A FLOCK OF STARLINGS.
HOW THEY KILL MANUKA
The Upper Opaki correspondent of the Wairarapa Times sends the following interesting item:— After an absence of nearly two years the flock of starlings so well known to this district have returned. During their absence last year the grass grub was m evidence — the first time for many years — but farmers here and m adjoining districts should rest assured that this year neither the grass grub nor the caterpillar will trouble thjsni. These birds collect towards evening 1 , and sd vast is the mob and so great the amount of country they cover, that one really has to see them collected to realise the amount of good they must do.
Each year *these birds select a new place m which to roost, but 1 it is always m manuka, and as each patch is vacated — it usually comprises from two to three acres — the manuka dies, and a sward of grass grows under it, and it is grass unequalled for miles around.
The present rookery- is being watched with interest, and settlers are wondering if the healthy crop of scrub which covers our stony plains is to bo -entirely wiped out by these interesting little birds.
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Bibliographic details
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12587, 18 October 1911, Page 8
Word Count
204A FLOCK OF STARLINGS. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12587, 18 October 1911, Page 8
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