ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 41 
of growth, from the blind, callow young of a day or two to the husky, 
energetic fledgling ready to leave the nest, are about equally repre- 
sented, with the result that the percentages of the various food items 
may be considered to be fair averages for the entire nestling period. 
Tt is well known that as nestlings grow older there is a gradual change 
in food preferences. A discussion of the change of food habits in 
‘the growing nestlings, based on this material, grouped according to 
the age of the birds, will be found in Table III, on page 44. 
ANIMAL FOOD. 
Compared with the 338 stomachs of adult starlings collected in 
May and June, it is found that the percentage of animal matter eaten 
by nestlings is somewhat greater, 95.06 per cent in place of 82.36. 
By far the largest animal item consisted of caterpillars, which, along 
with a few moths and a cocoon or two, formed 38.21 per cent of the 
food of young starlings and were present in 274 of the 325 stomachs 
examined. 
To very young birds caterpillars are especially attractive. Only 
3 of the 79 nestlings estimated to be less than 6 days old had failed 
to eat these larve. In the stomachs of 10 of these, caterpillars 
formed over three-fourths of the food, while the average for the lot 
was nearly half. In the case of two nestlings, apparently more 
than 10 days old, caterpillars formed the entire stomach content. 
A large part of the caterpillars eaten by the starling are cutworms, 
a fact which may be attributed to the bird’s habit of searching for 
insect food on the ground. Cutworms are chiefly nocturnal in 
their habits, but their high percentage in the food of young starlings 
indicates either that they are secured by the parents from beneath 
the surface or, which is likely, that a part are picked up in the early 
morning hours before the insects have secreted themselves for the day. 
Beetles of various kinds constitute the next largest item (29.98 
per cent) in the food of nestlings, of which nearly half (14.58 per 
cent) are members of the family Scarabeide, in which is found that 
notorious pest, the white grub, better known to the city dweller in 
its adult form, the May beetle (Phyllophaga). During late May and 
early June adult May beetles are favorite items of food with young 
starlings. One brood of 4 nearly fledged young had been fed en- 
tirely on these insects, at least 32 individuals being eaten, and another 
brood of 4 had eaten 27, which constituted 82 per cent of their food. 
As would be expected, the larve of these beetles are seidom eaten 
unless the parent birds are securing food on newly plowed fields. 
A few other phytophagous scarabeids of the genera Huphoria, 
ligyrus, Cotalpa, Anomala, Diplotaxis, and Serica also were eaten, 
but in no case were the insects of economic importance or the quan- 
tity taken worthy of note. Nestling starlings eat by no means as 
