Conspicuously Black 



the bird were actuated more by a morbid pleasure of annoying 

 its neighbors than by any necessity arising from a scarcity of nest- 

 ing sites. . . . 



" In contests with the flicker the starling frequently makes up 

 in numbers what disadvantage it may have in size. Typical of 

 such combats was the one observed on May 9, at Hartford, Conn., 

 where a group of starlings and a flicker were in controversy over a 

 newly excavated nest. The number of starlings varied, but as 

 many as 6 were noted at one time. Attention was first attracted 

 to the dispute by a number of starlings in close proximity to the 

 hole and by the sounds of a tussle within. Presently a flicker 

 came out dragging a starling after him. The starling continued 

 the battle outside long enough to allow one of its comrades to slip 

 into the nest. Of course the flicker had to repeat the entire per- 

 formance. He did this for about half an hour, when he gave up, 

 leaving the starlings in possession of the nest. • . . 



" Economically considered, the starling is the superior of either 

 the flicker, the robin, or the English sparrow, three of the species 

 with which it comes in contact in its breeding operations. The 

 eggs and young of bluebirds and wrens may be protected by the 

 use of nest boxes with circular openings if inches or less in diam- 

 eter. This leaves the purple martin the only species readily 

 subject to attack by the starling, 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." 



As for the nuisance of a big established roost of starlings, it 

 may be abated by nightly salvos of Roman candles or blank cart- 

 ridges, continued for a week or at most ten days. 



So much for the starling in his aspect as an undesirable citizen. 

 Government investigators, by a long-continued study, have dis- 

 covered that his good deeds far outnumber his misdemeanors. 

 Primarily he feeds on noxious insects and useless wild fruits. 

 Small truck gardens and individual cherry trees may be occasion- 

 ally raided by large flocks with disastrous results in a small way. 

 But on the whole he is a useful frequenter of our door-yards who 

 pays his way by destroying hosts of cut-worms and equally noxious 

 insects. "A thorough consideration of the evidence at hand in- 

 dicates that, based on food habits, the adult starling is the economic 

 superior of the robin, catbird, flicker, red-winged blackbird, or 

 grackle." Need more be said for him? 



50b 



