ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 25 



cows and in a few instances actually alighting upon their backs with 

 the apparent intent of catching flies. In pastures starlings secure 

 maggots by visiting partially dried cow droppings, which they thor- 

 oughly riddle by puncturing with their bills. As this material dries 

 it becomes pulverized and scattered over several square feet of sur- 

 face. Under such treatment dipterous larvae not actually eaten by 

 the birds soon die for want of moisture. 



MILLIPEDS. 



So far as known, no other bird in this country equals the starling 

 in the destruction of millipeds. These creatures form 11.71 per cent 

 of the adult bird's yearly diet. In April they amount to 54.69 per 

 cent; in May, 42.19 per cent; and in June, 23.66 per cent; and, after 

 a falling off in the later summer months, they again rise to 7.64 per 

 cent in October. The fact that in April 119 adult birds of 132 ex- 

 amined, in May 133 of 140, and in June 146 of 215, had fed on milli- 

 peds, furnishes an idea of the persistence with which starlings search 

 for such food in spring and early summer. Fifteen of the birds col- 

 lected in April had taken nothing else, and 14 others had secured over 

 nine-tenths of their food from millipeds. 



At present the economic status of millipeds in this country is not 

 fully understood. Were the theory accepted that was generally 

 entertained a few years ago that millipeds feed entirely on decaying 

 vegetable matter, the starling's destruction of them would have to 

 be construed of neutral effect. In England, however, millipeds of 

 the same and closely related genera are decidedly destructive in 

 gardens, and recent investigations have shown that they have 

 similar habits in this country. Damage to beans, strawberries, 

 melons, cucumbers, radishes, and potatoes has been attributed to 

 one species (Julus cseruleocinctus) which is a favorite food item of the 

 starling. The full significance of the starling' s destruction of millipeds 

 will be known only when the habits of these animals are better under- 

 stood. Whether their status be neutral or injurious, in feeding on 

 them the starling secures a much needed supply of animal food and 

 at the same time does not draw materially from the supply of other 

 birds, few of which have shown a preference for millipeds. 



SPIDERS. 



Spiders hold by no means the attraction for adult starlings that 

 they do for the nestlings (see p. 43) . Of the 2,30 1 stomachs examined, 

 480 contained spiders, which formed 1.48 per cent of the annual diet. 

 In only one month did they constitute over 3 per cent of the food; 

 in December, 17 of 44 birds had eaten spiders to the extent of 3.48 

 per cent of their food. Most of the arachnids eaten were wolf 

 spiders (Lycosida?), which are terrestrial in habits and generally 

 182334°— 21 i 



