J. B. Housden—The English Starling in Southern Texas 333


goes in at the open door, seizes the bait, releases the trigger, and the

spring does the rest by instantly snapping the door to. Now comes the

ingenious part of the trap, for a large cat could push the door open if it

wasn’t for the “ Locking Bar If you will look closely at the “ close-

up ” of the door (Fig. 3), you will observe two vertical rods, one on each

side, with a horizontal sliding rod running up and down them. When

setting the trap this rod is held at the top and lies just above the hinge

when the trap-door is open, but immediately the door closes, down

falls the horizontal bar along its guides and most effectually locks the

door against any pushing from the inside.


For bait I found fish-heads were excellent, but they must be fairly

fresh. The cats wouldn’t touch them if too old, perhaps they got dried

up hanging out in the air and lost their rather unpleasant aroma.


This trap can be put to other uses, such as catching up birds in an

aviary. Simply bait the floor of the trap with suitable food, attach a

long string to the trigger, and, when the bird is in, a slight pull is all

that is required to make a successful capture.



THE ENGLISH STARLING IN SOUTHERN

TEXAS, U.S.A.


By James B. Housden


In one of my visits to Southern Texas, U.S.A., I found the enclosed

in one of their local daily papers : “ English Starling, Imported Pest,

Discovered Here. Fruit Crops Menaced by Bird. Attack Native

Flyers.”


44 The first English Starling seen in San Antonio was reported

recently by Miss E. P., who found a dead bird of the species and took

it to A. K. B. Witte Memorial Museum.


4 4 The Starling was introduced into New York City forty-two years

ago. Eighty birds were liberated and seven years later they had spread

all over Long Island. Spreading south and west were found in South¬

east Kansas in 1930, at Waco in 1931, and now in San Antonio.


44 The Starling feeds on insects, grain, and fruit. Nesting in holes



