18 BULLETIN 868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
per cent of the contents. A New Jersey bird taken in the same month 
had made 60 per cent of its meal on weevils, as follows: 3 Hypera 
punctata, 9 Sitona hispidula, 1 Sitonaflavescens, 1 Phytonomus nigri- 
rostris, 1 Sphenophorus parvalus, and fragments of one other weevil. 
An August bird taken in Connecticut had eaten 13 Hypera punctata, 
3 Phytonomus nigrirostris, and 1 other weevil, making of these 72 
per cent of its meal. Another bird from the same State collected 
in January had eaten 9 Hypera punctata, 2 Sitona hispidula, and 3 
Sphenophorus parvulus, which formed 50 per cent of the total 
stomach contents. 
From the foregoing data it is evident that the starling is a very 
effective enemy of such weevils as feed on grass or forage crops. 
This is particularly noticeable in regard to the clover pests, and it 
is safe to assert that the starling is the most effective bird enemy of the 
clover weevil in America. 
Tt seems natural that the Carabide, or ground beetles, being to a 
large extent grass-inhabiting forms, should be present in the star- 
ling’s food, of which they constitute 5.71 per cent. As this family 
contains both beneficial and injurious insects it will be necessary to 
consider it in some detail. During the months from April to October, 
inclusive, carabids furnish a considerable portion of the food, varying 
from 4.56 per cent in October to 13.02 in August. They are among 
the first beetles to appear in spring, and are promptly sought for 
by the starling. This is strikingly shown by their increase in the 
food from 1.07 per cent in March to 7.31 per centin April. The maxi- 
mum consumption of these insects is in August and September (13.02 
per cent and 12.93 per cent, respectively, of the food). During the 
other months the number taken is small and in no case forms much 
more than 1 per cent. : 
Inasmuch as ground beetles seldom occur in nature in as great 
numbers as some of the plant-feeding beetles, their presence in star- 
img stomachs is usually limited to a few individuals. They were 
found, however, in moderate numbers in nearly every stomach col- 
lected during the summer. 
Comparatively few of the large predatory carabids of the genera 
Carabus and Calosoma are captured by the starling, as, of 2,301 birds, 
only 20 had eaten the former and 3 the latter. Pterostichus, a genus 
of small beetles living largely on animal matter, was found more 
frequently, 160 birds out of 2,301 having fed on it. One member of 
this genus, P. lucublandus, a medium-sized beetle, was found in 102 
stomachs. Thirteen birds had captured members of the genus Di- 
celus, a highly beneficial group which feeds on insects, and 67 had 
eaten various species of Platynus, beetles with somewhat similar food 
habits. Ninety-five stomachs contained members of the genus 
—s UL ee ie 7 
