208 



Bird - Lore 



brood flew July 25. I think that six is the 

 ordinary number of young. 



While the young are being raised the old 

 birds keep very quiet. They usually go to a 

 considerable distance for food, and they make 

 their trips to and from the nest with great 

 regularity. They obtain their food on lawns 

 or, if there is one convenient, from a cow 

 pasture. In the winter I have often seen 

 them eat decayed apples. 



About the middle of July the first flocks of 

 Starlings appear. These flocks, I think, are 

 largely composed of young birds of the first 

 brood, as a large part of the old birds are 

 still occupied with family affairs. During the 

 fall and winter the Starlings gather in flocks. 

 ■ — Clifford H. Pangburn. 



The Sterling at Wethersfield, Conn. 



In the spring of 1906, in Wethersfield, 

 Conn., where I reside, I noticed a strange, 

 dark-colored bird, with straws in its bill, fly- 

 ing toward an old tree with a hole in it where 

 a branch had been sawed off. This bird was 

 entirely new to me and for a long time I did 

 not have a chance to observe it again. How- 

 ever, the following winter a flock of five or 

 more of these birds stayed with us all through 

 the winter months. I finally decided that 

 without a doubt they were English Starlings; 

 probably the first observed in this section of 

 the state. 



It is evident that at least one brood was 

 raised, and in all probability more broods will 

 be raised, as I observed the parent birds 

 flying across my yard many times during 

 the past summer and have been very much 

 interested in their strange calls. — Albert 

 Morgan. 



The Starling at Stonington and 

 New Haven 



In reply to the request for information con- 

 cerning the English Starling, made in the last 

 issue of Bird-Lore, I can say that the Star- 

 ling has reached New London and beyond. 

 In July, 1906, during a three-weeks' stay at 

 Stonington, Conn., I saw this bird twice. 

 The first time on July 9, at a short dis- 

 tance outside the town; the next day in the 



town itself. This time I was accompanied by 

 Mr. D. B. Pangburn, a well-known New 

 Haven bird student. On neither occasion 

 was identification doubtful. Once, while 

 passing though New London on the train, 

 Mr. Pangburn and myself saw a Starling 

 sitting on a telegraph wire in the railroad 

 yards there. 



I am inclined to think that the Starling is 

 nofnumerous east of New Haven. At West- 

 brook, Conn., near the mouth of the Connec- 

 ticut river, it is practically unknown. Miss 

 B. A. Moore, a bird student who has had field 

 experience with the bird, says that it is some 

 years since a Starling has been seen in the 

 town, and she doubts if there is a pair there 

 now. 



This bird was first reported from New 

 Haven by Dr. L. B. Bishop. He discovered 

 it on December 3, 1900, as reported in 'The 

 Auk' (Vol. XVIII, 1901). By 1903 it had be- 

 come common, and today it is, next to the 

 English Sparrow, the most numerous and 

 conspicuous bird in the city, and it is con- 

 stantly on the increase. Starlings roost in 

 most of the church towers, even those on the 

 green, often in company with flocks of 

 escaped domestic pigeons, with which they 

 seem to get along peaceably. 



I wish we could settle the question of the 

 desirability of the Starlings by saying that 

 they are a desirable addition to our avifauna 

 in the cities, for there they do not come into 

 contact with many native species, and they 

 are certainly fully as interesting as the English 

 Sparrow. It seems to me, however, that they 

 seek the city largely as a place of protection 

 from the elements, that only a small portion 

 of their food supply is drawn from it, and 

 that the great bulk of them nest outside 

 of its borders. 



During midday, few are seen in the city 

 except when the ground is covered with snow. 

 They are seldom seen on the ground or about 

 the streets in the neighborhood of their roosts, 

 with us. Toward dusk they appear near 

 their roosting-places, flying from the direction 

 of the surrounding country, singly and in 

 flocks. At the same time of day I have stood 

 on the hills outside the city and seen them 

 flying toward it. At daybreak there is a 

 reverse flight. 



