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



many coprophagous scarabseids as do their parents, who, in late 

 summer and in fall, capture numbers of the common small genera 

 on the wing. Of these, Apliodius appears to be the favorite for the 

 nestlings. 



Ground beetles (Carabidse) formed a little more than 8 per cent 

 of the young starlings' food, a proportion about equal to that taken 

 by the adults in May and June. They were found in two-thirds of 

 the stomachs examined, but in only one case was the quantity taken 

 more than half the stomach contents. Conspicuous among the 

 distinctly beneficial carabids eaten is the fiery caterpillar hunter 

 (Calosoma calidum). This insect was identified in 17 stomachs. 

 The large Harpalus caliginosus was present in 54 stomachs, Chlsenius 

 tomentosus in 46, and members of the genus Anisodactylus in 76. 

 The presence of a considerable number of the last-named genus, 

 together with specimens of Amara, show that not all the ground 

 beetles eaten should be charged against the starling, as some of them 

 are distinctly vegetarian. 



The young starlings' consumption of weevils is nearly three times 

 as great as that of the adults during the same period, and while in 

 bulk the portion taken is small (3.26 per cent), it contains one item 

 of considerable interest, the clover leaf weevil (Hypera punctata). 

 (See PL III, fig. 1.) This insect constituted by far the largest 

 portion of the weevil food. It was present in 53 stomachs, and the 

 larvae occurred in 34. One brood of 3 newly hatched young had 

 been fed a total of 59 of these larvse, which, together with 3 adult 

 weevils of other genera, formed nearly 70 per cent of their food. 

 The best record for the destruction of adult weevils was made by a 

 brood of 4 half-grown nestlings that had consumed 30 individuals of 

 two other clover pests (Sitona Tiispidula and PTiytonomus nigrirostris) 

 along with a number of billbugs (Splienophorus sp.). 



The remaining beetle food, comprising 4.11 per cent, was divided 

 among a number of families. Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidse) and 

 rove beetles (Staphylinidse) were best represented, but in no case 

 was the quantity eaten of importance. 



As the nestling period is too early in the season to permit a heavy 

 consumption of grasshoppers, a large part of the orthopterous remains 

 found (11.31 per cent) was composed of crickets. These were present 

 in 134 stomachs, frequently associated with a grasshopper or two. 

 One brood *of 4 young starlings about ready to leave the nest had 

 eaten 19 crickets and 4 grasshoppers, which totaled over 81 per cent 

 of the food; another brood, just hatched, had been fed 13 crickets 

 and 7 grasshoppers, which formed over two-thirds of their diet; and 

 in the case of two other broods of 4 and 5, respectively, the orthop- 

 fcerous food constituted over two-thirds of the stomach contents. 

 Most of the crickets eaten by nestlings are the common field cricket 



