ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. ok 
from outside observers. No grapes were found in the stomachs ex- 
amined and noc damage of this kind was observed by representatives 
of the Biological Survey. A farmer in the Brookdale section north 
of Bloomfield, N. J., reported that starlings had severely damaged 
grapes on a small arbor on his farm, and similar complaints came 
from a number of farmers in the neighboring sections about Rich- 
field, N. J. No damage was reported in the extensive vineyards 
about Vineland, in southern New Jersey, but as the starling was not 
yet abundant there this can not be looked upon as an indication of 
its innocence. As in the case of apples, the injury to grapes is at 
present trivial in the aggregate and is practically nil in extensive 
grape-raising sections, but from the starling’s reputation in some 
parts of Europe it will bear watching in these surroundings. 
CORN. 
Probably the losses to crops most keenly felt by the farmers living 
in the intensively cultivated area in northeastern New Jersey, about 
the cities of Hackensack, Bloomfield, Elizabeth, and Newark, are ~ 
those inflicted by grain-eating birds on sweet corn. During July 
and August mixed flocks, sometimes numbering into the thousands, 
of grackles, red-winged blackbirds, cowbirds, and, in recent years, 
starlings, roam through the country, securing the bulk of their sus- 
tenance from cornfields. Sweet corn, just ready for market, is torn 
open, some of the juicy kernels eaten, and the ear either rendered 
unsalable or its market value considerably reduced. In the agere- 
gate such losses are very great and in the eyes of the farmers of 
northeastern New Jersey, the starling is to blame for a large share of 
the damage. However, as in the case of men, who are often judged 
by their company, the starling has been accused of deeds perpetrated 
largely by the species with which it associates. Not only were these 
birds generally charged with eating as much corn as the grackles 
and red-wings, an assumption which has been disproved, but many 
farmers were uncertain of their identification, with the result that 
flocks of juvenile red-wings were often called starlings and their 
depredations charged against the latter. | 
Of the total of 2,301 adult starling stomachs examined, 52 con- 
tained corn, and this formed less than 1 per cent (0.77) of their yearly 
food. Of the 1,059 starlings collected during the ripening and har- 
vesting season of July, August, September, and October, only 14 
had fed on corn, which constituted only 0.2 per cent of their food 
during this period. In the planting and sprouting season of April 
and May, 6 of 249 adult starlings had fed on corn, which formed 0.52 
per cent of the food. By far the largest part of the corn eaten by 
starlings is waste grain secured in winter and early spring. In Jan- 
