FOREST AND S T R E A M 
6i2 
What Are We To Do About the Starling? 
Careful Observers Advance the Opinion that He is Going to be a Worse 
Pest than the English Sparrow 
SHOOT THE STARLING. 
Meriden, Conn., Sept. 4-, i 9 t 5 - 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In an item in your August publication, the 
starling is described as a destroyer of cutworms, 
and, therefore, worthy of protection. This ver¬ 
dict is based upon the feeding habit of one pair 
with their early brood. 
After seven years’ close observation of the 
starling in central Connecticut, I would like to 
have a short report published, that the man with 
the gun may know their habits and do his part 
in keeping these birds from being a national 
plague. 
I heartily agree that the starling is insectivor¬ 
ous to a large extent, as the investigation now 
being carried on at Washington will undoubt¬ 
edly show. Tent caterpillars are eaten by adults 
and fed to the young in great numbers. I have 
known of an entire orchard being rid of these 
pests by a large flock of starlings. Most of the 
feeding, however, is upon the ground, usually in 
the meadows where immense quantities of grass¬ 
hoppers are destroyed. But the same pair that 
cleans a garden of cutworms may destroy a 
neighbor’s fruit crop; or the beneficial flock in 
the caterpillar or locust season may ruin a crop 
of sprouting or ripe grain. This has been proven 
true in Connecticut. The fruit destruction has 
been largely of cherries and pears, and oats seem 
to be a favorite grain. 
Seven years ago there were but four starlings 
in this town; now there are tens of thousands. 
One instance has been reported to me in which 
an immense flock of starlings did much damage 
in a young pear orchard; alighting in such num¬ 
bers as to break off the new shoots. Large 
flocks often select shade trees along a much 
traveled street as an established roost, and there 
become a public nuisance. Another objection¬ 
able feature is their habit of nesting in any 
cranny or hole they can find or make about 
buildings. I have known them to make holes 
in eave drains, and also directly through a 
shingled roof. At first the starling seemed to 
prefer a home in the city; but now that belfries 
are screened and efforts made to keep them 
away from the homes, 90 per cent, of the nests 
I have found this season have been in hollow 
trees, woodpeckers’ holes and bird houses. 
Now comes the great objection to the starling 
in America. They are an enemy to our native 
birds, driving them from their homes and rob¬ 
bing their nests. I have seen the starling flying 
with an egg on its bill, and a robin in pursuit, 
and have often seen them fighting the birds at 
their nests. Flickers are driven from their 
holes, which are especially coveted by the star¬ 
lings. After the starlings have made their own 
nests, daily visits are made to the bird houses 
and hollow trees of the vicinity, where robbery 
is probably committed at every opportunity. 
Why will not these birds that have such relish 
for fresh eggs be likely to feast at the nest of 
the Bob White or any other ground-nesting bird 
they may happen upon as they feed in the 
meadows ? 
To my mind, the value of the starling as an 
insect destroyer is largely counterbalanced by 
his destruction of fruit and grain; and as these 
birds increase in number and spread westward 
this loss will be more keenly felt. That leaves 
the facts that these starlings are a public nui¬ 
sance in the city and village, and that they drive 
away and destroy our useful native birds entirely 
to their discredit. 
If it were more generally known that the 
starlings are eatable and without protection it 
would greatly aid in keeping them under sub¬ 
jection. Someone, who has had experience in 
serving the smaller game birds, should experi¬ 
ment with this substitute, and report, let us 
hope, favorably, so that successful snipe hunt¬ 
ers may be induced to bring home the starling in 
abundance. 
L. W. Smith. 
THE STARLING A WORSE PEST THAN 
OUR ENGLISH SPARROW. 
Branford, Conn., Aug. 31, 1915 - 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
Only six years ago we were denouncing the 
English sparrow for its menacing of our streets 
and gardens, but today who would not be thank¬ 
ful to tolerate this bird in preference to the 
starling? It is a surprising fact that these birds 
are getting even more prevalent than the spar¬ 
row, and not only do they inhabit the streets, 
gardens, and public buildings, but they have ven¬ 
tured into the country so that the farmers are 
beginning to recognize them as pests. In winter, 
snow and northerly winds do not seem to affect 
these bold and hardy little birds and a farmer 
recently told me, that “he’d sooner have crows in 
his barn than have these black devils yelling all 
the day.” 
Like the Saxons and the Normans, the spar¬ 
rows seem to be willing to consolidate their in¬ 
terests with those of their intruders. I know of 
a group of maples and elms in a factory yard 
which seems to be the common rendezvous of 
both birds. After six o’clock, when work is over 
great flocks of starlings and sparrows assemble in 
the trees and carry on a continuous confabutation 
until sundown. It sounds more like a pitched 
battle or a heated altercation, but the more I ob¬ 
serve, the more I am convinced that the meeting 
is of a friendly nature and that both are there to 
roost through a peaceful night. 
But although these “black devils” present a 
more pleasing aspect than the unkempt and 
scrawny English sparrow, they are more destruc¬ 
tive and repugnant than its neighbor. Eggs and 
the young of most of our smaller song-birds are 
in constant danger of the starling and it is un¬ 
necessary to state that the mother bird suffers 
defeat if she should offer resistance. Again many 
thousands of our voracious and tree-destructive 
insects, such as the cut-worm, are devoured by 
the starlings, although they cannot be said to be 
as thorough as our spray, but to get rid of this 
deprecating and quarrelsome bird is a problem 
beginning to be worth while thinking about. 
T. F. Hammkr. 
WORK OF BEAVER IS LASTING. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In a recent bulletin issued by the New York 
State Conservation Commission which is making 
a census and a study of the beaver in the Adiron- 
dacks, is the following interesting information 
about the permanency of the work of this indus¬ 
trious little animal:— 
“How long will a beaver dam last?" At least 
a hundred and fifty years is the conclusion of the 
Conservation Commission, as the result of an ex- 
emination of trees growing upon a very old dam 
in the vicinity of Eighth Lake in the Fulton 
Chain. 
“Scrub white cedars on this dam were cut 
down, in order to count their annual growth rings, 
by W. C. Talmage, of Camp Waubun, Seventh 
Lake, whose study of beavers during the last 
thirty years has taken him over many of the wild 
portions of the United States and Canada. A 
section of one, just received by the Commis¬ 
sion, is nine inches in diameter and shows 125 
annual rings. Others as large as sixteen inches 
have rotted in the center until they are mere 
shells and their age can only be guessed at. 
“On the supposition that the trees could not 
have taken upon the dam until it had become 
covered with humus from dead leaves, or silt 
washed on by the stream, it is believed by the 
Commission that the dam dates back certainly 
until 1765, before the power of the Iroquois Con¬ 
federacy was broken, and when the Adirondacks 
were still their Beaver Hunting Country of ap¬ 
parently inexhaustable supply. Then every stream 
held evidence at the beaver’s skill, and the pelts 
that they supplied even passed for currency at 
Fort Orange and New York. 
“In their old haunts along the Fulton Chain 
they are coming into their own again, until they 
have become one of the prime attractions of the 
region.” John D. Whish. 
INVISIBLE FISHING LINES. 
A collection of fishing lines illustrating the in¬ 
genuity of the Japanese sporting goods manufac¬ 
turer has been received in this country. They 
are the “invisible” sort, made of very fine silk, 
boiled in a preparation of oil and glue and calen¬ 
dered under heavy pressure. These lines are 
called the “tegusu” and are made from the silk 
from wild cocoons. They are considered the 
strongest and most successful ever devised to use 
for large gamy fish. 
The ways of birds are often contrary For 
years the Canadian authorities have unsuccess¬ 
fully tried to introduce American quail into 
British Columbia. Last year, however, about a 
half dozen pair migrated there from the state of 
Washington, have survived and bred and bid fair 
to multiply rapidly. On the other hand willow 
grouse, at one time plentiful in this region, have 
almost entirely disappeared. 
