CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 



THE STARLING 



Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 

 FIG. 214. The starling. 



THE European starling re- 

 sembles our native blackbirds 

 in form, size, and color. The 

 plumage is more purplish or 

 greenish than that of a black- 

 bird and is finely speckled 

 with white or cream-buff. 

 The length is 8^ inches, being 

 i inch less than the length of 

 the male red-winged blackbird, which is sometimes called 

 a starling. The real starling has longer wings and a 

 shorter tail than the redwing. 



For centuries starlings have been accustomed to live 

 about human habitations in Europe, where many people 

 are pleased to have them around. Since 1890 they have 

 spread from New York City and have become numerous 

 in various localities in several states, a few having 

 reached Ohio in 1916. They destroy cutworms and 

 grasshoppers, but they also eat cherries and other fruits, 

 steal the food of hens, soil buildings and sidewalks, and 

 break up the nests of other birds. It is feared that they 

 will rapidly spread over many states they have not yet 

 reached. Several of the finest song birds of Europe 

 have been liberated in Australia or New Zealand and 

 have there become a great nuisance. It is hard to fore- 

 see how the habits of birds and other animals will be- 

 come altered in a new region, where food, enemies, and 

 climate are different from those to which they Were 

 accustomed in their native land. 



348 



