44 The Wilson Bulletin— No. 78. 



the bird was resting on the water with its head under its 

 wing. The specimen was brought to the Museum on October 

 20, where it was identified, measured and skinned by the 

 writer. It 'measured ,37 inches in length, wing 193^ inches, 

 tail 10 inches, extent of wing 72 inches. It was in poor flesh 

 and weighed only five pounds, while the average weight as 

 given by Audubon is about seven. On dissection the stomach 

 was found to contain a sunfish eight inches in length and in 

 nearly perfect condition, so that it was probably caught in 

 Walker Lake or near by. The specimen is now in the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan Museum (No. 42189). 



STATUS OF THE EUROPEAN STARLING IN ESSEX 

 COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



BY LOUIS S. KOHLER. 



The European Starling (Stnnius vulgaris) which was suc- 

 cessfully introduced into this country about 1890, first ap- 

 peared in this county during the spring of 1903. The first 

 flock of these exotics numbered about fifteen and were upon 

 first sight mistaken for a small gathering of Red-winged 

 Blackbirds {Agclains phoeniceiis). Their odd gyrations while 

 in the air and methods of alighting upon the ground quickly 

 corrected this erroneous idea and I immediately began inves- 

 tigating more closely and found them to be the species in 

 question. About this same number remained in the neighbor- 

 hood of a refuse pile on a fami in.Bloomfield until the mid- 

 dle of July, when they disappeared and were not again seen 

 until March 2d, 1904. At this time ,they came in a flock of 

 about two himdred. This collection appeared intermittently 

 at numerous places in Newark, East Orange and Bloomfield 

 until May 1st, when they broke up into pairs and began seek- 

 ing nesting places. The sites were principally in cupolas, on 

 station poles of the telephone companies and in deserted wood- 

 pecker nest holes. 



