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THE RED-WINGED STARLING. 
329 
over the meadows and deserted corn-fields, darkening the air with their numbers. They com- 
mence the work of destruction on the corn, the husks of which, though composed of numerous 
envelopments of closely wrapped leaves, are soon completely torn off ; while from all quarters 
myriads continue to pour down like a tempest, blackening half an acre at a time, and if not 
disturbed repeat their depredations till little remains but the cob and the shrivelled skins of 
the grain. From dawn to nearly sunset this open and daring devastation is carried on, 
nnder the eye of the proprietor ; and a farmer who has very considerable extents of corn 
would require half a dozen men at least with guns to gnard it, and even then all their vigi- 
lance and activity could not prevent a ground-tithe of it from becoming the prey of the 
blackbirds.” 
In consequence of their depredations the Red-winged Starling is persecuted in every 
possible way. Every man and boy who has a gun takes it and shoots at the “blackbirds,” 
RED-WINGED STARLING .— Agdaius phwnicew. 
every urchin who can throw a stone hurls it at their blackening flocks, and even the hawks 
come from far and near to the spot where these birds are assembled, and make great havoc 
among them. As they are in the habit of resting at night among the reeds that grow in pro- 
fusion upon the morasses, the farmers destroy great multitudes of them by stealing quietly 
upon their roosting-places at night and setting fire to the dry reeds. The poor birds being 
suddenly awakened by the noise and flames, dart wildly about, and those who escape the fire 
generally fall victims to the guns of the watchful farmer and his men. Thousands of birds 
are thus killed in a single night, and as their flesh is eatable, though not remarkable for its 
excellence, the party return on the following morning for the purpose of picking up the game. 
Such are the devastations wrought by the Red-winged Starling, and on the first glance 
they appear so disastrous as to place the bird in the front rank of winged pestilences. But 
there is another side of the question, which we will now examine. 
During the spring months these birds feed almost exclusively upon insects, especially 
preferring those which are in their larval state, and devour the young leaves of growing crops. 
These destructive grubs are hunted by the Red-winged Starling with the greatest perseverance, 
seeing that upon these the existence of themselves and their young entirely depends. 
Whether a grub be deeply buried in the earth, eating away the root of some doomed plant, 
Vol. n.— 42 . 
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