STARLINGS 

 (493) Sturnus vulgaris Linn. 



(Lat,, a starling; common). 



STARLING. A very liandsome 

 bird as shown. Plumage iridescent 

 purple and greenish-black; feathers 

 on the upper parts and breast lance- 

 olate and mostly tipped with buffy 

 spots. Bill hglit yellowish, very 

 sharply pointed. In winter the 

 feathers on the upper parts are 

 quite broadly edged with buff. L., 

 8.50; W., 5.00; T., 2.7s; B., i.oo; 

 Tar., 1.00. Nest — Of grasses, twigs 

 and trash in hollow trees or crevices 

 about buildings; just such locations 

 as are usually chosen by English 

 Sparrows; four to six pale blue 

 eggs, I. IS X. 85. 



Range — Introduced in N. Y. City 

 in 1890; spread to Mass., Conn., 

 and Pa. 



NUTCRACKERS, which inhabit our western mountains, 

 although not resembhng in plumage any of our crows or 

 jays, show by the shape of the bill that they belong 

 to the same family. Their manners give further evidence 

 of their connection to this rather disreputable group, 

 for they are omnivorous in their feeding, and very noisy 

 and active at all times except during nesting. They 

 often hang from cones, head downward, like crossbills, and 

 frequently cling to the sides of trees in woodpecker fashion; 

 their flight, too, is undulatory, somewhat suggestive of that 

 of the Flicker. 



Family STURNIDyE. Starlings 



STARLINGS, a common Old World species, formerly 

 had a place in our avifauna because of its casual occurrence 

 in Greenland. In 1890 several pairs were liberated in New 

 York. They have thriven, multiplied, pushed their way 

 as far from their starting point at least as Springfield, Mass. 



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