54 
Report on the Food Found in 
once and pieces of pear once ; berries of Black Bryony ( Tamus com- 
munis) once, and in one case an unidentifiable fleshy fruit was found. 
Roots. — Roots occurred 19 times ; roots of grasses were in greatest 
abundance, having been found in 5 cases ; potato occurred 3 times, 
rootlets of wheat twice and unidentifiable roots 9 times. 
Herbage. — Pieces of grass occurred 78 times, young Onion plants were 
found once ; flower heads of Daisy 3 times ; flower-heads of Coltsfoot 
once ; portions of flower-heads of Dandelion occurred once ; flower- 
heads of Yellow Goat’s-beard (Tragopogon pratensis) once ; leaves of 
Clover were found once, and other leaves 30 times ; moss was found 
in 12 cases. 
Miscellaneous Vegetable Matter. — Vegetable matter which could not 
be identified occurred in 1 52 cases. 
Miscellaneous Food. 
In 3 instances meat and carrion occurred ; kitchen refuse was found 
in 17 cases, and this included pieces of bread 3 times, potato twice, 
pieces of bone 6 times, tea-leaves 4 times, pieces of egg shell 5 times, 
fat once, meal once. 
One jaw bone of a shrew was found ; feathers occurred 13 times, 
bits of rag 5 times ; bits of straw 3 times and linen thread once. 
Summary of Results. 
Summarising the contents of the 486 starlings examined, 
insects were in greatest abundance, having been found in 91 
per cent, of the birds examined and in 249 cases in which 
they occurred they formed about 75 per cent, of the food 
contents. Injurious insects occurred in 365 cases ; these con- 
sisted very largely of weevils and leather- jackets, the former 
being present in 260 cases and the latter in 213 cases. Fully- 
grown caterpillars of the large yellow underwing moth, and 
larvae of the click beetle (wireworms) were present in very 
many cases. Earwigs were also found in many of the birds 
examined. As many as 197 leather- jackets were found in 1 
crop and at least 4 crops contained more than 150 in each ; it 
is plain therefore that these birds were rendering valuable ser- 
vice to the farmer. 
This enquiry has shown that the percentage of animal food 
taken by the starling is very large and also that this is made 
up almost entirely of insects, the majority of which are most 
injurious. On the other hand, we have to record a fair propor- 
tion of grain in the starling’s diet, though this is not by any 
means so large as in the case of the rook. As with the rook, 
however, it would be most unsafe to say that, because the 
figures show a rather high percentage of- grain at certain times 
of the year, the starling was doing damage to the extent 
indicated. Even if this were the case at certain seasons, 
however, the harm thus done to the farmer would probably be 
