-, 



ili- m-adows and deserted corn' .-nimr th- :iir witli th.-ir nombeni. They corn - 



mi-no- :,. work : : t ruction on ' ; = ..... m, the iri-U- which, though coin] - .i nl nUMMM 



"v. i, ].!,,. ntN < ' . :.-.;. AI..I.J..-., iMPHt m not raapli krij lorn -ir , while from iH qpvti n 

 iii\ri:i-U continue in IH.III- .|..n like tein|>eMt, blackening half an ore at a time, and if n<>t 

 <list.n-l-.l ivj.-at th.-ir lej,r,,|:,iions till little n-mains l-.u i he cob and the si < 

 the grain, l-'n.m <l:i\\n i<> nearly sooaet thia open and daring deraatjitimi \* rarried on, 

 umler the > <>f tli<> pn.|.ri-tor ; and a fann.-r \\lio has very ronaiderable ext-m- of corn 

 woiilil r",juii-.' luilf a iiK-n :it l--:i-i \\itli -unii to guunl it, and >vin th<-n all their vigi- 



laooe nii'1 :-ti\ity ronlil not j.nv-nt a git>un<l-tith<- <>f it from becoming tin- ]>n-\ ..f tin- 

 Mai-khinK" 



In ronrnqoenoe of pn-. hit ions tho Kod-xringed Starling in pemaeutfl IM Try 



poaaible way. Every man and buy who haa a gun takes it and altooUi at t)i- blackbirds, 



" 



every urchin who can throw a stone hurls it at their blackening flockM, and even the hawks 

 come from far and near to the spot where these birds are assembled, and make great havoc 

 among them. As they are in the habit of resting at night among the reeds that grow in pro- 

 fusion upon the morasses, the farmers destroy great multitudes of them by stealing qui- tly 

 upon their roosting- places at night and setting fire to the dry reeds. The poor birds being 

 suddenly awakened by the noise and flames, dart wildly about, and those who escape the fire 

 generally fall victims to the guns of the watchful farmer and his men. Thousands of l-inls 

 are thus killed in a single night, and as their flesh is eatable, though not remarkable for its 

 excellence, the party return on the following nmrnimr for the jur] < of picking up the game. 



Such are the devastations wrought 1>\ t he Red-winged Starling, and on the first glance 

 they appear so disastrous as to pine.- the l>inl in the front nmk of winged pestilences. But 

 r!i- ! i- another side ', the question, whii I. we will MM .\:nnin.-. 



During the spring months these birds feed almost exclusively upon inserts, especially 

 preferring those which are in their larval state, and devour the young leaves of growing crops. 

 AtwdestnictivegnAtnttknteil )>y the HI><I. \\inp-4l Starling with the L-f-:it.-t ].-i^.-\. r:m.-,.. 

 ne>in? that upon these the existence of themselves and their young entirely depends. 

 Whether a grub be deeply buried in the earth, eating away the root of some doomed plant. 



