14 BULLETIN 868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
~ 
that on isolated plantations migrating starlings sometimes take the 
entire olive crop. 
In 13 of 18 general articles on the starling in Great Britain it 
is stated that the bird is more beneficial than injurious; one article 
says that while the bird is valuable now, its habits are undergoing 
a change for the worse, and four state that although very useful in 
grasslands and forests, the starling is entirely too numerous for the 
best interests of fruit growers. Exhaustive investigations of the 
bird’s habits have been made by Gilmour, Newstead, Collinge, and 
the national board of agriculture. After reviewing the whole question 
of the starling’s economic status the board of agriculture concludes ® 
that ‘‘on the whole * * * the information at present collected 
goes to show that, in view of their great partiality for insect food, 
starlings are, from the forest standpoint, entirely useful, whilst in 
acriculture ad gardening their usefulness far more than ogee 
the occasional harm done.”’ 
Summing up, it may be said thet j in Kurope the verdict on the star- 
ling is distinctly favorable; of 35 works dealing in a general way with 
the economic status of the bird, only 7 report adversely. It is note- 
worthy, moreover, that the findings of all the thorough and more 
scientific investigators have been in favor of the species, although 
some authors admit that at present starlings are too numerous in 
some localities. 
In most countries where the bird has been introduced, the case is 
. different. In Australia and Tasmania testimony concerning starlings 
is generally unfavorable. Their great faults are driving away native 
birds and preying upon fruits. They have by no means lost their 
insectivorous tastes in their new home; in fact, they are credited 
with suppressing plagues of grubs and crickets which destroy grain - 
and grass. Their numbers have become so great, however, that after 
the breeding season enormous flocks band together and at times 
descend upon orchards, vineyards, or gardens, where they make 
great havoc with the crops. 
The introduction of the starling into New Zealand does not seem 
to have resulted so unfavorably as in Australia. In 1907, just 40 
years after the first importation, James Drummond published an 
account of the activities of the species in that country.® His con- 
clusions were based on the testimony submitted by many farmers who 
had experience with the birds, and were to the effect that the starling 
was one of the most valuable of insectivorous birds. 
5 Board Agr. and Fisheries (London), Leaflet 45, Rev. ed., 4 p., June, 1905. 
6 New Zealand Dept. Agr., Div. Biol. and Hort., Bull. 16, 1907. 
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