The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-05-17
Startling May Be
 Blessing Or Pest
Ornithologist Forbush is Not at
 Ease Regarding Them


 for Massachusetts, has devoted nearly all of his recent annual report to consideration of the presence of the Starling, the most recent bird mpOrta- ton from England. MT. Forbush feels that the bird has proved that it can exist and multiply in America, but he is as yet by no means certain Wheth- CT it will prove to be a blessing or a curse, though apparently he fears the latter and assumes that the bird will multiply rapidly, as the forces which operate to check it's increase in Eng land may not affect 1t here, and the result will be the extermination of
 Already lovers of birds in this vi- cinity have observed that the starlings are not the limp and pathetic birds found in Sterne's tale. but are born fighters and, when they desire nest ing place already occupied by the Eng fish sparrows, they take 1t and the sparrows quit, thing which they rarely do for an American bird. Touch ing it's fighting propensities MT. For bush writes: W
 .sThe starling's physical fitness for the struggle for supremacy IS seen at once on an examination of it's anaf- .omy. It is very hardy, muscular and powerful bird. It has the phys ical characteristics of a little crow. 1t is exceedingly tough and wiry, and the bill, it's principal weapon of of fense and defense, is superior in shape to that of a crow. It is nearly straight, long, heavy tapering, and nearly as keen as meat axe, while the skull that backs it is almost as strong as that of a woodpecker. Men tally the. starling is superior to the sparrow, and while brave and active Tn the face of any foe that 1t can master 1t shows the acme of caution and in- 11~k4 4<w~n wxxik H rAavr or any other creature too powerful for 1t to cope with. While 1t is com paratively fearless where it is unmo- tested, it is always on it's guard, and if hunted becomes more wary than a crow. It is a handsome bird, and though it has little merit as a. songs ter, it has many pleasant whistling and chattering notes and some talent as a mimic. Its alarm note is harsh, rasping, low pitched caIL' An Englishman who has had wide experience with them is quoted by MT. Forbush as follows:
 '"The starling is a splendid bird on grass land, foraging for leather jack cts Qarvae of cranedieS), wire worms, etc.; rids the sheep of a few of their ticks; but in a fruit district it comes in drOves into the strawberries and attacks the cherries wholesale Here- fOrd); peas, apples, plums, as we'll as cherries (KenD also raspberries. Very valuable insect destroyers, but get
 ting too numerous CNott.) In my fruit field betweer, Warden and Col chester) I do not suffer very much | from blackbirds and thrushes, nor do | grudge them their tool in return for their song. Only one bird is danger l ous to my crops that is the starling. 1 He threatened the utter destruction of our strawberry, raspberry, cherry. l gOOseberry and currant, and some oth- 1 CT crops. These birds are said to | come to us from the marshes as soon as the young are matched. And they come in millions: in f1ocks that dark
 en the sky. Their flight is like the roar of the sea, or like the trains going
 over the arches. Their number in-
 creased rapidly each year. I can look
 back to the time when there were few,
 and have watched their increase for forty years. till now it is intolerable
 (Essex). The starling is a terror, and life around here is hardly worth lfv-
 ing; you must have a gun always in
 your hand, or woe betide the cherries
 they come in thousands (Sittingbourne, Kent.)"
 Here. at any rate the starlings are
 not coming in millions The col ony which finds it's home in the spires
 of St. Joseph's cathedral, Suggesting the lines of the hymn.
 Happy birds, that sing and fly
 Round thy altar, Lord most high D
 lack a good deal of being counted by the million but, as has been said, MT. Forbush has his doubts about the l future of pugnacious bird which rears two broods in a year. It is he
 says, hardy, capable and prolific and
 has had many centuries of experience
 in getting living in cultivated re- gions and in close relationship with
 man, and he fears that the bluebird
 and wren cannot compete with it. Among the possibilities of damage I if the birds increase MT. Forbush says that it eats cherries and pecks into pears and apples, loots strawberry
 beds, is destructive to corn in the ear
 and, he hears. from West Haven in this state that the birds destroyed the ! lettuce and radishes in one garden.
 On the other hand 1O2 starlings were
 killed for the sake of finding what kthAE hA1 fed nnpQ and the ppat WoI-