ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 41 



of growth, from the blind, callow young of a day or two to the husky, 

 energetic fledgling ready to leave the nest, are about equally repre- 

 sented, with the result that the percentages of the various food items 

 may be considered to be fair averages for the entire nestling period. 

 It is well known that as nestlings grow older there is a gradual change 

 in food preferences. A discussion of the change of food habits in 

 the growing nestlings, based on this material, grouped according to 

 the age of the birds, will be found in Table III, on page 44. 



ANIMAL FOOD. 



Compared with the 338 stomachs of adult starlings collected in 

 May and June, it is found that the percentage of animal matter eaten 

 by nestlings is somewhat greater, 95.06 per cent in place of 82.36. 

 By far the largest animal item consisted of caterpillars, which, along 

 with a few moths and a cocoon or two, formed 38.21 per cent of the 

 food of young starlings and were present in 274 of the 325 stomachs 

 examined. 



To very young birds caterpillars are especially attractive. Only 

 3 of the 79 nestlings estimated to be less than 6 days old had failed 

 to eat these larvae. In the stomachs of 10 of these, caterpillars 

 formed over three-fourths of the food, while the average for the lot 

 was nearly half. In the case of two nestlings, apparently more 

 than 10 days old, caterpillars formed the entire stomach content. 



A large part of the caterpillars eaten by the starling are cutworms, 

 a fact which may be attributed to the bird's habit of searching for 

 insect food on the ground. Cutworms are chiefly nocturnal in 

 their habits, but their high percentage in the food of young starlings 

 indicates either that they are secured by the parents from beneath 

 the surface or, which is likely, that a part are picked up in the early 

 morning hours before the insects have secreted themselves for the day. 



Beetles of various kinds constitute the next largest item (29.98 

 per cent) in the food of nestlings, of which nearly half (14.58 per 

 cent) are members of the family Scarab seidse, in which is found that 

 notorious pest, the white grub, better known to the city dweller in 

 its adult form, the May beetle (Phyllophaga) . During late May and 

 early June adult May beetles are favorite items of food with young 

 starlings. One brood of 4 nearly fledged young had been fed en- 

 tirely on these insects, at least 32 individuals being eaten, and another 

 brood of 4 had eaten 27, which constituted 82 per cent of -their "food. 

 As would be expected, the larvae of these beetles are seldom eaten 

 unless the parent birds are securing food on newly plowed fields. 

 A few other phytophagous scarabaeids of the genera Euphoria, 

 IAgyrus, Cotalpa, Anomala, Diplotaxis, and S erica also were eaten, 

 but in no case were the insects of economic importance or the quan- 

 tity taken worthy of note. Nestling starlings eat by no means as 



