May, 1922. 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



97 



same quarters, with the same bodyguard of 

 sparrows. When not working — i.e., between meals 

 — he would sit quietly on a slanting, low roof and 

 preen his beautiful feathers. 



The bird reminds one forcibly of the Meadow- 

 lark (Sturnella magna) especially by the shape of 

 its head and the long beak and short, square tail, 

 the two last features being even more accentuated 

 than in the Meadowlark. A resemblance is 

 implied in the generic names of the two species, 

 viz. 'Sturnua' and 'Sturnella,' although they belong 

 to two different families, the Sturnidae and 

 Icteridae. The plumage of the Starling is glossy 

 black with metallic reflections of green, blue, 

 purple and even lavender colors, according to the 

 way the light strikes the feathers. Most of the 

 feathers are tipped with buffy spots, giving the 

 bird a spangled appearance. The elongated, 

 spear-like bill is mainly yellow and the sturdy 

 legs, which "run" and do not "hop", are brown 

 red, almost an Indian red. 



The Starling is a native of Western and Central 

 Europe, migrating in winter to Southern Europe 

 and Northern Africa. It is one of the commonest 

 and best known birds in England, where it is met 

 with in swarrris following cattle and sheep, alight- 

 ing on their backs to feed on the ticks which infest 

 them. It feeds on the ground, eating cut-worms, 

 grasshoppers, grain, etc., and it also perches in 

 trees and shrubs, including fruit and berries in 

 its diet. 



The birds were introduced into this country 

 over 30 years ago; 60 individuals in 1890 and 

 forty more in 1891 were liberated in Central 

 Park, New York City, from which vicinity these 

 birds and their progeny have gradually radiated 

 around the country for several hundred miles and 

 can now be reckoned in the millions. 



The Magog bird probably came up the Connec- 

 ticut River Valley. 



The Starling is a hardy and tenacious bird, and 

 with the English Sparrow (another importation) 

 tends to keep away other more beneficial insecti- 

 vorous species. Like the Sparrow, too, it will 

 probably become a nuisance and a pest unless its 

 increase is artificially checked. 



I collected the Magog bird on the 13th instant 

 and found on dissection that it was a male and 

 apparently a non-breeder. The present record 

 would indicate that the migratory instinct is 

 asserting itself and that the species can now be 

 considered as fully naturalised. We may con- 

 fidently expect more of these birds from now on. 

 — F. Nafier Smith, Magog, Que. 



Not a Plesiosaur. — The newspapers of late 

 have had a great deal to say about the strange 

 animal which has been seen in Patagonia, and in 



nearly every case it is spoken of as a plesiosaur. 

 What the strange animal will prove to be, the 

 writer would not attempt to guess, but a few 

 remarks about. plesiosaurs will show that there is 

 little chance of Prof. Onelli capturing a live plesi- 

 osaur. 



The plesiosaur lived from Triassic to Cretaceous 

 times, but not a bone of any genus of the order 

 has been found in rocks of more recent age than 

 Cretaceous. This means that plesiosaur has been 

 extinct for more than three million years. The 

 Patagonian monster is reported as being very 

 huge, so heavily armoured that a bullet could not 

 penetrate to the vital organs, and as having made 

 a great path through the forest. Some plesio- 

 saurs were very large, though many were of 

 moderate length, some being less than ten feet 

 long, and none were covered with a bony dermal 

 armour. The fore and hind limbs both constitu- 

 ted flippers or paddles similar to those of a whale 

 and were not adapted for walking but were purely 

 swimming organs. Most genera of the order 

 Plesiosauria had long snake-like necks and small 

 heads with sharp conical teeth suitable for catching 

 living fish, which were probably their main diet 

 Smooth pebbles, which it is thought were used to 

 aid digestion, have been found in the stomach. 

 The paddles were the main means of propulsion, 

 the short tail probably serving as a rudder. — 

 CM. Sternberg. 



DOVEKIES AND MURRES PICKED UP DEAD AND 



Dying. — The past winter appears to have been a 

 hard one for various species of our more northern 

 water birds. About the middle of December, 1921, 

 Dovekies were reported from different sections in 

 Kings and Annapolis Counties, Nova Scotia. 

 Always were the stones the same — birds picked 

 up unable to rise and very much emaciated. 

 Many of these were picked up miles from salt 

 water and all attempts to induce the weakened 

 birds to eat were fruitless. Reference to my 

 records shows that between December 11th and 

 January 19th, there were thirty-seven individuals 

 reported to me, nine of which were brought or 

 sent by mail, in the flesh. In addition to the 

 above, a report from Digby Basin reads as fol- 

 lows: "... at Bear Island the remains of 

 several Dovekies were discovered where they had 

 been devoured by Crows." Of the nine which I 

 had an opportunity to examine, all were in a 

 similar starved condition, five being dead when 

 received and the other four surviving only a few 

 hours. The internal organs were so dried up and 

 wasted that I was unable to sex any of the speci- 

 mens handled. 



On December 19th, five were brought to school 

 by children at Truro who had picked them up at 



