THE OOLOGIBT 



178 



Accidental Death of a Starling. 



(Sturnus vulgaris) 



On the 4th of October of the present 

 year, I was walking close to a small 

 pond near my home. A stone wall 

 leads to its edge from the high pas- 

 ture land on the south, and in the cen- 

 ter of this wall there is a large wooden 

 gate. From one of the gate posts 

 hung a lifeless Starling with one of 

 its legs caught in a large deep crack. 

 The unfortunate bird had evidently 

 alighted on the rounded top of the 

 post and its foot had then slipped into 

 the crevice. Panic stricken, it had 

 made vain efforts to free itself, suc- 

 ceeding only in wedging its limb more 

 firmly into the crack and soon expir- 

 ing from its internal injuries received 

 while struggling. 



As I was about to remove the bird 

 from its trap, a drop of opake-green- 

 ish liquid oozed out between its man- 

 dibles and dropped to the ground. 

 Fortunately it landed on a leaf just be- 

 low and I was thus enabled to remove 

 it to my laboratory for closer exam- 

 ination. I had already noticed small 

 black dots in the green fluid and 

 when placed under the microscope 

 these proved to be great numbers of 

 minute living creatures. There were 

 several varieties and among them I 

 recognized the two tiny forms of 

 Crustacea, . (cyclops and Daphnia) 

 which I had often found while exam- 

 ining the inhabitants of fresh water 

 Algae. (Fig. 1 and 2). 



It struck me at once that as the 

 bird had been found close to a pond, 

 the Crustacea had probably been ob- 

 tained there. I immediately secured 

 some of the Algae from this water and 

 on examining it I found the same tiny 

 creatures that had dropped from the 

 unfortunate Starling's mouth. This 

 discovery led me to recover the bird 

 which 1 had already buried. The 

 stomach was soon taken out, carefully 



cut open and sure enough the entire 

 cavity was filled with partly digested 

 vegetable matter which proved to be 

 Algae when placed under the lens. 



I must say that I was surprised for 

 I had never expected to find the Star- 

 ling cleaning ponds of their slime. 

 Many other stomachs of Starlings 

 have been examined at all seasons, 

 but up to the present date I have 

 never found another containing food 

 of this nature. 



The above notes clearly illustrate 

 from what trivial incidents an Orni- 

 thologist's discoveries and observa- 

 tions may sometimes arise. No doubt 

 for the same reason many an inter- 

 esting and important fact is oft times 

 overlooked. It tells us the first im- 

 portant rule of science: never to over- 

 look the smallest incident while at 

 work in our chosen fields of study. 

 P. G. Howes. 



Fall Fun. 



A stroll through the woods on any 

 of these Indian Summer days will un- 

 ravel many mysteries of the past sum- 

 mer. You will be surprised to find the 

 nest that you hunted for so diligent- 

 ly, stuck in the most prominent place 

 on the hillside, or perhaps discover an 

 abandoned nest of some species, that 

 you did not know nested in your vi- 

 cinity. Many nests may be found con- 

 taining eggs, adled, of course; but 

 none the less interesting, as a matter 

 of study, if not for i)reparation pur- 

 l)Oses. It is fully as imi)ortant to store 

 the mind with information as it is the 

 cabinet with specimens, and this time 

 of year is a good time in which to ac- 

 quire much knowledge relating to the 

 birds. 



Stanley G. .Jewett returned to Port- 

 land, Oregon the- middle of September 

 after a very successful trip into Idaho 

 and Wyoming in the interest of the 

 Biological Survey. Several good 

 things were secured, especially a fine 

 series of the new Citellus that he se- 

 cured the type of last year. 



