. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 45 From the foregoing detailed account of the food of nestling star- lings and the comparisons made with the food habits of the parent birds at the same time of year, it is apparent that the habits of the young materially raise the starling's economic status in the early summer months. In the consumption of destructive caterpillars, crickets and grasshoppers, and scarabaeid beetles, three of the favor- ite food items of starlings, the young birds excel, and in the destruc- 'so/c/. P/ZS*
. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE STARLING. 45 From the foregoing detailed account of the food of nestling star- lings and the comparisons made with the food habits of the parent birds at the same time of year, it is apparent that the habits of the young materially raise the starling's economic status in the early summer months. In the consumption of destructive caterpillars, crickets and grasshoppers, and scarabaeid beetles, three of the favor- ite food items of starlings, the young birds excel, and in the destruc- 'so/c/. P/ZS* Fig. 3. —Chart of food of 295 nestling starlings, showing its changing character during the three stages of nestling life. In Table III, page 44, the same information is presented in percentages. Explanatory remarks on both chart and table are given on page 44. tion of beneficial ground beetles and cultivated cherries they are not so culpable as their parents. Correlated with this demonstrated su- periority in food habits are the facts that, bird for bird, nestlings con- sume more food than adults and that in the case of the starling they outnumber the adults two to one. Confronted with such an array of favorable testimony the worth of the young starling can be scarcely Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original United States. Dept. of Agriculture. [Washington, D. C. ?] : The Dept. : Supt. of Docs. , G. P. O.
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