ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 53 
cowbird, or the English sparrow, and that in this competition for food 
the fierce t is the only species whose added difficulty 1 im ‘sustain- 
ing itself is to be deplored. 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
Very little evidence is at hand regarding the natural enemies of the 
starling. At Norwalk, Conn., a cat was seen carrying a freshly 
caught fledgling; and it is probable that a number are thus captured, 
as cats are numerous in the whole region. Far more robins, catbirds, 
and other birds are destroyed in this manner, however, for starlings 
are better protected in the nest and are also able to fly better when 
they leave the nest than are many of our common native birds. 
Hawks were several times noted flying with or about flocks of star- 
lings without attempting to capture any of them. At Bay Shore, 
N. Y., a curious performance was noted on three successive after- 
noons. A pair of sparrow hawks used the dead tops of several large 
locust trees as a lookout point for their hunting. Late in the after- 
noons the starlings appeared in this locality on their way to roost. 
As they passed, the sparrow hawks darted out, apparently in pursuit, 
but they never struck a bird. Instead, both the starling flock and 
sparrow hawks went through a series of intricate evolutions, appar- 
ently alternating in the réle of pursuer and pursued. Occasionally 
the performance would be varied by a starling swooping down on a 
hawk as it perched on a limb, driving it off: then followed the same 
evolutions as when the hawk was the ageressor. 
At Freehold, N. J., a sharp-shinned hawk was seen diving into a 
tree full of young seclnncs but the latter, rushing to the center of 
the thick foliage, enpel home. At Glen Cove, N. Y., a Cooper 
hawk was observed to dart from a tree into a passing flock af starlings 
and, striking one, to carry it away. A young starling was found also 
in a nest of a Cooper hawk at Wilton, Conn. These instances are 
enough to show that the birds of prey have learned to take their toll 
from the newcomer, but give little basis for any estimate as to their 
effect in checking its increase and spread. 
Many of the starlings collected were heavily infested with intestinal 
parasites, but no evidence was secured as to the effect these might 
have on the mortality of the birds. 
Cold weather seems to have some effect in checking the increase of 
starlings as in the vicinity of winter roosts it is common to find dead 
birds. This is particularly true in northern New Jersey, the region of 
their greatest abundance. 
SS SS ar ed Sie foe we 
ee 
