52 BULLETIN 868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Field observation sheds some light on the added competition for 
food imposed upon native species by the presence of the starling. 
During the breeding season, robins in suburban sections and meadow- 
larks in the more open country are the species thrown most intimately 
in contact with the newcomer. The robin finds its customary supply 
of cutworms in the garden reduced by the diligent search of the star- 
ling; earthworms, a favorite food of the robin in wet weather, also are 
taken by the starling, but the supply of these appears to be ample 
for both. In the case of the meadowlark, such items as cutworms, 
clover leaf weevils, and other beetles constitute the food supply 
most frequently sameint by both species. 
After the breeding season the starling comes in n competition with 
several additional species in its search for food. In feeding on 
meadow and pasture land, its closest associate is the cowbird, and 
a mixed flock of these two species is a common sight about dairy herds. 
Contrary to expectation, however, the food habits of the two do not 
seriously conflict at that time of year.. A comparison of the stomach 
contents of cowbirds and starlings secured from the same flocks 
showed that while starlings were feeding most heavily on grasshoppers 
and crickets, cowbirds were satisfying themselves largely by picking 
up seeds of ragweed and foxtail grass. Similar conditions existed 
in mixed flocks of starlings, red-winged blackbirds, and grackles 
roaming through cornfields. Ripening corn formed the major por- 
tion of the food of the red-wings and grackles, while starlings ate 
comparatively little. Probably the greatest influence exerted by 
the starling on the food supply of other birds is occasioned by its 
consumption of wild fruit during late summer and early fall. Wild 
cherry and sour gum trees heavily laden with fruit are soon stripped 
when a flock of several hundred starlings feeds continually in the 
vicinity, and, although the total supply of this food is enormous, 
instances were observed where locally such birds as robins, catbirds, 
and cedar waxwings were compelled to seek other sources of food. 
During winter starlings secure a certain portion of the food formerly 
eaten by English sparrows, especially about dumping grounds of 
cities. Where bird lovers have taken pains to attract native species — 
they have often found the foreigner greedily consuming all the food 
they could supply, with the result that the cost of attracting birds 
rose almost to a prohibitive point. 
Here again must judgment be given on the relative worth of the 
species concerned before the seriousness of the starling’s consumption 
of the former food supply of other birds can be understood. After 
carefully weighing all the evidence available, it is safe to state that 
in the area covered by this investigation the starling is economically 
the superior of the robin, the catbird, the red-wing, the grackle, the 
