60 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



America where it occurs, but principally in order to avoid 

 mistaking it for its cousin, the House Sparrow, to which it 

 has a general resemblance. It has the same reddish brown 

 black-streaked back, but differs from it in having the top of 

 the head a light chocolate instead of the deep gray of the 

 male, or hght brown of the female House Sparrow. While the 

 black patch of the adult male House Sparrow covers chin, 

 throat and breast, the Tree Sparrow has a much smaller black 

 spot covering the chin only. But the best mark by which to 

 know the Tree Sparrow is a black round spot on the side of 

 the head, surrounded by the white cheek and therefore easily 

 noticed. The Tree Sparrow is a httle smaller and the sexes 

 are alike in coloration, even the young in the nest having the 

 black spots on cars and chin already indicated, while the female 

 and young of the House Sparrow have no black markings 

 about the head and neck at all. 



The history of this exclusively St. Louisan species is inter- 

 esting. During the first ten years after the Civil War it was 

 quite a fad among nature lovers in the United States to attempt 

 the accHmatization of European singing birds; well-meaning 

 persons in all parts of the country imported or bought them 

 from bird dealers and set them free, but, unfortunately, with 

 very poor results as far as St. Louis is concerned. Among a lot 

 of different kinds of birds, such as Chaffinches, Bullfinches, 

 Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Siskins, bought by Messrs. 

 Carl Daenzer and KIcinschmidt, there were twenty European 

 Tree Sparrows. Ail these birds were hbcrated in Lafayette 

 Park on April 25, 1870. After a few days all had left the 

 park and nothing was seen of any of them, though sometimes 

 unauthenticatcd reports came in that this or that bird had 

 been seen at such and such a place. The Tree Sparrows were 

 the only ones found to have taken root in the city, for in the 

 summer of the following year it was discovered that they were 

 quite at home in the vicinity of breweries in the southern part 

 of the city. From that time on their future seemed to be se- 

 cure; they had no trouble in finding food and nesting sites, 

 were well liked, and spread farther from year to year. But 

 in the meantime their larger cousins, the House Sparrows, 

 which had made their original start from the center of town 



