ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 17 



late in winter. For example, one bird from Massachusetts in 

 January had eaten 14 of these weevils and 4 others, which made a 

 total of 26 per cent of its food. A Connecticut bird taken in the 

 same month had also eaten 14 of these weevils, which formed 32 

 per cent of the food. In these two months 14 of the birds had taken 

 more than 5 Hypera at a single meal. (PI. Ill, fig. 1.) 



Another weevil eaten in considerable numbers is the lesser clover 

 leaf weevil (Phytonomus nigrirostris) . Seventy-three of the 2,301 

 adult birds had fed on this insect. The greatest number taken was 

 9 by each of 2 birds. The clover root curculio (Sitona hispidula), 

 the larvae of which feed on the roots of various species of clover, is 

 also a favorite, article of diet, having been taken by 505 adult star- 

 lings. It was found most abundantly in the same months as the 

 clover leaf weevil, as 27 of 84 birds taken in January, 119 of 398 

 taken in February, 83 of 375 in July, and 86 of 347 in August had 

 eaten it. The birds frequently took numbers of this species, 36 

 having taken 5 or more. An August bird from Pennsylvania had 

 eaten 30 adult clover root curculios, and one from New Jersey had 

 taken 31. The closely related weevil Sitona flavescens, which has 

 similar injurious habits, is preyed upon to a less extent, only 33 of the 

 2,301 adults having eaten it. One of these, however, taken in 

 Connecticut during August, had devoured 17 of the weevils, and 

 several others had taken 2 or more. 



The strawberry crown girdler (Otiorhynchus ovatus), the larvae of 

 which feed on the roots of strawberries and other plants, had been 

 eaten by 60 adult starlings, and the closely related weevil {Otiorhyn- 

 chus sulcatus) known in Europe as the black-vine weevil, had been 

 taken 7 times. Barypeithes pellucidus, another weevil known to 

 attack strawberries and found in southern New England and adja- 

 cent States, had been taken by a single bird, which had made 75 per 

 cent of its meal on 167 individuals. 



In point of numbers taken, Sphenophorus, a group of destructive 

 weevils known as billbugs, which bore into the seeds and stems of 

 grain, stands next to the clover weevils, as at least 225 starlings 

 had eaten them. Of these the "bluegrass billbug" (S. parvulus), 

 which had been eaten by 104 birds, was most frequently taken. 

 These insects sometimes do considerable damage to timothy. Five 

 other species of this genus, all of them injurious, were taken in 

 varying numbers by the birds. Phyxelis rigidus was found in 90 

 stomachs, one of which contained 13 individuals. 



As the starling stomachs examined often contained several species 



of these injurious weevils, a few of the more interesting ones are 



mentioned here. In a July stomach from Pennsylvania 20 Hypera 



punctata, 14 Sitona hispidula, and 2 Sphenophorus sp. formed 95 



182334°— 21 3 



