6 BULLETIN 868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



necticut River valley below Middletown, where it is narrow, with 

 wild, rough land reaching often to the water's edge, the starling 

 was scarce; but north of Middletown, where the valley widens until 

 several miles of rich cultivated bottom land lie between the wooded 

 hills, the bird was very abundant. Up . the river as far north as 

 Springfield, Mass., the starling was as common a breeder as the 

 robin. North of Springfield it was not present in great numbers, 

 although favorable conditions for food and nest sites prevailed. 

 According to a count made in 1916 by the bird club of Springfield, 

 that city contained a breeding starling population of 5,000. Amherst, 

 Holyoke, Northampton, and Greenfield, Mass., had colonies of vary- 

 ing sizes, those of Amherst and Greenfield approximating 1,000 and 

 500, respectively. In eastern Massachusetts and in Rhode Island 

 the birds were only local in distribution. On Long Island a fine 

 drawn from Oyster Bay on the north to Bay Shore on the south 

 roughly marked the eastern boundary, of the region of abundance. 

 East of this line the birds were generally, but not abundantly, dis- 

 tributed on the north and south shores. They were absent from the 

 center of the island except for a few in cultivated clearings. 



In 1916, the starling was extremely abundant in northeastern New 

 Jersey, where it had been established about the cities of Newark, 

 Paterson, Montclair, Elizabeth, and Plainfield for at least 15 years. 

 It was also quite generally distributed throughout Somerset, Middle- 

 sex, Hunterdon, and Mercer Counties. In the northern parts of 

 Monmouth, Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties it was 

 locally abundant. There were very few, however, in the pine barrens 

 in the southeastern part of the State, or in the hilly sections to the 

 north, comprising all of Sussex and Warren Counties and parts of 

 Morris, Passaic, and Bergen Counties. Up the Hudson the starling's 

 abundance was restricted to the vicinity of the larger towns, Peeks- 

 kill, Newburgh, and Poughkeepsie having the greatest numbers. 

 The narrowness of the valley prevented a general distribution along 

 the lower Hudson. In Pennsylvania the bulk of the starling popu- 

 lation was still confined to the vicinity of Philadelphia. 



The familiarity of the starling with human abodes, and the daily 

 visits to a single feeding ground of the same post-breeding flock are 

 the two factors that have given many persons an exaggerated idea of 

 the abundance of the species. Few have attempted to estimate relative 

 numbers during the breeding season. It is believed that in all of Hud- 

 son County, most of Essex and Union Counties, and the southeastern 

 and southern parts, respectively, of Passaic and Bergen Counties, 

 New Jersey, the starling in 1916 had reached a state of maximum 

 abundance, beyond which it will not increase as a breeder. The same 

 ma}r be said of the area immediately to the east and northeast of 

 Brooklyn and New York City and extending along the Connecticut 



