46 BULLETIN 868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
RELATION TO OTHER SPECIES OF BIRDS. 
The antagonism between starlings and other birds constitutes one 
of the most frequently heard complaints against this species. This 
is especially true in thickly settled regions where the natural nesting 
sites of hole-nesting birds have been largely replaced with artificial 
ones in the form of bird boxes. This fact in itself has a tendency to 
bring to human attention most of such conflicts, as many of the bird 
boxes are in dooryards where they are under more or less constant 
observation. It must also be borne in mind that the driving out of 
native species which have been induced by enthusiastic bird lovers 
to take up sites in the dooryard, will be more keenly felt than the 
molesting of breeding birds at a greater distance from the house and 
with which there has been less intimate acquaintance. : 
While particular attention was given to this complaint during the 
breeding season, little antagonism was actually observed. However, 
as acts of vandalism last for just a moment or two, it is not surprising 
that more instances were not noted. It is apparent, then, from the 
nature of the case that data of this kind must be secured largely - 
from the notes of reliable observers. Those who have had the for- 
tune to witness such activities report that bluebirds and flickers suffer 
most, but martins, house wrens, robins, English sparrows, and a few 
other wild species, as well as domestic pigeons, are also bothered in 
their nesting operations. 
Unrelenting perseverence dominates the starling’s activities when 
engaged in a controversy over a nesting site. More of its battles 
are won by dogged persistence in annoying its victim than by bold 
aggression, and its irritating tactics are sometimes carried to such a 
point that it seems almost as if the bird were actuated more by a 
morbid pleasure of annoying its neighbors than by any necessity 
arising from a scarcity of nesting sites. Tllustrative of this are the 
experiences of a pair of bluebirds observed at Norwalk, Conn., build- 
ing a nest in a cavity high in an elm tree. On April 8 two starlings 
were seen sitting nearby, whistling and squealing. They were not 
~ noted attacking the bluebirds, but the next afternoon the bluebirds 
had disappeared and the starlings were carrying nest material into 
the cavity. The next day the bluebirds tried to get into a wren box 
haying an opening too small for their passage. A day or two later 
four bird boxes were erected in the vicinity, and the bluebirds prompt- 
ly began to build in one. This apparently aroused the displeasure of 
the starlings; so they entered the box and removed the nest material. 
The same performance was repeated at two of the other boxes, and it 
was not until the bluebirds had taken up the last box, which was 
provided with a 12-inch opening, through which the starlings could 
not pass, that they were able to lay a set of eggs. That misfortune 
