) with these 

 noted exceptions: As far as I know 

 they do not pull corn and they will 

 peck holes in tops of cabbage heads 

 late in the season. Like the Crackle 

 during the nesting season, they prob- 

 ably, I would even say certainly, do 

 more good than harm. 



Their harmful career begins after 

 mid-July, when they become gregari- 

 ous and damage grain, fruit and even 

 vegetables. In this stage they are 

 worse than the Crackle and stay in- 

 definitely as the season is open enough 

 for them. 



They attack the later berries, plums 

 (ruining the Japanese varieties. Red 

 June, Worden, Burbank, etc., if left 

 alone) and will peck (and ruin for 

 anything but drying stock or cider) 

 the red faces of apples of at least 

 these varieties: Duchess, St. Law- 

 rence, Twenty Ounce, Baldwin and 

 probably others. They do not damage 

 Creenings materially as far as I can 

 see and I could not detect any of their 

 work on Blush, Pippins or Russets or 

 Talman's. 



The summer varieties generally rot 

 when pecked. 



Most of the Baldwins heal up, but 

 the black, dry and irregular scars 

 spoil them for packing. 



I have not in reach for observation 

 bearing trees of the newer fall va- 

 rieties such as Wealthy, Gravenstein, 

 etc. 



If you wish further amplification on 

 these points, I will try to fill the bill. 

 I am not sure what the young are 

 fed on, but as they appear to get it 

 from the ground in meadows and pas- 

 tures, I judge it is of an insect nature. 

 So far have noticed no damage to 

 cherries. 



Later— January, 29, 1923. 

 Just mailed you re-Starling, and on 

 my way home saw fourteen in a Spy 

 tree tearing rotten apples open, pre- 



