26 BULLETIN 868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
considered less distimetly beneficial than some of the other spiders 
which secure many of the flying insect pests in their silken nets. 
MOLLUSKS. 
In contrast with the large numbers of injurious slugs secured by 
the starling in some parts of its native home, particularly in England, 
is the quantity and character of the molluscan food of the bird in 
this country. Mollusks of various kinds, but mainly land snails, 
formed less than 1 per cent (0.94) of its annual food. A large part 
of this was secured in October, when 20 of the 108 birds examined 
had fed on it. These 20 birds were collected along the Connecticut 
shore, the snails eaten being mainly of the genus Melampus. In no 
case was a land slug detected. 
MISCELLANEOUS ANIMAL FOOD. 
The remains of earthworms, fragments of a crab, a few beach fleas © 
(Orchestia), sowbugs (Porcellio), bones of a salamander (in one 
stomach), and bits of fat, suet, or cartilage, secured apparently from 
garbage dumps or at the winter feeding stations erected to attract 
birds, fill out the varied animal diet of the starling. All these items 
combined form only 1.32 per cent of the bird’s yearly food, and most 
of them are secured during the winter and early sprig months. 
That the bird’s desire for animal food is in a measure satisfied as soon 
as the winter’s snow disappears in March is revealed by the quantity 
of animal garbage consumed in that month, when it forms about 8 
per cent of the diet. The main grievance against the starling for its 
consumption of the foregomg food items is entertamed by bird lovers 
whose generous supplies of suet put out for native birds soon dis- 
appear when discovered by a flock of starlings. 
VEGETABLE FOOD OF ADULTS. 
CHERRIES. 
One of the most frequent complaimts against the starling is in 
connection with its fondness for cherries. From the economic 
standpoint, this is undoubtedly its most objectionable habit. The 
cherry is cultivated on a commercial scale in only a part of the 
starling’s present range, but is grown as a home fruit, a tree or two 
about the dooryard, throughout most of its habitat. This condition 
renders the crop peculiarly susceptible to attack by robins and star- 
lings, the two most abundant fruit-eating birds of the region. 
In 1915, on a farm near Closter, N. J., trees that should have pro- 
duced $50 to $60 worth of cherries yielded only $10 worth, a loss 
largely due to starlings. At Bristol, Conn., a flock of about 300 
starlings entirely stripped a single tree of its 1916 crop in less than 15 
minutes. At Rowayton, Conn., six cherry trees were entirely stripped 
} 
Vp mat Tht = ferry em 
