Evening star., 1920-03-15
Starring Invasion
BRINGS PEST HERE
Battles with Sparruws Will
Be Fought Out During
Present Spring.
To the Editor Of The Start

To the Editor Of The Start
Judging from the remarks I have
overheard recently about the prss-
enee Of 70 many "hiaekbtrds" IN the
city. It is probably safe to assume
that many washinstonians are not
aware Of the fact that the loug-ex-
pscted invasion OF starl!ngs has taken
place. They have bean reported In
and about Warrington before. and
some are said to have nested in tho
Vicinity, but they have been only
straGglsrs and attracted vary little
attention. The real army OF invasion
sent slsst storm and had for its i'm
mediats objective tho backyard gar
baEe uans hitherto held in security
by the stArling's compatrfot. tho Eng
lish. or house. sparrow.
According to Chapman. tho startling
was introduced into this country by
Eugene schieneliu. who also had the
doubtful honor of adding the English
! sparrow to our bird life. Sixty star
lings were set free in Central Park,
New York, in 1890. and forty more
in 1891. Since then they have multi
piled rapidly and spread gradually
over the eastern states.
They came to America with much
better advance notices than the spar
row, for they are mentioned fire.
quently by English novelists. who
| have the faculty of throwing a
glamour over everything English ..ley
touch. and the name itself is at
| tracttve and suggestive. 1t was a dis
tinct shock, therefore, upon being
awakened one sleety morning by
squeaking. whistling, kukking riot
in our Mount Pleasant garbage cans.
| responsible for the din were in real
| ity starlings. Another illusion shat
tered! / have never seen a more
selfish or worse-mannered exhibition.
1t made me think of pigs at
| trough, and pigs could not make more
| noise, not in proportion to size. at
any rate. And as each reached the
limit of his capacity he few up onto
! the fence or into a tree, and sat
silently waiting on digestion. 1 am
| not sure that digestion was an easy
and pleasant process, either. Tor many
and then swallowed back in a manner
| that seemed to indicate distaste or
discomfort of some sort.
/ They are here to stay, probably, in
season and out, for they do not mi
, crate A few years ago that would
have meant a struggle for existence
| on the part Of our native city birds,
! but today the sparrow is about the
| only resident of the city proper that
| is threatened. Most of the native
| birds have already forsaken US. The
grackles, fish crows. sparrow hawks.
fiickers, cardinals and robins. among
| those that remain. will hold their
| own, thanks to their size or habits
But tho sparrow Is In for a bad time.
| The simultaneous passing of the
horse and coming Of the starting are
| calamities for that spunky little
nuisance. He will have scant SYM
pathy. however. for this is one Euro
pean complication that will surely
| leave most Of US cold.
The starting family-Sturnfdae-
placed by ornithologists between the
| crow family - Corvidae - and the
i blackbird family-Icteridae. The lay
man will note a blackbird quality in
some of the starting notes, especially
! the peculiar kuk that. is common to
| almost all members of the American
color seems nearly a plain black.
| too. with metallic glints when the
light is right. But even at dis
! tance there are distinguishable diff
! ferences. The tail is short. much
! shorter than that of the common
| The wings are relatively long. 30 that
the general appearance when flying
/ does not resemble that OF the black
bird. Close at hand there are strik-
ing differences. The ground color OF
the starting is a metallic greenish or
purplish black, but the upper parts
are spotted with creamy bun and the
under parts are covered with small
white dots. The blackbird is un-
spotted. Chapman says the starlings .
| bill in winter is blackish brown, but
the birds I have seen in February
! and March have had conspicuously
! light-colored bills. And the bill is
! longer than that Of the blackbird, at
| least relatively.
The newcomer is said to nest in
creyices about buildings. as the spar
, rows do There is where the battles
will be fought out this spring, then.
There will be two feathered nuisances
| instead of one. but, as the city can
or will, support only limited bird
population, perhaps a variety should
be welcomed. The chirping of the
sparrow has long since become mo-
notonous. o. p. HOPKINS.