ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 37 



deposited in places where they can not grow. In the actual spread 

 •of this noxious weed, the starling is probably less responsible than 

 many of our native birds, which scatter most of their regurgitated 

 seeds where they have at least a fair chance for growth. 



MISCELLANEOUS VEGETABLE FOOD. 



Of the total annual food of the starling 13.57 per cent may be 

 classed as miscellaneous vegetable matter. This consists almost 

 entirely of refuse eaten during the winter months, as coffee grounds, 

 orange seeds, beans, parings of various fruits and vegetables, and 

 similar material commonly found on garbage piles. Mast and 

 various grass and weed seeds are also present in insignificantly small 

 quantities. Ragweed (Ambrosia arfemisiifolia) and foxtail grass 

 (OJiseiocJiloa glauca) were most commonly found, and as the starling 

 habitually feeds in fields and pastures containing an abundance of 

 these two weeds, it is not surprising that a few seeds are occasionally 

 taken. 



The garbage eaten has no economic significance, even so indirectly 

 as the cutting down of the available food of native birds, as they 

 seldom resort to such food. 



FOOD OF NESTLINGS. 



From an economic standpoint, the food habits of nestling passerine 

 birds are, as a rule, more commendable than those of the adults, and 

 when one considers that during the nestling period the young birds of 

 many species outnumber the parents two to one, the importance of 

 knowing what they are capable of doing is manifest. Then, too, it 

 must be remembered that the food required for the young growing 

 bird is vastly more than that needed for its parent. During the 

 first few days of the nestling's life, especially, it consumes enormous 

 quantities of food, estimated in the case of some species to be on each 

 day a mass equal to its own weight. This demand for food, much of 

 which consists of injurious insects, is greatest during May, June, and 

 July, a time when growing crops are benefited most by a suppression 

 of their insect enemies. 



