Birds of Allegany Park 269 



which gives the bird a speckled appearance in fall and winter. The 

 tips wear off, until the bird is nearly solid black by spring and sum- 

 mer. The bill in summer is bright yellow. Young birds in first 

 plumage are plain grayish brown. This bird may be distinguished 

 from the blackbirds by the long, pointed yellow bill, short tail and 

 more pointed wings. In fall and winter when the bill is black the 

 speckled plumage will identify it. 



The Starling is not at this writing a common bird in the Park. 

 It was introduced from Europe in the vicinity of New York City, 

 and from that point is spreading about the country, but is evidently 

 not yet numerous in the western part of New York State. I noted 

 a single flock of these birds numbering eighteen in a field near 

 Limestone. It is probable that they will increase steadily in num- 

 bers, and their presence may constitute a serious problem. They 

 inhabit orchards, shade trees and the vicinity of buildings and open 

 fields, but will probably never spread to the dense forests of the 

 Park. 



They have a variety of calls and whistles. One performance 

 is a rather squeaky " Phree phree phree," not particularly loud. 

 Another is a loud, clear, whistled " whee-ew," slurred down- 

 ward. Still another is " hoo wheet," a loud whistle resembling the 

 call of the Bob-white, but higher in pitch, and delivered more 

 rapidly. In addition to these, Starlings seem to have learned, since 

 coming to America, to imitate calls of many American birds, the 

 Wood Pewee and the Cowbird being favorites. 



The Starling nests in holes in trees, bird boxes, or crevices about 

 buildings. It will occupy old woodpeckers' holes or natural cavities 

 in trees, showing a great liking for those in old apple orchards. 

 These habits have caused it to displace, to some extent at least, the 

 Bluebird and the Flicker. This is one of the reasons why this alien 

 bird is undesirable. The nest is built of grasses, and several pale 

 blue eggs are laid. Nesting begins in April and flocks of young 

 birds may be seen out of the nest in late May. 



BIRDS OF THE OPEN FIELDS 



Open meadows and grasslands (plate 25 and figure 75) occur in 

 the Allegany State Park, mainly in the valleys along streams (map 

 4). Probably no grass areas were naturally in that condition form- 

 erly, but they have been cleared of their original forest long ago. 

 They occur to some extent on the hillsides, but since the soil there 

 is poorer and more difficult to cultivate, such areas are smaller in 

 extent, and often are left to revert slowly to original forest growth 

 (figure 76). 



The meadows are nearly all under cultivation ; either hay or oats, 

 corn, buckwheat and other grains and vegetables being raised. 

 Cultivation seems to have increased rather than decreased bird life, 

 and it is noticeable that there are more of the true meadow birds in 

 cultivated hay fields than in wild ones. 



