ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 59 



whose economic worth may be considered greater than that of the 

 latter, but in no case was the disturbance of a well-established 

 colony of martins noted. In its search for food the starling also 

 comes in competition with neighboring species, most of which, 

 however, are the starling's economic inferiors. The meadowlark 

 appears to be the only species which might be affected by this 

 competition for food whose added difficulty in sustaining itself is to 

 be deplored. 



ROOSTS. 



The objectionable habit possessed by the starling in common 

 with several other species, particularly grackles and robins, of 

 congregating in enormous roosts, usually in the residential section 

 of a city, is, next to the damage resulting from the bird's food habits, 

 the source of the greatest economic loss. The persistent use of 

 firearms or Roman candles will remove these nuisances, but vigilance 

 must be employed to prevent the reestablishing of the roosts in other 

 places where they would be equally objectionable. 



CONCLUSION. 



It has been the purpose of this investigation to determine what 

 should be our attitude toward the starling, in order that a correct 

 judgment might be reflected by legislation governing the protection 

 of the bird. Most of the starling's food habits have been demon- 

 strated to be either beneficial to man or of a neutral character. 

 Furthermore, it has been found that the time the bird spends in 

 destroying crops or in molesting other birds is extremely short 

 compared with the endless hours it spends searching for insects or 

 feeding on wild fruits. Nevertheless, no policy would be sound which 

 would give the bird absolute protection and afford no relief to the 

 farmer whose crops are threatened by a local overabundance of 

 the species. Consequently, the enactment of laws that afford 

 protection to the starling, except when it is actually doing or 

 threatening to inflict damage, appears to be the wisest procedure. 

 With its ready ability to adapt itself to new environments, the 

 starling possesses almost unlimited capacity for good, but it is 

 potentially harmful in that its gregarious habits may abnormally 

 emphasize some minor food habit which would be indulged in at 

 the expense of growing crops. The individual farmer will be well 

 remrded by allowing a reasonable number of starlings to conduct 

 their nesting operations on the farm. Later in the season a little 

 vigilance will prevent these easily frightened birds from exacting an 

 unfair toll for services rendered. 



