The Starling ( Sturnus vulgaris ) at Portland, Maine. — Last summer 
several reports came to hand that the Starling was breeding at Stroud- 
water, a suburb' of Portland. On tracing these reports it was found that 
they all emanated from one source, Mr. George Parker, a student in the 
Deering High School, and an earnest student of birds. On July 15, 1917, 
I visited Mr. Parker at his home in Stroudwater and he took me to a near- 
by orchard where we quickly found the Starlings in several small groups. 
Several of the groups flew to a point in the orchard and then across a field 
to another part of it and we were able to count nineteen, though there were 
undoubtedly more in the vicinity. Many of these were in brown immature 
plumage giving support to Mr. Parker’s belief that four pairs had bred in 
the vicinity. His first observation (which he had noted in a diary) was 
December 27, 1916, of a group of five. 
Though this is not the first time that the Starling has appeared in Maine 
'in recent years, it is believed that this record may be of service in fixing 
the time of the permanent arrival of the bird in Portland. 
One specimen from the colony has been preserved in the collection of 
the Portland Society of Natural History. — Arthur H. Norton, Museum 
of Natural History, Portland, Me. 
