178 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The above extracts indicate that the starling has some un- 

 desirable qualities, and as such qualities are often accentu- 

 ated when a bird is introduced into a new country, we cannot 

 view the introduction of the starling without some apprehen- 

 sion. The fact that it is generally considered a desirable 

 species in northern Europe ought not to have convinced any 

 one that it would be so in America, and its introduction here 

 ought never to have been undertaken. When imported into 

 New Zealand it became a very destructive pest, and no one 

 can tell what may be the result of its acclimatization here. 

 Since the successful introduction of the starling in America 

 the Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture has been given authority to regulate the 

 importation of foreign mammals and birds into this country, 

 and in the future there is very little likelihood that the zeal of 

 misguided persons who wish to import foreign species will 

 have such results as followed the introduction of the house 

 sparrow. The Biological Survey now has agents in every 

 port where foreign species are likely to come in, all shipments 

 are examined and if the bird or mammal is considered at all 

 dangerous it is destroyed ; thus we have been able to keep out 

 the mongoose and several undesirable species of birds. But 

 the starling, introduced before these regulations went into 

 effect, has increased so fast and spread so far that the ques- 

 tion now to be considered is whether it is to prove an unde- 

 sirable addition to the fauna of the country, and, if not, 

 whether its increase can be controlled and regulated. 



The Starling in America. 

 lis Introduction. — Probably we shall never know how 

 many attempts have been made to introduce the starling into 

 this country. I have learned of several. Mr. William Co- 

 nant of Tenafly, IST. J., states that he had a tame starling 

 there in a cage in 1884. At lea^t six other starlings came 

 about the cage of his pet bird, which he finally liberated and 

 it disappeared. These starlings are believed to have reached 

 Tenafly from Tuxedo, where several European species, in- 

 cluding the English pheasants and partridges, were liberated 



