The eggs and young of bluebirds and wrens
may be protected by the use of nest boxes with circular openings 1 1/2 inches
or less in diameter. This leaves the purple martin the only species readily
subject to attack by the starling, whose economic worth may be considered
greater than that of the latter, but in no case was the disturbance of a
well-established colony of martins noted."
As for the nuisance of a big established roost of starlings, it may be abated
by nightly salvos of Roman candles or blank cartridges, continued for a week
or at most ten days.
So much for the starling in his aspect as an undesirable citizen. Government
investigators, by a long-continued study, have discovered that his good deeds
far outnumber his misdemeanors. Primarily he feeds on noxious insects and
useless wild fruits. Small truck gardens and individual cherry trees may be
occasionally raided by large flocks with disastrous results in a small way.
But on the whole he is a useful frequenter of our door-yards who 'pays his way
by destroying hosts of cut-worms and equally noxious' insects. "A thorough
consideration of the evidence at hand indicates that, based on food habits,
the adult starling is the economic superior of the robin, catbird, flicker,
red-winged blackbird, or grackle.
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